Part 3: Sugar-free Cheesecake w/Jam and Berries
Very early on in the planning process, I decided that I needed some kind of sheet cake to fill in the dessert table. I bounced between pineapple upside down cake, choco-flans, and tres leches until finally landing on *Cheesecake* as the best option.
As I previously mentioned, I was going for a sugar-free/diabetic friendly dessert table. I used many of the same ingredient substitutions for this cheesecake as I did with the strawberry cake I made in the previous post.
Here is the list of ingredient alternatives:
Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener with Erythritol: replacing granulated sugar.
- Coconut Oil: replacing butter.
- Almond flour: replacing graham crackers for the crust.
I baked the cheesecakes (I made 3) in a 10 x 14 rectangle cake pan lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper allowed for easy removal. Springform pans are also a good option. I just didn’t wanna buy one!
I would recommend a smaller pan for this recipe. Maybe an 8 x 8? The cheesecake was thinner than I expected. I would have rather had it be thicker but it’s what I had to work with!
The almond flour crust is a matter of throwing the ingredients together and pressing them into the bottom of the pan. Easy peasy!
My food processor came out to play to make cheesecake filling. Poor machine gets neglected until November and December most years. I just tossed in the ingredients until smooth and dumped them into the cake pan with the almond flour crust.
I made a horrible mistake with the cheesecakes: the recipe I used called for 24 oz of cream cheese. Most cream cheese packages are 6 oz.
What’s 24 divided by 6?
My Brain: Oh, it’s 4!
NO, IT’S NOT!!!!
It’s 3!!!!
An extra package of cream cheese went into each cheesecake and the bad math didn’t click until everything was baked and I was reviewing footage.
I teach children for a living, and I can’t do simple math!
(Dies of embarrassment)
The result was still good, though not as sweet as regular cheesecake. I fixed this by adding sugar-free strawberry jam and fresh berries on top. The sweetness of the jam and berries made up for my massive blunder and no one noticed! I got nothing but praise!
Recipe below if you want to take a crack at this Sugar Free Cheesecake with Jam and Berries!
Sugar Free Cheesecake w/Jam and Berries
Ingredients
For the crust
2 cups of almond flour
½ tsp of salt
5-ish Tbsp of coconut oil, melted
For the filling
24 oz (3 Packages) of cream cheese, softened
2 cups of Greek Yogurt
3 tsp of vanilla
1 tbsp of lemon juice
2/3 cup of Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener
¼ cup of almond flour
Preferred toppings such as sugar-free fruit jam, berries, mint, etc.
Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill an oven-proof dish with water at the bottom of the oven. This will create a steamy environment for the cheesecake to bake in. It helps prevent cracking and drying.
2. Line your pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
3. Combine almond flour and salt.
4. Add in the melted coconut oil 1 tablespoon at a time. You have to gauge how wet you need it so that it doesn’t move around when you press it into the bottom of the pan. I used 5 tablespoons.
5. You can use your hands or a glass to press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
6. Take out your food processor and toss in the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice, monkfruit sugar, and almond flour. Blitz it until smooth.
7. Pour on top of almond flour crust and use an offset spatula to distribute it evenly.
8. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
9. At the 35 minute mark shut off the oven but leave the cheesecake inside, door closed, for another 10 minutes.
10. Remove the cheesecake and allow to cool before placing it in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight. This will give the cheesecake time to set properly.
Cutting the Cheesecake
I tried a few different methods to get clean cuts of cheesecake and landed on the hot knife method.
You’ll need:
- A chef’s knife
- Hot water
- Paper towels.
1. Dip your knife into the hot water for 5-10 seconds until the knife is hot.
2. Pat dry and slice cheesecake.
3. Wipe cheesecake crumbs from knife and repeat.
This will get you the cleanest cuts.
I decorated each slice with a spoonful of sugar-free jam and a variety of fresh berries.
Each slice was placed on these pretty gold cake plates, and they looked beautiful!
Happy baking!