Saturday 22 November 2014

Keep Calm and Eat LCHF Chocolate Cheesecake

Many people who start on the journey of removing sugar, and carbohydrates from their diet initially lose a lot of weight and then stall. At this point, most people start researching or questioning their options and we lose our calm. Confusion reigns, because there is absolutely no clear answer, you have to make up your own mind and take a leap of faith to some degree.
I know it feels overwhelming. But KEEP CALM is the best advice I have. The information overload is huge. Doubts and fears are what our media-based society thrives on. It is more newsworthy to state in bold letters: Prof X says Tim Noakes is wrong again. The journalists report on sensation. Just as much as people use media to get their message out, it is very seldom balanced and fair. The balance and fairness factor is up to YOU. So Bant away and keep calm. If you made the choice to change your lifestyle based on health reasons like me, remember that those reasons are still valid and true. Try to avoid the sensation media, don't debate your choice with acquaintances, and even family. People will not change their mind unless they are ready and your debating skills will not make a difference to their state of mind.

So for those tough days, when life gets you down, bake Banting friendly cheesecake and enjoy it smugly while people criticize and argue about our lifestyle :-)

Here's my Choc Cheesecake Keep Calm Recipe

For the base:
125g butter, melted
3 tbls of almonds, chopped
about 1/2 cup of coconut flour (I add to the melted butter until it has the right consistency to press into the base)

For the filling:
2 packets of full fat cream cheese (room temperature)
200 ml cream
1 tub of sour cream (creme fresh)
1 tub of full fat cottage cheese
4 eggs
2 slabs of 90% Lindt dark chocolate, melted
75 ml of xylitol
2 packets of stevia powder (optional)

Prepare a container big enough to fit your pan into. You will bake the cake in a water bath. I double up on a foil cover for my pan, two layers of foil on the outside of the pan to prevent water from spoiling your cake.

For the base I melt the butter and add the flour and mix in the nut bits. I use a round spring form pan and line the bottom and sides with baking paper. Press the buttered flour into a nice uniform base and blind bake at 160degC. The base should just start browning. Remove and let it cool.

For the filling, mix the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, add cream slowly followed by the sour cream and cottage cheese.  Once all is nicely creamy start adding the eggs one by one. Mix the stevia and xylitol in and then slowly pour in the chocolate whilst mixing. It should stiffen slightly.

Pour into your your pan on top of your crust. Then put the pan into the water bath (protected by foil) and then bake for 90 to 100 minutes at 160C.

Take out the cake and put it in the fridge overnight for the best chocolate (mouse) cheesecake EVER.

Enjoy!