Cheesecake of summer freshness, stat!

Now you know there’s nothing like the freshness of berries straight from the farmer’s market or your garden, combined with fresh whipped cream, to make a dessert so delectably delicious and refreshing that everyone will love it. And I do mean everyone.

In fact, when I recently hosted my Hebrew National party, I made this cheesecake specifically to bring in a fun, fresh dessert aspect and to make my original recipe so much better and easier that even I’d jump at the chance to make it again and again. I serve this dish up to diabetics and their loved ones alike to the same response: “Damn girl. Give me that recipe and nobody gets hurt.”

In fact, it’s so fresh, you might even slap its little face and say, “I know you just didn’t.”

Ready to go? Well, let’s talk for a minute before you start making this confection and getting your fork ready. We always have this little chat, just the two of us, don’t we?I want to make sure you know everything you need to know before you bring the magic.

I use Ideal/Kroger co-brand of sweetener in the purple bag, but you can use whatever floats your boat. I just love the Ideal/Kroger No-Sugar Baking Blend because it measures cup-for-cup like sugar and I can find it locally.

It doesn’t matter if you use greek yogurt/Fage or sour cream for this recipe. I went with Fage because I knew I was going to use fresh fruit, and there’s nothing quite like fresh fruit and yogurt. This is like breakfast for dessert, which means you can eat this for breakfast. Bam! Problem solved. No go back to being your fabulous self.

For the nut crusts, keep a bag of frozen, processed nuts always ready to go. Freezing the crumbs keeps them fresh and ready for use.

Keeping a shallow pan of water in the oven on the shelf underneath the cheesecake prevents the top of the dessert from cracking. And we all know the world needs a little less crack.

Fresh fruit doesn’t require any special preparation. Don’t bother soaking it in sweetener-water or any foolishness like that. Go fresh or go home, honey.

You can freeze this recipe once baked, but don’t add the whipped topping and fruit until after thawing.

This recipe is delicious and deserving of its only 7 net carbs, and is sugar free, gluten free and ready for your kitchen.

Simply Delicious Sugar-Free Cheesecake

For the Filling:

5 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar equivalent substitute

3 eggs

½ cup Fage Total Classic Plain Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the crust:

1 cup almonds, whole

2 Tbsp sugar equivalent substitute

4 Tbsp butter, melted

For the topping:

1 cup unsweetened, heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp sugar equivalent substitute

Fresh fruit

Making the crust:

Process nuts together until resembling coarse crushed graham crackers. Mix almond meal, butter and sweetener. Press in bottom of a 9-10” springform pan. Place in fridge.



Making the Filling:

Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixer, beat cream cheese with sweetener on medium for about one minute. On low, add eggs, one at a time, until just blended. Finally, add Fage, lemon juice and vanilla and beat just until blended (10-30 seconds).

Pour into crust. Place a pan of water in the rack below the cheesecake. Bake until set, 1 hour 15 minutes-90 minutes. Cool on rack for 15 minutes before moving to chill in the refrigerator.

Making the Topping:

Combine whipping cream with sweetener and beat in a mixer for 3-5 minutes, or until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, gently frost the top of the cheesecake with topping. Cover with fresh fruit.

Makes 16 servings.



Nutritional Information for one serving without whipped topping and fruit (as shown): Calories: 351, Carbohydrates: 8g, Fiber: 2g, Net Carbs: 6g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 8g

Nutritional Information for one serving with whipped topping and fruit (as shown): Calories: 382, Carbohydrates: 9.6g, Fiber: 2.3g, Net Carbs: 7.3g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 10g