Light New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze
A slice of heaven at 1/2 the fat and a third of the calories. Serve this dessert at your next event to rave reviews.
Ingredients
non-stick aluminum oilnon-stick cooking or baking spray with flour
Crust:
12 whole regular or gluten-free graham crackers broken into fours
1/4 cup raw or regular sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling:
1 16-oz. container 2% fat cottage cheese
3 8-oz packages 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 3/4 cup raw or regular sugar mixed with 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp. real vanilla extract
2 tsp. real lemon extract
1 tsp. lemon zest
pinch salt (optional)
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to center and preheat to 325 F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick foil. Spray bottom and sides with baking or cooking spray and set aside.
2. Crust: Using a food processor, add crackers and sugar to work bowl and process into fine crumbs. Add melted butter and process until well combined.
3. Transfer crust mixture to prepared pan, pressing crumbs evenly onto the bottom. Bake crust 8 to 12 minutes, remove from oven and set aside to cool before filling.
4. Filling: Place cottage cheese in a food processor or blender and process until smooth and no lumps remain, about 2 minutes, scraping down work bowl as needed. Fill an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with hot water and place in oven on bottom rack.
5. Place softened cream cheese with sugar and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl and blend at medium speed until smooth. Turn mixer to low/stir speed. Add pureed cottage cheese, eggs, extracts, zest, and salt to mixture, blending until combined. Do not over mix.
6. Pour batter into springform pan. If necessary, smooth out top with a spatula. Bake at 325 F for 55 to 60 minutes, or until sides have slightly risen and pulled away from pan and center is barely set. Turn off heat and let it finish baking in the oven with door ajar for 1 hour.
7. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool for 2½ to 3 hours. While cooling, run a knife around the outside edge of cheesecake pan each hour to keep it from sticking to the sides of the pan. Wrap cake securely and chill at least 4 hours to over night.
8. To Serve: Remove the sides from the pan and blot any moisture from the top of cake with a paper towel before slicing and topping with Strawberry Glaze, berries or topping of choice.
Nutrition
Nutritional Facts: 265 calories; 13g fat; 33g Carbohydrate; 2g fiber; 7g protein; 64mg cholesterol; 320mg Sodium.Traditional Recipe Nutrition Facts: 440 calories; 26g fat; 40g carbohydrates; 2g fiber;
8g Protein; 143mg cholesterol; 400mg sodium.
Strawberry Glaze
1 16 oz. container frozen sweetened strawberries or
4 cups fresh or frozen whole or sliced strawberries
1/4 cup sugar if using unsweetened berries
2 tbsp. berry liqueur, framboise, kirsch, etc. (optional)
Place strawberries in food processor with sugar and liqueur and process until smooth. Transfer to covered container and chill until ready to use. Glaze may be made in advance.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts for Strawberry Glaze: 3 1/2 cups or 28 2 tbps. servings at 44 calories; 0 fat; 11g Carbohydrate; 1.4g fiber; 0.2g protein; 0mg cholesterol; 0 Sodium.To remove springform pan bottom from cheesecake to serve:
1. Remove the pan sides. Carefully cover the top of the cheesecake with a sheet of nonstick foil or wrap followed by a cake round and quickly flip it over. Slowly remove the pan from the bottom of the cheesecake. Then lift the corners of the foil and gently peel it off the crust.
2. If desired, center a paper doily over the bottom of the crust followed by another cake round and carefully but quickly flip the cheesecake crust side down on to serving plate or stand, removing the cake round and cover from the top of cheesecake.
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