Nearly-no-carb Boysenberry Cheesecake

[Pseudonym]

After the success of my Nearly-no-carb Coffee and Kahlua Cheesecake, I decided to try another variation - the classic Boysenberry Cheesecake. Without the Kahlua, this one has even fewer carbs. And it's yum. The tartness of the berries offsets the cheesecake so it's not too rich, not too sweet. Expect to eat large portions, then go back for seconds!

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Nearly-no-carb Boysenberry Cheesecake

Serves 6-8

Boysenberry coulis

4 cups frozen boysenberries

3½ tsp gelatine

Base

1 cup ground almonds

¼ cup Splenda (or use brown sugar if your diet allows)

25g butter, cut into 1cm cubes

Filling

500g tub of cottage cheese (I like Tararua Traditional)

½ cup Splenda (or use castor sugar if your diet allows)

1½ tsp vanilla essence

1 Tbsp gelatine

100ml boiling water

To prepare the berry coulis, simply place the berries in a saucepan, and add just enough water to wet the bottom so they don't stick. Start on a high heat, but turn down to low once you've got things going. Keep stewing the berries, stirring occasionally, until they've totally broken down to a liquid - about 5-10mins. Dissolve in the gelatine, a spoon at a time, while you're waiting.

Now we need to remove all the pips. Tip the berry coulis into a sieve, and push it through with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon. Scrape the underside of the sieve to unclog it. Keep going until you've got as much of the mixture through as you can, then discard the seeds. You should end up with about 2 cups of seedless berry coulis. Put the coulis in the fridge, as it will mix with the cheesecake filling better if it's slightly thickened.

To cook the base, preheat oven to 180°C. Take an 18cm round cake tin (I strongly suggest using a spring-form tin if you want to remove your cheesecake intact) and line it with baking paper. Cut out a circle for the base, and strips for the sides. If doubling the recipe, use a 23cm tin.

TIP: Rather than cutting a perfectly-fitting circle for the base, leave a corner on it, and close the springform tin over the top so that your corner pokes out the side - it makes getting the finished cheesecake off the base even easier.

Combine all ingredients for the base in a food processor or blender (if using a small blender, you may need to put it through in batches). Chop the butter through until the dry ingredients look less powdery, and start to clump together slightly. You want it to form soft lumps when you pinch it.

Tip the almond mix into the paper-lined tin, and press it down firmly to form a solid base about 5mm thick. If you have surplus base mix, you can freeze it, and use it as a crumble topping. Bake for 10-15mins, or until lightly golden.

Now for the main cheesecake filling. First measure the boiling water into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatine until totally dissolved. Add the Splenda and vanilla essence and mix until this too is dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly, as this will shortly go into the cottage cheese and we don’t want to melt that.

Wash out your food processor or blender and start blending the cottage cheese (again, you may need to do this in batches). Keep going until it’s absolutely smooth and glossy. No lumps. Add the gelatine vanilla mixture and stir in thoroughly.

Take the berry coulis out of the fridge, and gently pour half of it into the cheesecake filling. If you're not gentle enough, the coulis will sink straight to the bottom, so try to spread it around. Fold the coulis into the cheesecake to achieve a marbled effect.

By now, the almond base should have cooled enough that it won’t melt the filling. Being careful to keep the baking paper lining the edges of the tin, pour the filling over the base.

The final step is to (gently) pour the remaining coulis over the cheesecake so you have a solid berry layer on top. However, depending on the consistency of your mixtures, you may need to put the cheesecake in the fridge to solidify for a bit first.

Let the cheesecake to set in fridge for several hours before serving. You can either leave the coulis topping as is, or garnish with shavings of white chocolate and/or slivered almonds.

Nutritional data

Total per cheesecake: 84g protein, 87g carbs, 90g fat

Per 1/8th serve: 11g protein, 11g carbs, 11g fat

[hhhh1]

looks nice as in the pic. definately beats my dessert of protein+milk+banana+gelatine. will have to try make it sometime

[drizzt]

Woah I have to try this! If anything sucks about dieting it's that cheesecake doesn't fit into it. Life is almost complete :notworthy:

[Pseudonym]

I've got to say, I'm split as to which is the best cheesecake. The Coffee and Kahlua is easier to make, and it's damn good, but the Boysenberry is definitely worth the extra fiddliness.

I'm doing the Coffee and Kahlua for Christmas dinner, so I'll be able to compare the two more accurately. Although I might have to make the Boysenberry again as well. Just for science.

[Ronin]

I'm gonna have to recomend Pseudo for the New Years Honours List for culinary services to the bodybuilding community. :clap:

[Pseudonym]

Haha! Cheers, Ronin. I've got a few more ideas I want to try out in the New Year, too.

I've just added the nutritional data to the recipe above.

[crazyfacials]

how about you just make and sell some for us lazy bastards!

[Gym rat]

Or a NZBB cook book

[pushme]

have you calculated the amount of Carb, Protein and Fat for each slice of the cheese cake?!

[hhhh1]

have you calculated the amount of Carb, Protein and Fat for each slice of the cheese cake?!

it's in the first post