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This weekend I'd planned to finally bake a cheesecake. Low-carb cheesecake, but cheesecake nonetheless. I started with this recipe: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/lcarbcheesecake.htm?p=1 and made a few changes.
( Actual Recipe here )
First off, the pan. I'm using a springform pan I found in the back of my cabinet a couple of months ago that I know I bought sometime in the distant past and that I'd never used. Making the decision to keep it was the genesis of this project. The pan's big, ten inches or so, so I wasn't sure how this recipe would fill it. But hey, nothing ventured...
Reading around the interwebz, I saw several references to prepping the pan with butter or parchment or both. A neat trick someone wrote about was using a big piece of parchment paper, and instead of cutting it to size, you just clip it into the pan itself with the bottom. Genius! (I hate trying to cut things exactly, because I get a little compulsive about trying to make it perfect, so it would always turn out a little small.
So, pan prepared, I started putting the crust together. I've never worked with almond meal before, so I wasn't sure quite how to measure it. ProTip: don't just pour it into a measuring container, pack that almond meal in.
Since I've been using the granulated fake sugar sweetener in other things, I've not been happy with how sweet things come out. My taste buds have really acclimated because it's all too bloody sweet! I decided to use half the sweetener called for in this recipe (but all the butter, of course). Because of my loose measuring, there wasn't nearly enough material to cover the bottom of the springform, so I made another "half batch" to fill it up. Oh, and I'd forgotten to butter the damn pan! I scratched the crust out of the pan, then buttered it thoroughly, then re-patted the crust into it.
The rest of the recipe was pretty straightforward, except for halving the sweetener here, too. I did use Neufchatel instead of cream cheese (because that's what I buy), and I accidentally added a tablespoon of vanilla instead of the amount called for. I used one of Dean's tree's Meyer lemons for the juice (fresh off the tree!). Tasting the batter, it was definitely sweet, but not super-duper sweet, like I'd been afraid of.
In the future I might mix the sweetener with the eggs, vanilla and the lemon juice before adding them into the batter. The brand I use is very powdery, and even though I added it slowly, there was still a lot of powder to try and tap into the mixing bowl (and a lot that just flew into the air).
It's baking right now (17 minutes to go), and I'm also thinking about adding a topping, like in the Low-Carb Lemon Cheesecake that's linked on the original page. I've already got the lemon and the sour cream.
( Topping )
So I think it'll come out pretty tasty, and even if it doesn't, I already got to lick the mixing bowl, so I'll call it a win.
( Actual Recipe here )
First off, the pan. I'm using a springform pan I found in the back of my cabinet a couple of months ago that I know I bought sometime in the distant past and that I'd never used. Making the decision to keep it was the genesis of this project. The pan's big, ten inches or so, so I wasn't sure how this recipe would fill it. But hey, nothing ventured...
Reading around the interwebz, I saw several references to prepping the pan with butter or parchment or both. A neat trick someone wrote about was using a big piece of parchment paper, and instead of cutting it to size, you just clip it into the pan itself with the bottom. Genius! (I hate trying to cut things exactly, because I get a little compulsive about trying to make it perfect, so it would always turn out a little small.
So, pan prepared, I started putting the crust together. I've never worked with almond meal before, so I wasn't sure quite how to measure it. ProTip: don't just pour it into a measuring container, pack that almond meal in.
Since I've been using the granulated fake sugar sweetener in other things, I've not been happy with how sweet things come out. My taste buds have really acclimated because it's all too bloody sweet! I decided to use half the sweetener called for in this recipe (but all the butter, of course). Because of my loose measuring, there wasn't nearly enough material to cover the bottom of the springform, so I made another "half batch" to fill it up. Oh, and I'd forgotten to butter the damn pan! I scratched the crust out of the pan, then buttered it thoroughly, then re-patted the crust into it.
The rest of the recipe was pretty straightforward, except for halving the sweetener here, too. I did use Neufchatel instead of cream cheese (because that's what I buy), and I accidentally added a tablespoon of vanilla instead of the amount called for. I used one of Dean's tree's Meyer lemons for the juice (fresh off the tree!). Tasting the batter, it was definitely sweet, but not super-duper sweet, like I'd been afraid of.
In the future I might mix the sweetener with the eggs, vanilla and the lemon juice before adding them into the batter. The brand I use is very powdery, and even though I added it slowly, there was still a lot of powder to try and tap into the mixing bowl (and a lot that just flew into the air).
It's baking right now (17 minutes to go), and I'm also thinking about adding a topping, like in the Low-Carb Lemon Cheesecake that's linked on the original page. I've already got the lemon and the sour cream.
( Topping )
So I think it'll come out pretty tasty, and even if it doesn't, I already got to lick the mixing bowl, so I'll call it a win.