Sugar-Free Cheesecake.. with Chia!

Today's recipe is based on a concept that has been with me since my low-carb fatbusting days: low-fat cheese (or yogurt) + protein powder. I used to eat it several times a day, but then gave up dairy for a while to heal my arthritis.

Now dairy is back in my diet a few times a week with no ill effects, and I've been experimenting.

The first thing you need to know is that the cheesecake part of this creation is quite a loose concept and you can just go ahead and use whichever cheesecake recipe you prefer, with or without a base (these had none).

Here are some that have worked well for me in the past:

Kerryn's Baked Blueberry Cheesecakes

Almond Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

Sweetly Fit Protein Cheesecakes

No-Bake Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Standard, Non-healthified, No-Bake Cheesecake

When it comes to cheesecake, the world is your recipe book.  Somewhere within the 31 million Google indexed entries for 'cheesecake', there is surely one for you. If not, you have bigger issues than we have time to discuss here. ;)

What was in my "cheesecake" this time:

• 200g low-fat ricotta
• 200g quark
• 5 scoops (so about 120g) Sana Vanilla WPC
• tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp Erythritol

I simply processed this until smooth and divided into five cappuccino cups.

The topping is what it's all about.

• One cup of frozen berries (or fresh - that would work too)
• 1 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp Erythritol
• 2 tbsp Chia Seeds

• Opt: 1/4 tsp stevia (if you want it really sweet - I didn't bother with this)

Put everything in a saucepan on the stovetop and let it simmer on very low heat until it forms a kind of jelly.

Let this cool a bit. It will firm up.

Divide the topping over the cheesecakes and pop them all in the fridge. These are better eaten on the same day.

If you've got a favourite cheesecake recipe, please link it up in the comments. I'm quite keen to find a vegan or coconut based 'paleo' one.

That would be just the thing to start the week: a Monday mission. More cheesecake.  That sounds worthy.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Citrus Friands

No-Flour Citrus Friands

(gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free)

Firstly, let me apologise again for the slightly overdone friands. I set the buzzer for 10 minutes cook time, but just as it buzzed there was a huge cat scrap in the yard, which required human intervention. Then I spent a good five mins trying to catch the neighbour's cat to make sure Razzy hadn't pierced his jugular or something.  

By the time I gave up on that, then texted the neighbour to tell her to check Timmy over (he's fine), the friands were heading toward overcooked. I'll try again next weekend for a better pic, but in terms of edibility, these are o for awesome.

Ingredients

(makes 12)

• 2 cups of almond flour/meal
• 1 cup orange juice and pulp (I'll explain how to make this in the method section)
• 3/4 cup erythritol
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• Grated rind of half an orange and one lemon
• 1 egg and 1 egg white (two eggs would be fine too)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 to 1/2 tsp pure stevia powder (90% steviosides, no fillers)
• 1/2 tsp salt

• optional: 3/4 tsp citric acid

Method

Grease your muffin pan (or friand pan if you have one). These friands are fragile when done, so you need either a really well greased metal pan, or use paper muffin cups or (my choice) a silicone muffin tray. The silicone tray does not require greasing.

Put the erythritol and stevia into a bowl and mix well. You need the stevia to be well dispersed.  

A note about the sweeteners: 

The ratio of stevia to erythritol will affect the sweetness of the friands dramatically.  I experimented with the levels and found that 0.5% w/w of stevia worked the best and 1% was too sweet for my tastebuds (although some may like that level of sweetness). I'd recommend starting with 1/3 tsp stevia (0.5%), and it's easy enough to use less or more for your next batch.   

The beauty of erythritol is that it buffers the stevia aftertaste. They go together like berries and coconut yogurt. Also, please be aware that I am talking about using a pure stevia extract here (like this one) - not one that already has additives. Check the label ingredient list: it should only list stevia, and not already contain erythritol, maltodextrin or 'flavours'.  

Melt the coconut oil on your stovetop.

Mix all dry ingredients in with the erythritol/stevia. If you have citric acid, this adds a little extra 'bite' that I like in a citrus cake/muffin/friand and it helps the baking soda to react.

Add the rind, and the juice+pulp.  How to get the pulp: take the orange that you've grated half the rind off, cut it into quarters and then just squeeze the juice into the mix. Once the juice is out, mush the remaining orange innards through your fingers, removing any pips, and drop that in the bowl.

