Even my non-low carbin' daughter-in-law loves this cheesecake in all its variations. Who says low carb (or sugar free) can't taste good???

Basic Low Carb Cheesecake

32 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 c. Splenda
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. lemon juice
3 T. sour cream
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and Splenda at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add all other ingredients except eggs. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly. When eggs are incorporated, do not mix any more. Over-mixing the eggs is a contributing cause of cracked cheesecakes. (The leading cause of cracking is over-cooking, so don't believe any one who tells you it is normal for a cheesecake to be cracked; it isn't.) Always treat the batter gently.

Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Place the pan on a very large piece of aluminum foil, and fold the foil up around the pan to create a watertight barrier around the cheesecake. Then place the barrier pan in an even larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. (I use one of those big, disposable, aluminum roasters.) This is called a water bath. It is a gentler way to cook the cheesecake.

Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly.

It may be beneficial to run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake, separating it from the sides of the pan. If your goal is to serve the cheesecake on a different dish without the bottom of the spring form pan, then the pan can be lined with parchment paper before the batter is poured in. Make sure to grease both sides of the paper. This will make for easy removal of the cheesecake later. It works best if the cheesecake has been refrigerated fully before trying to remove it from the bottom pan.

Per Serving (based on 12 servings per cheesecake): 308 Calories; 29g Fat; 8g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 165mg Cholesterol; 244mg Sodium.


Low Carb White Chocolate Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Inky's Note: I'm really watching my carbs (and sugar), so I just skip the white chocolate and make the whole cheesecake pumpkin. It's just as good!

24 oz. cream cheese (3 8-oz. packages)
1 c. Splenda
1 t. vanilla extract
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
3 T. sour cream
1 can (15 oz.) prepared pumpkin
3 squares white chocolate (baking bar), melted in double boiler

Bring all cold ingredients to room temperature. With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add all other ingredients except eggs and pumpkin. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly. When eggs are incorporated separate out one cup of batter then fold pumpkin into the rest of the batter. When pumpkin is blended, do not mix any more. Over-mixing the eggs is a contributing cause of cracked cheesecakes. (The leading cause of cracking is over-cooking, so don't believe any one who tells you it is normal for a cheesecake to be cracked; it isn't.) Always treat the batter gently. To the one cup of separated batter, add the three squares of melted white chocolate and blend.

Add half of the pumpkin batter to a well-greased springform pan. Add spoonfuls of the white chocolate batter, and then cover with remaining pumpkin batter. Swirl through with spatula to create marbling effect.

Place the pan on a very large piece of aluminum foil, and fold the foil up around the pan to create a watertight barrier around the cheesecake. Then place the springform pan in an even larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. This is called a water bath. It is a gentler way to cook the cheesecake.

Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly, so don't rush this process. Let it set up for several hours in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Garnish with curls of white chocolate.

If you don't want to add the chocolate, just keep all the batter together and make the entire cake pumpkin, it will work fine that way too.


Low Carb Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

32 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 c. Splenda
1 t. vanilla extract
_ c. sugar free peanut butter (smooth or chunky, your choice)
4 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
2 T. heavy cream
3 squares semi-sweet chocolate (baking bar), melted in double boiler

Bring all cold ingredients to room temperature. With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and Splenda at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add the vanilla and cream. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly.

When eggs are incorporated separate out one cup of batter then add the peanut butter into the rest of the batter. When peanut butter is blended in, don't mix any more. Over-mixing the batter is a contributing cause of cracked cheesecakes. (The leading cause of cracking is over-cooking, so don't believe any one who tells you it is normal for a cheesecake to be cracked; it isn't.) Always treat the batter gently. To the one cup of separated batter, add the three squares of melted chocolate and blend.

Add half of the chocolate batter to the bottom of a well-greased springform pan. Gently add the peanut butter batter, and then cover with remaining chocolate batter and spread to cover the top (no peanut butter batter should show through). The idea is to create a “peanut butter cup” look to the cheesecake with the chocolate batter at the top and bottom.

Place the pan on a very large piece of aluminum foil, and fold the foil up around the pan to create a watertight barrier around the cheesecake. Then place the springform pan in an even larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. This is called a water bath. It is a gentler way to cook the cheesecake.

Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly, so don't rush this process. Let it set up for several hours in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Garnish with Russell Stovers Sugar Free Peanut Butter cups cut into quarters and placed on top so that each slice gets one.