Low-Carb Cheesecake
My current and new favorite variation has a lemon curd topping. Sweet and tart at the same time.
Below you will find printable recipes for both the cheesecake and the lemon curd but first a little bit about my preferred sweeteners.
Erythritol
My go to favorite alternative sweetener is erythritol. The brand that I like is called Swerve. Swerve comes in two styles, all natural granulated or as confectioner’s style sweetener. I prefer the confectioner’s style.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol. Other sugar alcohols that you may be familiar with are xylitol, sorbitol and mannitol. Erythritol is unique in that it is 90% absorbed in the small intestine and then excreted as urine. Other sugar alcohols go through the colon and often cause digestive gas and other kinds of upset. If you’ve ever eaten more than a few “sugar-free” candies you may know what I’m talking about.
Erythritol is natural, it’s a by-product produced when certain fruits are fermented. It rates a zero on the glycemic index but more importantly, it has no effect on insulin. This is important, there are alternative sweeteners out there that don’t change glucose levels so seem safe BUT they do spike insulin. Certain forms of stevia are guilty of this.
Erythritol isn’t perfect
- It’s only about 70% as sweet as table sugar so the ratio when substituting erythritol for sugar is about 1 1/2 to 1. 1 1/2 cups of erythritol to 1 cup of sugar.
- Tends to crystalize when used in a high ratio to other ingredients in a recipe. Lemon curd for instance. This gives the sweet treat a bit of a sugary crunch or sandy texture. Not ideal, although, I didn’t really mind it too much in the lemon curd.
- Can have a cool mouth feel. This is a weird one. Again, when used in high concentrations the final baked good can give your mouth a cool sensation much like the way mentholated mints do. Had this problem with some Snickerdoodle cookies I made. Final verdict, not good.
Now, having said all of that, I use Swerve (erythritol) almost exclusively and have only had an issue twice. One with the snicker doodle cookies and more recently with the lemon curd. I don’t eat a lot of sweet things so my tolerance for sweet has diminished. I tend to use less swerve than a recipe calls for and find it to be plenty sweet which is probably why I don’t often run into the draw backs of erythritol.
At this point you are probably wondering why I’m even recommending erythritol. I have a solution which brings me to my second favorite sweetener, stevia.
Stevia
It’s possible a bunch of you just groaned. I run across a lot of people that just hate stevia. I think one of the big issues is the type of stevia used.
I only use pure stevia leaf extract. This is NOT granulated. Do not use granulated stevia or if you do be very careful about what is in the ingredient list. In order to granulate stevia it must be bound to another substance. Often, this secondary substance, dextrose or maltodextrin will spike insulin levels. For example, the product Stevia in the raw is maltodextrin & stevia leaf extract. The maltodextrin will spike insulin.
There are products that appear to be o.k like Truvia. This is erythritol and stevia leaf extract. There are others so please read labels.
I like the Pure Stevia Leaf Extract from Trader Joe’s. It comes as a liquid and a white powder.
Unlike erythritol, stevia is several hundred times sweeter than sugar but like erythritol it’s also not perfect. Too much stevia can tend to leave a bitter taste or even a licorice like taste in your mouth which is probably why so many people don’t love it.
A little bit goes a long way. If you keep the serving on the small side you’re more likely to enjoy all the sweetness without any bitter after taste.
One more thing about stevia. You can grow your own. We have a stevia plant and pluck the leaves right off of it and drop them in our sun-tea. The tea gets sweet from the stevia leaves while it’s baking in the sun. We don’t even smash the leaves up, we just throw them in whole.
Erythritol-Stevia Blend
If you want to use natural sweeteners that don’t spike insulin then give both erythritol and stevia a try. If neither hits your sweet spot perfectly try creating a mix.
Try 1 cup of Erythritol mixed with 1/8 of a tsp. of Pure Stevia Leaf Extract powder.
For the cheesecake I use straight Swerve Confectioner’s Style Sweetener. Works great, no weird erythritol backlash. Lemon curd on the other hand was a bit gritty with just the Swerve as the added sweetener. The recipe below will use the erythritol-stevia blend.
Cheesecake Recipe
- 16 oz. Ricotta Cheese
- 5 Eggs
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 16 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 1 1/2 cups Swerve Confectioner's Sweetener
- 1 Pint of Sour Cream
- 2 Tbsp Arrow Root (optional)
- This can be made in a big blender or kitchen mixer. My preferred method is with my Kitchen Aid Standing Mixer.
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
- Place Ricotta Cheese in mixing bowl add the Eggs, Vanilla, Lemon Juice and 1/2 cup of melted cutter. Mix on a low setting until well blended.
- Add the softened cream cheese to the bowl and mix on a low setting until well blended.
- Add the sweetener and mix on a low setting until well blended
- If using ArrowRoot or other binder - add 1 cup of sour cream to mixing bowl and begin blending
- Take the rest of the sour cream and mix the ArrowRoot into the sour cream. Once well blended add the mixture to the other ingredients and mix until well blended and smooth.
- Using a rubber spatula, scrap bottom of bowl to make sure there isn't any cream cheese stuck to the bottom.
- Pour batter into a 9 or 10 inch springform pan.
- Bake at 325 for 1 hour. - I will check the cake at 1 hour. If it isn't a bit golden brown around the top outside edge I will let the cake cook until it is.
- Turn oven off and let cake stand in over with the door close for 2 more hours.
- Remove the cake and put in the refrigerator to finish cooling
- Serve after allowing to cool
- I don't use the ArrowRoot. I did the first couple of times but I didn't notice a difference without it so I leave it out.
- I let the cream cheese sit out on the counter to soften. I'll take it out first thing in the morning and let it sit for a couple of hours.
- When I have served the cheesecake before it's had time to chill in the refrigerator it tends to be a bit moist on the bottom. This is usually not an issue the next day so letting it chill for a while is a good idea.
- The cake will typically crack and deflate a bit while cooling. This makes the perfect pool for yummy toppings.
Lemon Curd Recipe
- 1/2 cup of Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed is best)
- 1/2 cup of Swerve-Stevia Mixture
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 1/2 cup Butter (1 stick)
- Lemon Zest for garnish (optional)
- Put the freshly squeeze lemon juice, sweetener and egg yolks in a saucepan
- Stir and begin to heat, on medium heat
- Break the stick of butter into chunks and add to the saucepan
- Stir continuously - keep cooking on medium heat until the lemon mixture thickens. This can take 5 - 10 minutes after you have added the butter
- Do not let mixture come to a boil - stir, stir, stir
- Once the mixture is thick to your liking (will thicken up more as it cools) remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.
- Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Swerve-Stevia Mix: 1 cup of Swerve mixed with 1/8 tsp. Stevia Powder - use 1/2 cup of this mixture for the curd.
- The curd may develop a thin crust once cooled. Stir briskly and the crust will melt back into the curd.
- If you do get a grainy texture stirring briskly seems to help reincorporate the sweetener. If it's still too grainy try playing around with the swerve-stevia ratios.
- I serve this on top of the Low-carb Cheesecake and I also serve it on my favorite goto dessert, Cream Cheese Fluff.
haven’t tried and feed it to guests. All’s well that ends well.
You can cut the cheese cake into 8 big slices or 12 smaller slices. If you want it for a tasty fat-bomb you can cut it into 16 small slices.
Enjoy!
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!