Add the egg, egg white and coconut oil and combine everything with a fork or whisk. You can whip it up a little near the end so that it goes a bit fluffy, but don't beat all the air out of it. This is not the moment to take out any frustrations with some extra vigorous whisking.

Drop in spoonfuls into your muffin tray and bake at about 180C (350F) for 10-15 minutes. Watch like a hawk as (IMO) they go from 'golden' to 'brown' in oh-point-five seconds.

Remove from the oven and commence the important step of waiting for them to cool completely. This builds character.

Do not even think about trying to remove them from the pan until the bottom of the pan can be touched and feels just slightly warm. Ideally, wait until there is no heat left.  Of course, if you like a pile of delicious friand crumbs instead of an actual friand, then go ahead. ;)

Please have a try and let me know how it goes. I'm always interested to know if my recipes are acceptable to the outside world.  

The Week in Eats! Le Sigh....

I'm going to throw in a Week in Eats. I know it's Tuesday, and my 'week' never is, but it rhymes and I've had a killer few days in the kitch with not a lot to show for it.

Underway is the cooking quest which shall be known as 'Cookin' with Erythritol'.  I've got several hundred kg's of it, and have this idea to whip up a bunch of awesome recipes and then promote it on the home page...

But, I'm having issues. I'm not blowing myself away with displays of kitchen genius. It hurts my ego.

This lemon syrup cake didn't work. The cake was a bit dry and the syrup crystallised back to erythritol, rather than soaking in and making the cake good. The resident cake fiend still made a dent in it though.

I love erythritol for sprinkling. It's perfect as a sugar substitute on things like pancakes and porridge, and does the job in smoothies and hot drinks, but baking is a bit hit and miss. I've made one batch of amazing friands, but otherwise, it's been a series of fails.  I need to do some research. Any ideas?

Is there a trick to cookin' with erythritol?

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Some Eats of the Week

(no breakfast pics today, I think you may start to throw stuff at me if you see any more buckwheat pancakes, right?..;):

Somebody ordered another two bottles of this. :D Not me...

..ok, it was me.  I shouldn't tell fibs, it gives me the guilts.

I have Swiss chocolate, from actual Switzerland, which for some reason is better than the locally made stuff, even though it's supposed to be the same recipe.  Pressies from Miss J (been missing her so much lately) :(    To develop some context, those are Swiss Alpine Marmots in the background (it's a wildlife calendar).  

These creatures can be spotted in the Swiss Alps, skipping around like Heidi. They make a crazy squealing noise when alarmed, or perhaps they just like to freak out the tourists from behind.  There is a stuffed one in my sister's lounge, which is kind of gross, but Miss J loves it. As a toddler she used to put her arm around it and stand there watching TV.

Gerry's Wraps, made here in Chch. What I like about these is, you can roll them and they don't crack up. They are super pliable, the ingredient list is short and there are many gluten-free varieties.

Something I did with.. mushrooms.  I like baked mushrooms, just like that. This may not be normal. Also, the presentation lacks.

Fermentation. There is much of it going on in the corner. Almond+cashew cheese (on the right), sprouted buckwheat mush and veges.

The wrap being put to its proper use. Those are panko coated pork schnitzels.

Using the classic sauerkraut recipe, I am attempting to create 'something' using cabbage and zucchini. I think this will be fab. I added grated and cubed zucchini.  That calico jar top makes me feel so earth mothery.

The semi-failed chocolate zucchini cake.  All gone now. ;D

Don't worry, there will definitely be another shot at that cake. Every day my zucchini plant welcomes me home with a gift of ever increasing size.

Pork salad.

..and now it's time to put on my blue blockers and start thinking about nothing.  I'm still not a sleeping pro, but there is improvement.  

If you have any tips about sleeping well that I didn't cover in this post, or if you can clue me up on making erythritol great in cakes, then please comment me.

Minty Smoothie, Sana stuff, Yoga and Yogurt

Welcome to Monday!




After a busy day of work, linear regression (stats revision) and Vinyasa Flow from Yogadownload, I've got a moment to relax, blog and down a post-yoga smoothie. It's a little bit green.