I was challenged to make a delicious cheesecake that would fill all the Keto requirements and my friend, Jocelyn, and I came up with this one. First of all the pecan crust with a hint of cinnamon is delicious with the silky texture of this cheesecake. The key is cream cheese, mascarpone and sour cream blended together. Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature and mix by a hand with a stiff spatula. If you mix it in an electric mixer, it tends to get too much air whipped into it and then it cracks and is a little drier. Then we wanted a little zing to our flavor profile and so we decided to top the cheesecake with a tart lemon curd and then drizzle a raspberry coulis over the top for presentation purpose. It was a flavor burst in the mouth. The cheesecake is delicious on its own as well if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making the lemon curd and sauce. 

Now my biggest challenge is writing this recipe down because I am not sure at times what proportions I used particularly on the pecan crust. So be flexible and make sure you have enough crust to cover a 9″x 13″ glass casserole pan.

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups pecans

6 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp erythritol or other granular sweetener

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

Cheesecake Filling

4 packages 8 0z full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2 8oz mascarpone packages

2 cups powdered Erythritol, Swerve or any granular sweetener (powder in a high speed blender)

5 large eggs, room temperature

8 oz sour cream, room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla extract or

juice of 1/2 lemon and lemon zest

Lemon Curd

2/3 cup of granular sugar substitute like Erythritol

3/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup unsalted butter

7 egg yolks

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp sea salt

Raspberry sauce

1 package raspberries

1/4 cup powdered sugar substitute, to taste

lemon juice to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pulse the pecans in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix in melted butter, sweetener, salt and cinnamon. Press the crust into a 9″ x  13″ casserole pan, along the bottom and up the sides. Make it a thin layer but well covered. Prebake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove.

Make the cheesecake filling by placing the cream cheese and mascarpone in a large mixing bowl. Beat by hand with a stiff spatula until light and creamy. Add in the sweetener a little bit at a time until thoroughly mixed in. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat with a whisk. Add into the cream cheese mix slowly, about one egg at a time and continue to mix vigorously by hand. Finally, add in the sour cream and vanilla and lemon juice and zest and mix thoroughly. Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared pan over the crust. Bake for 1/2 hour and then leave the oven door shut but turn off the temperature and leave in the oven for one more hour. Then remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool. (The center will still be a little jiggly when first removed from the oven.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Make the lemon curd. Over a double boiler, melt the butter in a medium sized bowl over the simmering water. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the sugar substitute, lemon juice and lemon zest. Keep mixing until well combined. Then whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, and cook until the curd starts to thicken, stirring continuously. Remove the curd from the heat and strain into a small bowl. Cool to room temperature. Spread over the top of the chilled cheesecake then chill in the refrigerator. (Or you can save the lemon curd in the refrigerator separately and just top your individual pieces as you serve the cheesecake.

For the raspberry sauce, using a plastic spatula, press the fresh raspberries through a fine mesh sieve to get a puree. Add sweetener and lemon juice to taste. Store in the refrigerator.

To serve, cut the cheesecake into squares. If you have already spread the lemon curd on top, just drizzle a little raspberry sauce over and serve. If not, spread a dollop of curd on top of each piece and then drizzle over the sauce. You will love it!