Recipe: "I Can't believe It's Low-Carb" Cheesecake

In general, I find that mixing Splenda and sugar alcohols works well to control the net carb count and provide a sweeter taste while using fewer artificial sweeteners overall. As a result, this cheesecake uses about 1/3 less overall sweetener than the amount of sugar it would otherwise replace. Since maltitol and sorbitol tend to have nasty side effects, I prefer using erythritol and xylitol.

The taste is more "natural", too. Combine that with the nut crust (replacing a flour- or graham cracker-based crust), and you could could serve this to people who'd never know it was low-carb!

New York Style Low-Carb Cheesecake

Filling:

• 24 oz. cream cheese
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 T. sugar-free vanilla extract
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/4 cup Erythritol
• 1/4 cup Xylitol
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 5 eggs

Crust:

• 1 cup shelled walnuts
• 2 T. butter
• 1 T. Splenda

Place a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven, and set the upper rack to about the middle. Preheat oven to 350.

Place a square of parchment paper over the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Place the pan "sides" over this, and close the latch. Trim off any excess parchment paper, and spray the sides of the pan with cooking spray.

Start with the crust. Chop the walnuts into crumb-sized pieces (use a food processor for this). Melt the butter, and mix with the nuts and the 1 tablespoon of Splenda. Press the mixture in the pan, and put in the refrigerator to set quickly.

In a mixer, start with the cream cheese, sour cream, and salt. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the sweeteners, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly (and very carefully at first, or you'll have a "cloud" of sweetener in the air). Add eggs one at a time until fully blended. Pour filling into prepared springform pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, until set.

Let cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes before removing springform pan ring. Continue to cool to room temperature. Place a plate on top of the cheescake, flip the rack over, and peel off the bottom of the pan and the parchment paper. Flip the cheesecake back over, onto the serving/storage dish.

Makes 12 servings, appx. 5 net carbs (plus 9 grams of sugar alcohols) per serving.

Variation: Chocolate Cheesecake

Use the above recipe, except for the filling, remove the lemon juice and add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and, if desired, 1/8 to 1/4 cup sugar-free flavoring syrup (such as raspberry!). For the crust, the walnuts can be kept or replaced with almonds or hazelnuts.

This adds roughly 0.5 net carbs per slice.

Variation: Key Lime Cheesecake

Using the base New York style recipe, omit the lemon juice and 1 cup of the sour cream. Add 1/2 cup key lime juice.