This Low-carb Classic Vanilla Cheesecake is for my good friend, Kathy. She has struggled for more than 10 years with health issues that have prevented her from enjoying any kind of food that contains carbohydrates. Imagine never being able to eat a potato, or a danish, or even a simple piece of bread. I’ve watched her cut her diet down to the bare minimum and really just wanted to bless her with something sweet and decadent, yet completely within her diet restrictions.
So, since she was attending the Oakmoss Collective Small Business Dinner with me, this was one of the recipes that I made. I also offered three different sauces (one, low-carb) to put on the cheesecakes but for this photo I elected for simple fresh fruit and some toasted almonds. This sweet and rich cheesecake is good as is or with any kind of topping you’d like to offer.
I’ll be completely honest here and tell you that the first time I made this it was perfect.
Photo credit: www.instagram.com/karliepickett
No cracks, creamy and rich. Then, the next time I made it, just four days later, the entire top cracked like clay soil in a desert. What give?! If anyone knows the secret, please tell me.
I baked them exactly the same way with the same ingredients at the same temperature. Sometimes life and baking is a mystery. So, I ended up making a sour cream vanilla topping to cover those nasty cracks.
The cheesecake itself tasted the same and had a wonderful texture. So, who knows. Might have just been the day…
Anyway, if you find it necessary to cover any cracks that happen in the top of any cheesecake, here’s a quick sour cream topping to make it beautiful again. Also, low-carb.
Sour cream crack covering:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup yogurt ( I used Dannon OOO)
Sweetener to taste (I used stevia drops)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix together and spread on top of cheesecake.
- CRUST:
- 1 ½ cups Whole almonds, I used soaked and dried almonds
- ¼ cup zero-calorie sweetener (I used Lakanto)
- ¼ cup butter
- FILLING:
- 24 oz. (4 packages) of cream cheese, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 1.5 cups yogurt (I used 000 Dannon)
- Alternative sweetener equivalent to 1 cup (I used ¼ tsp. of stevia + 3 Tbls. Lakanto)
- 1 Tbls. vanilla
- For the crust:
- In a food processor, chop almonds until the size of peas.
- Add sweetener and butter and process until the mixture holds together.
- Press into 8” springform pan prepared with parchment on the bottom.
- For the filling:
- Preheat oven to 325˚.
- Heat 1 gallon of water on the stovetop to boiling.
- You will need a roasting or baking pan to go on the rack underneath the cheesecake which will go in the center of the oven.
- In a mixer, blend softened cream cheese.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend well.
- Pour into pan.
- Pour hot water into roasting/baking pan and place on the lowest rack in the oven.
- Place cheesecake pan on the next rack up.
- Bake for about an hour or until sides are set.
- Turn oven off and crack door.
- Allow cheesecake to cool in the oven for an hour.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool the rest of the way.
- Chill for at least 4 hours although longer, is better. This is a dense cake and it takes some time to chill.
- Serve with fruit, chocolate or caramel topping.