A Very Special Recipe.

As stated previously, this first recipe I decided to include has been kindly donated by my mother.  The inspiration for this particular recipe was my mum herself who, being a diabetic, had to forgo her love of cheesecake for quite sometime before deciding it was time she tried some sugar free and half sugar recipes.  She played around with different recipes trying out sugar substitutes and halving sugar amounts to find something that was suitable for her, but still tasted just as good.  This particular recipe has been a family favourite in our house for a while now and I imagine, and hope, it will remain this way.  Mum said to me as I began to make this one that 

"Having diabetes doesn't mean you can't have your cake and eat it!"  

Ingredients:

12 Digestive Biscuits

2oz Butter

500g Quark

3 Eggs

3oz Sugar and 3oz sweetener

Lemon Zest

2tsp Vanilla Extract

250g Creme Fraiche

Personally I think this recipe is absolutely fantastic!  I decided to go with the half sugar quantities when making this as I felt a no sugar cheesecake could be a bit adventurous for my first ever attempt.  The finished product was almost as good as the way mum makes it, but of course, not quite that good as no one can beat mums cooking.  The consistency was perfect and the base crunchy but not overdone.  Being a baked cheesecake, which I didn't know before exploring mums recipe tin, I wasn't sure how the consistency would compare to fresh cream cheese recipes but I thought it was just as good if not better!  I was also a little bit worried about baking a cheesecake, because i have a tendency to forget that I've put something in the oven.  But in this case it turned out perfectly with minimal disaster, (except for the mess I left behind.  Needless to say, mum was not impressed).

As well as trying to make this a low sugar cheesecake, mum has also managed to convert it to a low fat one by replacing full fat cream cheese with Quark instead, which is a bonus because it means we can have that tiny bit more without feeling quite so guilty about it.  However, there was no method included on this recipe which meant I had to keep running backwards and forwards to grab mum to ask about the next bit!  I guess by now she has perfected the recipe so much that she doesn't need a method any more, unfortunately, I did. I managed to persuade her to write out a method for me in the end though so I could include it for you all here:

Method:

1.  Heat oven to 160c/fan 140c/or gas 3.

2.  Crush the biscuits in a strong food bag with a rolling pin.  Mix together with the butter and press into a 20cm springform or loose-based cake tin.  Heat oven to 160c/fan 140c/or gas 3.

3. Put the remaining cheesecake ingredients, except the fruit topping into a food processor and process until smooth.  Pour into the tin and shake to level.

4.  Bake for 40 mins, then turn off oven and leave cheesecake to cool for 1 hour.  When completely cool, chill overnight. Don't worry if it has cracked on top, as this will be hidden by the fruit.

5.  Remove the cheesecake from the tin onto a serving plate and allow to cool. 

6.  Scatter over the fruit and dust with icing sugar if required.

Overall, I think this recipe works wonderfully as it means everyone can enjoy a piece!  Being low sugar and low fat in my opinion has made this cheesecake even more enjoyable as I don't feel as bad for eating it! It made a lovely finish to a nice sit down family meal, which everyone could appreciate.  It's almost became a tradition last year, that every time I would come home from university for a visit, which was not very often at all, that she should make a homemade lasagne and this cheesecake.  It always gave me something to look forward to after the long drive home.