{low-carb} chocolate mocha cheesecake

A weekend spent in DC is quite a weekend indeed. I was at Chelsea's for the past few days, along with Matt. DC itself was tons of fun [Courage the Cowardly Dog marathons, Slug Wars, seeing Liz and Olivia, delicious food], but life itself has been a littttttle hectic these days. Car troubles, class scheduling, job and internship hunting, and study abroad planning have got me a bit stressed, to say the least.

Luckily, being in DC was not only good to calm down a bit, but stress therapy via baking with Chelsea was one of the best things I could have done this weekend. Specifically, low carb chocolate mocha cheesecake. The biggest downside about this was that I didn't have my DSLR with me, so photos are courtesy of my phone camera.

LC Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake
Recipe adapted from Your Lighter Side

For the crust, you'll need:

• 1/2 cup crushed pecans
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 1/2 cup crushed almonds
• 2 tbsp erythritol
• 4 tbsp butter, melted

For the ganache layer, you'll need:

• 2 oz Lindt 85% dark chocolate [approximately half the bar, or 4.5 squares]
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp erythritol

For the filling, you'll need:

• 4 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• scant 1/2 cup erythritol
• 3/4 cup xylitol or baking Splenda
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3.5 oz Lindt 85% dark chocolate [standard bar size]
• 4 tbsp cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp coffee extract
• 2 tbsp brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.

To prepare crust, combine crushed nuts in a bowl. Mix in erythritol. Pour melted butter over nuts and mix until incorporated. Pour nuts into the bottom of the springform pan and spread evenly. Set aside.

To prepare ganache layer, in a medium saucepan melt butter and chocolate. Once smooth, slowly pour in heavy cream and mix until there are no lumps yet. Sprinkle erythritol and cocoa powder over top and stir until smooth. Remove pan from heat and let chocolate cool, about 5 minutes. Once cooled, pour ganache on top of crust and spread evenly.

To prepare filling, beat cream cheese with erythritol and xylitol/Splenda on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Add in sour cream and vanilla and beat until just combined. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, melt butter and chocolate. Slowly pour in heavy cream, coffee extract, and brewed coffee. Mix until smooth. Let cool, 3-4 minutes, before slowly pouring chocolate mixture into the cream cheese mixture, while beating on medium-low speed. Beat until chocolate is fully incorporated into the batter. Pour cheesecake filling into saucepan slowly, as not to disturb the ganache layer. Bake for 75-90 minutes. Let cheesecake cool to room temperature, then, while still in the springform pan, refrigerate for at least 4 hours before unhinging sides and serving.

Total carbs per slice [1/8 of cheesecake]: approximately 6 net carbs.

The original crust recipe calls for macadamia nuts,which we didn't have on hand. So we kind of arbitrarily picked a combination of nuts we felt would taste good. Really, it's up to you what kind of nuts you'd like for the crust, as long as the ratios stay the same. Also, I'm sure the crust would be just as delicious with real sugar in place of the artificial, if LC isn't your thing. Just pour whatever favorite cheesecake filling you want on top, and voila.

The ganache layer is totally optional in this cheesecake; Chelsea and I added it on a whim, more or less. Plus, it was adding hardly any more carbs to the overall cake. [And it was damn good]. Not to mention the dark little 'fudge' ribbon on top of the crust looked very pretty when the cake was cut.

The filling itself is exquisite. It hardly tastes low carb at all, since the artificial sugar leaves virtually no aftertaste. That was always the problem I had with low carb desserts; the absolutely terrible Splenda aftertaste. I think the answer is the erythritol, which is much milder on the palate than Splenda alone. Or maybe it's the combination of the two? Either way, this works. Another note on the filling: eliminating the chocolate addition [so, filling recipe minus heavy cream, butter, chocolate, and coffee] is the perfect low-carb, traditional cheesecake filling. I think Mrs. Sparta actually preferred the filling pre-mocha flavor.

I was afraid this dessert would fail in comparison to Mrs. Sparta's fantastic LC baking, but it was actually extremely delicious. To all of our surprises, I think. What's even better is that none of us missed the sugar.

I would take a slice of full-carb cheesecake over LC any day, mind you, but for the time being, this is more than acceptable.