Turtle (or Mud-Pie) Gluten-Free & Low Carb Cheesecake

Well, I made it through the first week of low-carbing.  I hit that "keto-flu" wall on Wednesday - major headache and achey body (although that may also have been attributed a little bit to my run on Monday and swim on Tuesday).  But, I felt better by Thursday - which was a good thing, because 2 hours of sand volleyball in the miserable cold was hard to take when I felt okay.. I can't imagine how bad it would have been had I been flu-y also.  So far, I'm down 4 lbs.  I love that mega first-week loss that comes with low-carbing as your body flushes the fluids your carbs have been holding onto.  I know this rate of weight loss won't last, but for my long-term motivation it's nice to start off on a high.

Tomorrow I'm going to an Easter lunch with the family of a good friend.  As I'm intending to keep low-carb, and my friend's dad is diabetic, I'm bringing a low-carb (Sugar-free) and also gluten-free cheesecake (recipe below).   They're serving smoked ham (which is nice instead of honey glazed), scalloped potatoes, brussels sprouts with pecans, deviled eggs and corn on the cob.  I'll skip the potatoes and the corn, but I should be able to keep low-carb with the rest.  Don't get me wrong, it'll be a high-calorie meal, but as long as I'm not rained out on volleyball tomorrow night, I'll more than burn it off.

You want this - chocolatey, coffee, caramel
and pecan cheesecake.  Low-carb (& gluten-free)
and 12 net carbs and 431 calories per serving.

Anyway - on to the recipe.  I've made a variation on this once before and it is YUM.  The only thing I'm really adding this time is a bit of caramel drizzle, since I found Walden Farms has one that is zero calories and zero carbs, and some coffee flavoring into the cheesecake.  So instead of this being just my chocolate swirl cheesecake, I'm calling it mudpie.  Although I guess it could be turtle too. Using the pecans in the crust (this is my recipe crust when I make key lime pie too, but I haven't attempted a low-carb one of those yet), makes sure this can be gluten-free.  Splenda in place of sugar, and some specific SF products that I've bought (the chocolate syrup and the caramel syrup) make sure I can keep it sugar-free.  This is going to be a high-calorie and rich cheesecake, so small portions are plenty - This serves 12 pieces.

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/2 Cups pecans (6 oz)
• 1 Tablespoons granular sugar substitute (sucralose), divided
• 1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

• 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened (I used Philadelphia 1/3 fat neufchâtel)
• 1 tub mascarpone cheese
• 2/3 cup Splenda
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 packet of instant coffee (I used Taster's choice)
• ½ cup sugar free chocolate syrup (Hershey's makes one, but I used Best Choice)

Ganache on top

• 6 ounces bittersweet 60% baking chocolate (I used Ghirardeli)
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Garnish

• Walden Farms sugar-free caramel syrup (Smucker's makes a SF one too, but it has more calories and a few carbs, and the texture is probably a bit thicker).
• A few toasted pecan halves

Directions

1. Combine pecans, 1 tablespoon Splenda and cinnamon in a food processor. Process until finely ground. Toss with butter; press onto bottom of a 9-inch spring-form pan, with foil on the outside of the pan to ensure that the seam is covered. Bake until golden and set, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. 

   

   This part of the process smells incredible.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, mascarpone and Splenda until smooth. Beat in heavy cream instant coffee and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
3. Split ½ batter into another bowl.  In the mixer bowl, add ½ cup chocolate syrup and beat until combined.
4. Add the coffee mix to the bottom of the spring form pan in dollops, then add dollups of the chocolate-coffee mix in between and on top.  Spread the top layer to ensure it's an even thickness, and then drag a knife in a swirl pattern to swirl the flavors.
   
5. Bake at 325° for 65-75 minutes, set into a water filled jelly roll pan (but staying below the height of the foil, until center is just set and top appears dull. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. 

   

   Too bad you can't see the swirls

6. For topping, place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Spread over top of cheesecake and add toasted pecans before the ganache layer sets. Refrigerate over night.   

   

   The ganache will dull a bit when it's cooled,
   and this will look much better once it's out of the pan.

7. Drizzle with sugar-free caramel syrup before serving.