Cheesecake

When thinking of banting desserts or cakes, anything with "cheese" in the name is going to have a huge head start, isn't it?

I have got a lot of use out of this chocolate cheesecake cake recipe from Barbara Bakes. It makes a spectacular celebration cake; I've paired the chocolate cake part with chocolate buttercream for an epic chocolate cake; and I noticed from the start that the cheesecake layer is flourless and thus ideally suited to gluten free or low carb baking.

There's very little that needs changing about this recipe, and I've made it exactly as given before (except for the sugar, of course). I added a coconut and ground almond crust that time, but frankly I feel like it's unnecessary at best, and detracts from the cheesecake at worst. I do however find it a little too dense - it has to be for the original recipe, to stand its ground between two layers of chocolate cake - but I prefer the slightly softer texture you get by replacing some of the cream cheese with creme fraiche - sold in South Africa as "cultured cream" - or sour cream. It is slightly more likely to crack, though, so the choice is yours.

I bake this in my smallest spring form pan (20cm). I always swear I'm going to double it next time just to get a more dramatic looking cake - until I realise how much that would cost. Cheesecake is expensive, yo.

A NOTE ON PREPARING YOUR PAN:
This is a very runny batter. I like to not only put parchment on the bottom before greasing my pan, but I also use some foil to create a tighter seal. Place the bottom of a spring form pan on top of a large piece of foil. Lower the foil into the spring form pan's outer ring, bending the foil up around the bottom as you go, so as to fit inside. Secure the ring around the bottom, then smooth the foil up against the inner sides of the ring - they'll be a little more uneven but I've never noticed a significant issue with how the cake looks - and creamy cheesy batter dripping out the bottom is a much bigger problem. Cut out a round of greaseproof paper, lay it in the bottom, then grease the inside of the pan/foil/paper.

I like to serve this with a bit of strawberry compote; it adds a sweet and juicy lushness as well as a burst of colour. You may choose to serve it with whipped cream instead, or both (like I did in the picture - which has nothing to do with hiding an epic crack in my cheesecake!), or just as is.

Low Carb Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2x230g tubs of cream cheese, or 1 + 1x230g tub creme fraiche
• ²/₃ cups sweetener (e.g. xylitol)
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• ¹/₃ cup sour cream
• ¹/₃ cup cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160^oC with two oven racks - one in the middle of the oven, one on the bottom
2. Prepare your pan (see above)
3. Get out a large baking tray and boil a kettle of water
4. Beat the cream cheese (and creme fraiche) with the sweetener and salt until smooth
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each
6. Beat in the sour cream, cream and vanilla
7. Pour into the prepared pan
8. Put the oven tray on the bottom oven rack and fill with hot water, and put the cake pan on the top rack
9. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until set
10. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, then run a knife along the edge - this ensures that when it starts to cool and contract, it will pull away from the sides instead of cracking

Low carb strawberry compote

Ingredients

• 2 cups ripe strawberries (leaves removed)
• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 2 tbsp sweetener (e.g. xylitol)

Method

1. I like to place all the ingredients in my food processor and blitz them, but if you don't have one or you prefer bigger pieces of strawberries, you can chop them by hand and then mix everything together
2. Place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 3 minutes, stirring after each minute, or until cooked and slightly thickened and smelling wonderful