Eggless, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Forest Fruit Cheesecake

Hi, welcome to my go-to recipe for cheesecake. I’ve perfected it in time and now I only vary the fruit I add to the filling and topping. Well, it’s not quite perfect (for me, that is; but I hope you’ll see it tastes pretty much like restaurant-style cheesecake) because of the erythritol, but for a sugar-free recipe, it comes close.

First, make the crust with crushed cookies and melted butter (with some added erythritol/sugar and salt, maybe), if you can eat gluten. I can’t do that, so here’s how I made it:

12 heaping tbsp gluten-free flour (for instance some chickpea and some soy flour)
5 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp coconut oil
10 drops stevia
2 flat tsp ground sesame seeds
1 flat tsp ground ginger
1 packet of baking powder
a pinch of salt

Add about 100 ml/3.5 fl oz water (after you mix the dry ingredients together) and work this dough into a ball. Transfer it to a 10” or 9″ springform pan (NB: I only had a 30 cm/12” pan) and with your finger press the dough from the center of the pan toward the sides, and then a little up the sides.

For the filling (which should be right for a springform pan; it was too much for my tart/pie pan) I used:

2 cans of coconut milk (mine were 400 ml/13.5 fl oz)
2 packets of Philadelphia cream cheese (mine were 200 g/7 oz)
1 small packet of frozen raspberries (mine was 300 g/10.5 oz; save a few raspberries for the topping)
100 drops stevia
4 tbsp cornstarch
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp natural vanilla extract

Please note that cornstarch is converted into glucose by your body (and quickly!) so if you’re diabetic, try making this recipe without any cornstarch—just be sure you use a water bath.

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Mix all these ingredients for the filling in a blender, but make a slurry first by diluting the starch with a few tablespoons of water, or else you’ll get clumps.

Again, my oven pan was not exactly a cheesecake pan, which is why I couldn’t fit all the above goodness in it, but you should be able to fit it all in a springform pan and get restaurant-style cheesecake.

Pour the blended mix onto the crust and bake in a water bath (if you don’t have a large roasting pan, just pour some water into the oven tray—the one your oven came with—and place your cheesecake pan there; a water bath is technically not even required if you’re using cornstarch) for an hour at 180°C/350°F (in a preheated oven), and then turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake to rest for another hour in the oven with the door shut. Then bring it out of the oven and let it cool at room temperature. Once cool, cover it with plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge overnight.

The next day get ready to make a topping for your yummy cheesecake. I used:

1 small packet of frozen forest fruit (300 g/10.5 oz) with a few additional frozen raspberries
25 drops stevia
2 tbsp potato starch diluted in a few tablespoons of water
100 ml/3.5 fl oz water

Cook the mixture on the stove until it simmers gently for about 5 minutes, and then let it cool and add it to the top of your cheesecake with a spoon.

Enjoy!

NB: In the above recipe I used a handful of raspberries in the mixed forest fruit sauce on the top to give a hint of what’s inside. What I didn’t do and should have also done is keep some of the raspberries and blackberries whole for a nicer decoration. Which is what I did at a later time with a mango cheesecake with raspberry topping!

Just like the previous cheesecake, this mango-rich one (made with 250 g/9 oz frozen mango) is gluten-free, sugar-free, and eggless. It is thus healthier than most such cakes out there. True, it’s not vegan and not low-fat, but it contains some healthy coconut milk and none of the saturated fats in sour cream or heavy cream, which are usually added to the Philadelphia cream cheese in such recipes.

And then adding a rich forest fruit topping and mixing frozen raspberries or mango in the filling gives important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power to this dessert.

The only thing I’d like to still tweak is the stevia, which is, well, an acquired taste. So to minimize its flavor and make this dessert extra creamy and smooth, I decided to add whipped cream before serving. It’s not how it’s done with cheesecake, but I found it to be a really good idea. It also tastes better if you heat it up a little (before adding the whipped cream).

In the future I’ll be experimenting more with adding soaked and blended dates, along with pure maple syrup, to desserts, so stay posted. Such things can be costly, but every once in a while it’s worth indulging.

Note, however, that these foods, while not being table sugar, are mostly made up of sugars, so please do yourself a favor and don’t use them if you’re diabetic. Maple syrup, for instance, while also packing some great minerals and phenolic compounds, among others, is about 68% sucrose (with about 0.43% glucose and 0.30% fructose—for more, see this study). And while dates contain some fiber and important minerals, such as potassium, manganese, copper, and magnesium along with vitamins B6, niacin, pantothenic acid, and others, one medjool date contains more than 66% of its weight (16 grams) in sugars. Sixteen grams is equivalent to four teaspoons! So maple syrup and medjool dates definitely pose a challenge to those of us looking to limit our sugar intake. But there are ways to use even delights like maple syrup moderately. You can get good mileage for it in a salad, for instance.

Here’s a leakproof springform pan from Nordic Ware!

And here’s a mango raspberry cheesecake with dates, baked in a springform pan.

Coming up: palate-enticing salads and a supremely satisfying recipe for baked apples that may truly surprise you if you’re used to the more complicated ones for apple cobbler.

To a happier, healthier life,

Mira

P.S. I’d appreciate a pin/share if you found my post helpful. Thank you! 🙂