Tag: cheesecake

Categories
Dessert

There is no point(s) to this easy ‘cheesecake’

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.
Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.

Although I have never joined an official weight loss program—tracking points, writing down my calorie counts and eating only pre-portioned foods delivered to my door—I have always been fascinated how they work for so many people to slim down.

For me, when working on trying to eat healthier, I normally just follow the rules of “eat more veggies” and “eat less sugar.”

But I am definitely addicted to sweets, and it’s a struggle some days to keep myself from indulging—especially since I know how to bake, and my pantry is well-stocked with supplies.

This week, though, I took a page out of the weight loss program handbook and tried a “zero-point” dessert, which for those unfamiliar, means that a person on Weight Watchers could eat it with no penalties on their diet for the day. It’s low fat, low sugar and low calorie.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog, “Our Wabi Sabi Life.” You can find the original post at https://ourwabisabilife.com/0-point-weight-watchers-cheesecake/. I chose to add some fruit to our cheesecake, doubled the vanilla, and I substituted the cheesecake-flavored pudding mix for a vanilla one, because my local grocery store didn’t have it.

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Zero-point Cheesecake

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.
Course Dessert
Keyword cheesecake, diet dessert, eggs, instant pudding, low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, non-fat Greek yogurt, Splenda, sugar substitute, vanilla, Weight Watchers

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons sugar substitute
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
  • 3.4 to 3.9 ounce box instant sugar-free pudding (cheesecake flavor or just your favorite)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a glass pie dish by lightly greasing it with butter or margarine.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla extract until everything is combined well.
  • Beat in the yogurt and pudding mix, and once the mixture is smooth, pour it into your prepared dish.
  • Bake for 30 minutes. Once the cheesecake cools enough to handle it, place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
  • Serve with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

This was decently good. I would not say that it was a perfect substitute for full-fat cheesecake, although it might have been a bit closer in flavor if I would have had access to cheesecake-flavored pudding.

That being said, it was a bit like a custard texture, and especially with some fresh cherries I had in my freezer from this summer, it was a nice, guilt-free option. It would also be a nice option for people who are low-sugar.

I wondered if it would be good with a lemon or chocolate pudding mix, too, or even with a fat-free Greek yogurt with some flavoring to it. The possibilities are vast.

I still don’t think I want to jump into a structured diet plan, but it’s nice to have some recipes in my repertoire for those times when depending on my own willpower isn’t hacking it.

And, yeah, I know there’s irony in the fact that I’ll probably share something high-calorie, high-fat and delicious with you in this space again very soon. Sometimes you just have to live a little.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 5, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Whip up a fluffy cheesecake from Japan this week

Japanese cheesecake has a completely different texture than traditional cheesecakes. It's a lighter, fluffier cake, best served with fruit or chocolate.
Japanese cheesecake has a completely different texture than traditional cheesecakes. It’s a lighter, fluffier cake, best served with fruit or chocolate.

I spend a bit of time each week scrolling through my Pinterest feed, hunting down new recipes I might want to try.

It’s funny how certain recipes start trending suddenly. I’ve seen people get super excited about hot cocoa bombs, charcuterie boards and overnight oats. It starts as a trickle of posts, and pretty soon, there’s every variation of whatever hot, new idea is out there.

It was several years ago that a trend came and went for Japanese cheesecake. A 2016 article in “Delish” notes that these cheesecakes “[…] have a more fluffy, sponge-like texture than classic cheesecake […]” because the recipe calls for separating the eggs and whipping the egg whites before incorporating them into the batter.

When Japanese cheesecake was trending, I placed a few recipes for it on my Pinterest board, and then I never actually tried making one. But, in direct conflict with my grade school D.A.R.E. classes, I finally gave in to the peer pressure this week and gave it a try.

The recipe I tried came from the blog “Foxy Folksy.” You can find the original post at https://www.foxyfolksy.com/japanese-cheesecake/. I didn’t mess with the ingredients, but I did refine the directions below.

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Japanese Cheesecake

Japanese cheesecake has a completely different texture than traditional cheesecakes. It's a lighter, fluffier cake, best served with fruit or chocolate.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Japanese
Keyword cheesecake, cream cheese, Japanese

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar divided
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 5 eggs separated
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • powdered sugar for sprinkling
  • fruit or chocolate sauce for topping

Instructions

  • Line the bottom of an eight-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
  • Wrap the outside with two layers of aluminum foil, making sure the pan is as water tight as possible.
  • In an oven-proof pan or pot large enough to fit your springform pan in, fill it halfway (or enough that it won’t splash over the top of your springform) with water and place it in the oven. Preheat to 390 degrees.
  • In a large, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the cream cheese, stirring every 30 seconds, until it’s melted and smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar. Whisk in the milk and lemon juice and then whisk in the egg yolks.
  • Sift the flour and cornstarch into the cream cheese mixture, continuing to stir until the batter is smooth.
  • In another mixing bowl or in a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on low for about two minutes. Add in the cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until the mixture starts to get foamy. Then add 1/4 cup sugar, while continuing to beat the mixture over medium or medium-high speed. Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
  • Gently fold the beaten egg whites until everything is well-combined.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and tap it on the counter to get any air bubbles out of the mixture.
  • Place the springform into the preheated water bath in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.
  • Do not open the oven door, but just turn the heat off and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another 30 minutes.
  • Finally, open the oven door a bit and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another 10 minutes.
  • Serve immediately while warm or refrigerate the cheesecake before slicing and serving.
  • Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and then top the slices with your favorite fruit or with chocolate sauce.

