LEMON DREAM CHEESECAKE

LEMON DREAM CHEESECAKE
Cheesecake:
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Lemon Curd (see recipe below)
Low carb cookie crust, optional (not included in the counts)

Put the water in a small microwave-safe bowl; sprinkle the gelatin over the surface and let stand 5 minutes to soften. Microwave on HIGH about 1 minute or just until the water comes to a simmer. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved; set aside.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, Splenda and vanilla until creamy. Gradually beat in the gelatin. Pour into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Use a larger deep dish pie plate if you're using a crust. Chill 3-4 hours or until set. Spread the chilled lemon curd over the completely set cheesecake. Serve with whipped cream, if desired (not included in the counts).

Charski's Lemon Curd:
2 to 3 1/2 cups granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda *
3 eggs
1 cup fresh lemon juice (you'll need 8-9 small lemons)
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut in 1/2" cubes

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk the sweetener and eggs. Whisk in the lemon juice and zest. Add the butter and stir just to coat. Microwave on HIGH in 1 minute intervals, whisking after each minute. Do this until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of spoon. This will take about 3 minutes. Cool, then chill.

Makes 8 servings

* Charski's recipe called for 1 cup of sweetener but I didn't want mine quite so tart. I added another cup's worth of sweetener but it's still very tart.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 369 Calories; 33g Fat; 8g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 12g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 339 Calories; 33g Fat; 8g Protein; 4.5g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 4.5g Net Carbs

The cheesecake part of this recipe is the It's-a-Snap Cheesecake. The lemon curd recipe is from Charski at Low Carb Friends. The lemon curd is delicious and the recipe is super easy. It tastes like the filling in a lemon meringue pie. However, it didn't set up as thick as I'd hoped so it ran off the cheesecake a bit. Now that I know how messy this turns out, I think a better idea might be to layer the cheesecake filling, lemon curd and whipped cream in parfait glasses. I had to do quite a bit of clean-up on the piece in the photos so that you could actually see the cheesecake under the topping. I think that whipped cream really helps mellow out the tang of the lemon curd which could still use a little more sweetener. Click the photos to see close-ups.

UPDATE 7/3/11: The lemon curd seemed to set up quite a bit by the next day. It was much easier to get a slice of cheesecake out of the pan and the topping stayed put. I think that the trick is to make the lemon curd the day before you serve the cheesecake and spread it over it before serving.

UPDATE 8/10/12: I made this again and put 3 1/2 cups worth of liquid Splenda in the lemon curd and it didn't make it any sweeter. It's starting to look like you just can't sweeten that much lemon juice using Splenda. Also, if you plan to put this in a crust, make sure to use a larger pie plate or you won't have enough room for the lemon curd topping. I found that out the hard way.

UPDATE 8/10/12 (LATER): I've decided to cut a few carbs by only using 2/3 cup of the lemon curd to top my cheesecake this time. That's partly because the whole batch wouldn't fit in my small pie plate with a crust and partly because I thought that using less would also cut the tartness of the lemon curd a bit. So, here are the counts for the cheesecake made with my Cookie Crust and 2/3 cup of lemon curd:

With Cookie Crust and 2/3 cup Lemon Curd:
With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 423 Calories; 39g Fat; 9g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 10g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 397 Calories; 39g Fat; 9g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

1. Prev:PERFECT LOW
2. Next:LEMON CHEESECAKE