The Low Carb Kitchen: Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake

The low carb options for those of us living in South Carolina are few and far between. Coming up with recipes that offer the flavor of southern cooking that is healthy is a challenge. This is a wonderful low carb dessert. It is healthy, not really southern, but has the decadent flavors South Carolinians have grown to love. It can be made with or without a crust and is perfect to serve at Thanksgiving but anytime is a good time for Cheesecake, especially a healthier version. Your dieters will thank you! This is also a great dessert to serve our diabetic friends and loved ones. Who deserve a sweet treat too!

Things You'll Need:
* 8 inch round cake pan, greased
* large bowl
* electric mixer
* Roasting pan
* 3 large to jumbo sized room temperature eggs
* 3 packages cream cheese, (8 oz. each)
* 1 can pumpkin pie filling (unsweetened, without sugar), or pureed pumpkin (15 oz.) size (I use pureed pumpkin)
* 1 & 1/2 cups granular sugar substitute such as (Splenda)
* 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
* 1 tsp. Cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
* 1-1/2 cups ground almonds or almond flour
* pumpkin pie spice (optional)
* toasted almond slivers (optional)

Step 1
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a round 8 inch cake pan with margarine or a good quality cooking spray. Ground almonds make a nice crust, so prepare like you would for traditional graham cracker crust. Mix with a few tablespoons of melted butter and an additional 1/2 cup of granulated sugar substitute.
Step 2
Get one large bowl and with your electric hand held mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin pie filling or puree, 1 cup of sugar substitute, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg; beat until smooth. Add in your eggs slowly as you beat the mixture, one at a time, just until combined.
Step 3
Carefully add batter now to your greased cake pan. Place cake pan in a deep roasting type pan and carefully pour in boiling water in the larger pan to reach halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes depending on your stove. At the 40 minutes mark is it wise to check every few minutes, until cake is set in center and is no longer jiggling.
Step 4
You are now done with the baking portion of the recipe so turn your oven off and open the door let the pumpkin cheesecake remain in the oven an additional 12- 15 minutes. You will want to run a butter knife gingerly around the edge of the cake, cover it and let it refrigerate for at least 5 hours for best results. Garnish with some toasted almond slivers and a dollop of low fat sugar free whipped cream, sprinkled with a little pumpkin pie spice. Enjoy~~