I chose to serve my cheesecake cold with some strawberries, and it turned out really well. It was a lightly sweet dessert with a very different texture than I’ve ever tried.

And now I understand why Japanese cheesecake became such a trend online. I might have to give a few other popular dishes a try. I still don’t understand the draw to kombucha or sushi burritos, but maybe you’ll see me experiment with those in a few years, too.

This recipe first appeared in print on Jan. 27.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert Uncategorized

Candy bar cheesecake brings king-sized flavor

If you're in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.
If you’re in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.

We have a yearly tradition of getting together with our friends for the first round of the NFL playoffs. We eat, yell at the TV and have a good time.

It’s one of the few times during the year we all set aside to spend time together.

This year, we decided to wait for our party until this past weekend, when the Chiefs would be playing for a spot in the Super Bowl, and as is common knowledge by now, we were not disappointed.

Our basement was full of a big group of friends, and Joey even borrowed a second television so that we had great sight lights for everyone in the room. We had a pretty nice spread on our snack table, of course.

I made a new kind of cookie bar I was excited about and decided I’d just take a photo of them for my column after the game was over. Surely there would be leftovers, right?

Yeah. There were not.

So my plan to give you an idea for a great Super Bowl snack kind of backfired on me, since they were clearly such a great football snack that I couldn’t keep even one to photograph, so I’ll be making them again in the near future to get a good photo to share, but I’m going to give you another idea instead that, thank goodness, I did manage to photograph before it all disappeared.

This recipe comes from the blog “Together as Family.” You can find it at https://togetherasfamily.com/toffee-cheesecake-pie. I added extra vanilla in my version.

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No Bake Toffee Cheesecake Pie

If you're in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.
Course Dessert
Keyword candy bar, cheesecake, no bake, toffee

Ingredients

  • 9- inch prepared graham cracker crust regular or chocolate
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened (I used fat free)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 8 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed
  • 8 ounce bag of chocolate toffee bits OR 6 Heath bars chopped

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until it’s smooth.
  • Beat in the whipped topping, and then fold in the toffee pieces, saving a handful to sprinkle on the top.
  • Spread the mixture into the prepared crust and top with the remaining toffee pieces.
  • Cover the pie and refrigerate for six to eight hours or overnight. (For some reason, I never realized that the plastic insert in a pre-made graham cracker crust is meant to be flipped over and used as a domed lid for the fridge, so I was pretty excited about finding that out.) Slice and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

When you slice this pie, you may want to opt for smaller pieces, as it’s pretty rich, and a little goes a long way. Plus, if you’re hosting a big party, it will let everyone sample more goodies.

I shared this pie with friends awhile back for a different gathering, and it was a big hit. It was also a nice respite from having to deal with the oven for a bit. That’s one thing I often don’t like about baking right before company comes over—heating up the house more than necessary.

When the Super Bowl comes around in February, I think I’ll plan on some more cookie bars, and this pie might make another appearance on our snack table as well.

One thing I’ve learned as a Chiefs fan is that you may not always be happy after every game, but as long as you have a paper plate full of something delicious, you can get over it pretty quickly.

Go Chiefs!

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 23, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Sprinkle in some fun this Fourth

Cheesecake sprinkle cookies come together quickly and add lots of color to your dessert table.
Cheesecake sprinkle cookies come together quickly and add lots of color to your dessert table.

For July 4th this year, Joey and I were invited to spend the afternoon and evening with my sister and brother-in-law, and of course, my wonderful niece.

She’s quickly approaching 2 years old, and although she probably won’t stay up long enough to see any fireworks this year, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun playing in the backyard before it’s time for bed.

I’m also going to bring along a little treat to spoil her just a bit, since that’s what aunts are for (at least that’s what I decided long ago).

So, when I was looking online for a recipe to use a box of cheesecake flavored instant pudding, I found in the back of my pantry, I discovered the perfect Fourth of July treat to share: cheesecake sprinkle cookies.

They’re perfect for the Fourth because there’s no frosting to melt, they don’t require refrigeration, and they’re full of bursts of color, just like Fourth of July fireworks.

The recipe I found came from the blog “Simple Sweet Recipes.” You can find the original post at http://simplesweetrecipes.com/sprinkles-cookies/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Cheesecake Sprinkle Cookies

Cheesecake sprinkle cookies come together quickly and add lots of color to your dessert table.
Course Dessert
Keyword cheesecake, cookies, instant pudding, sprinkles

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3.4 ounces cheesecake instant pudding mix
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sprinkles plus more for topping cookies

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
  • Add the baking soda, pudding mix, and one cup of flour and mix until combined. Add the other cup of flour.
  • Once everything is combined, mix in the sprinkles.
  • Roll the dough into about one-inch balls and place them about one inch apart on a baking sheet. Press a few extra sprinkles into the top of each cookie.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are set (they won’t really brown on top). Let them cool for a bit on the cookie sheet before transferring them to an airtight container.

I didn’t think there was anything that screamed “cheesecake” about the flavor of these cookies. Really, they’re just excellent, soft sugar cookies that look super fun.

The recipe author suggests that you could use other types of instant pudding, too, so you could easily toss in some vanilla or even lemon with these if you don’t want to use the cheesecake flavor. I’m tempted to try using chocolate, but then again, I’m always tempted to use chocolate.

After I finished this batch, I couldn’t wait to get them over to share with my family, but since I decided to bake several days early, I’ll just have to let them sit in their container on the counter until then.

But, since I also believe in sampling my own baking, I’m just hoping they last that long.

This piece first appeared in print on July 4, 2019.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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