My husband and I are away from home so frequently that I have learned to become pretty adaptable wherever I am. I’m rarely home-sick for our apartment or even Montreal, anymore. When we were in the US this summer for four weeks, I did get home sick for Canada. As soon as we were across the border, I was fine. Four weeks seems to be the max I can endure away from my country.
The one thing that happens every time I’m away from home, is that I get home-sick for the food we love. The wheat-free and sugar-free food we love. Both our sets of parents are always very accommodating when they cook for us, but finding sugar-free things is not easy, which is why I always end up making things from scratch.
While we were visiting my in-laws for Christmas my mother-in-law made a No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake that looked so yummy. I’ve been looking for a good no-bake cheesecake recipe, so I gave this one a shot. It calls for bitter-sweet Bakers chocolate squares, so I knew it would be easy to sub in unsweetened chocolate and then add more natural sweeteners.
Last night I gave it a try. I’m very glad I did! It was glorious. I haven’t had a cheesecake in 10 months?
So if one of your goals for the new year was to eat healthier or you’ve finally resolved to go sugar-free, then here’s a recipe to try. I use NuNaturals powdered stevia, xylitol and agave (you can use honey instead, but if you’re concerned about glycemic index impact, then use more xylitol or stevia).
Ingredients
- 1/3c chopped almonds, toasted, or use a graham cracker/butter crust like I did.
- 2 packages (250g each) cream cheese softened,
- 1t powdered stevia
- 1/4c and 2T agave nectar
- 1/4c and 1T xylitol
- 6 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate
- 1 envelop unflavoured gelatin, or 1/4t tapioca starch
- 1c whipping cream, whipped
Directions
- Grease an 8 1/2″ springform pan.
- Sprinkle with almonds or press your graham base in the bottom
- Beat the cream cheese in your mixer until smooth. Add 1/2t of the stevia, 1/4c of agave and 1/4 xylitol.
- Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave starting with 1 minute, then reduce to 30 seconds. Once there are smaller chunks, just stir until it is smooth. Add the 2T agave, 1T xylitol, and 1/2t stevia. If the chocolate isn’t sweet enough for you, keep adding sweetener until it is in small amounts.
- Sprinkle the tapioca starch in 1/4c cold water in a microwave safe dish. Let sit 5 minutes, stir a few times to incorporate.
- Put tapioca water into the microwave. Cook for 10 seconds, stir, then 10 seconds again, stir, then 5 seconds. Mixture should turn clear and glue-like. Let sit to cool.
- Mix chocolate with cream cheese until fully incorporated.
- When tapioca is warm, mix thoroughly into the cream cheese mixture.
- Whip the whip cream, then fold into the cream cheese until fully incorporated. Pour into the pan and put in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Tip: if you use the gelatin instead of the tapioca, it will be less firm.
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and who filled out the feedback form. I was surprised at how many people responded. I’m basically super surprised anyone reads this ever. I thought you might be somewhat interested in hearing why other people read the blog. I did a pretty bad job at asking questions (and double posting them, too) so sorry if you felt like I was asking the same question over and over. I kind of was. I’ve also realized I’m becoming more and more of a nerd. Metrics! Graphs! Data! Stats! Who knew these things could be so helpful?