Babinka's
Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients -- Ovo-Lacto Vegeterian
My Czech grandmother ("babinka" or "baba" just
means "grandma" in Czech, and other Slavic languages) had a
great cheesecake recipe. Of course, her original
recipe called for a simple handmade flour crust. The
flour crust is not healthy for diabetics, but the Cheesecake
itself -- if not sweetened much -- is relatively healthy for
diabetics.
For recipes like this, where a "crust" is important, I have a
few ways of "cheating" to stay keto. Many grocery stores
offer pre-made pie crusts made of crushed pecan pieces.
They have a texture somewhat like graham cracker crusts, and are
fairly healthy for diabetics. It wouldn't be tough to
improvise your own favorite nut crust if you have finely crushed
pecans, almonds, or walnuts etc. on hand. Mix a cup of
these with about 1/2 cup softened butter and knead it out into a
pie pan to make your own crust. These can benefit from
toasting in the oven for a few minutes before adding the pie
filling.
Another alternative is Phyllo dough. It's fragile and a
little tough to work with but with a care and practice, even
beginners can pick it up. Phyllo dough of course comes
from processed flour, but it's such a small amount
of flour (a fraction of a gram per serving slice) that I don't
feel guilty about using it for a crust. Buy rolls of
Phyllo dough from the refrigerated dessert section of a grocery
store. Sometimes you can find pre-made empty dessert cups
of Phyllo, for making tarts, but those are relatively expensive
and contain kind-of a large amount of the dough per
serving. Instead I tend to cut the sheets into sizes
appropriate for my dessert -- a pie tin, or for example muffin
cups or mini-loaf cups... Then I brush warm melted butter
onto a single sheet of of the cut Phyllo dough, (both sides),
and layer it into the tin. I'll pile 3 or 4 layers of the
greased dough into the tin, reaching up the sides of the tin,
and just naturally there will be wrinkles and air spaces which
will keep your Phyllo crust light & crispy.
Bake this dough in the tin, but without any filling, around 350
degrees for roughly 10 to 12 minutes so as to crisp it up before
adding the fillings. Sometimes there are instructions on
the Phyllo package that say this. Then add whatever
filling, and bake the dessert long enough to cook the phylling
;-) The Phyllo dough provides enough of a "crust" to taste
the wheat and hold the dessert together, without adding too
many carbs.
My Babinka's cheesecake recipe, adapted to be more Keto:
- Select a Keto crust, as described above.
A store-bought pie crust made of crushed pecans, or line
Phyllo dough into a pie tin, or often I line smaller squares
of Phyllo dough into mini-loaf pans or muffin cups.
Toast the crust(s) to help keep them crispy, as described.
- 8 oz cream cheese (also Neufchậtel cheese
works well, even though it's less fat than Cream Cheese.
It's more flavorful.)
- 2 eggs
- (Optional) I have added Silken Tofu to this
recipe sometimes, in order to increase the volume and the
protein.
- 1/2 cup granulated Keto sweetener, such as
Allulose or Coconut sugar. It may be more healthy to
substitute some or all of the granulated sweetener for a few
dozen drops of liquid Monkfruit sweetener, or honey etc.
As you progress with keto, reduce the amount of sweetener and
get more accustomed to the tangy-ness of the cream cheese.
- Original recipe called for 2 apples, peeled
and thinly sliced. Can substitute other fruit such as
blackberries, etc., or skip the fruit
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice, to keep the fruit fresh
- 1 tsp. grated Lemon Peel
- Dash of Vanilla, pinch of salt
- Optional scant dash of Baking Soda and/or
Xanthan Gum helps keep the cheesecake fluffy while still
holding it together.
Allow the cream cheese to come to room
temperature, or possibly even warm it in a microwave
(un-wrapped) so that it's easier to stir and mix.
Toss the apple slices or fruit with the Lemon juice to keep
them fresh and maintain color during baking. Line the
bottom of your toasted pie crust with the fruit. (Or
skip, if you aren't using fruit).
Mix the other filling ingredients well, and pour over the
fruit. If you are using tofu as I recommended, then I
also recommend using a blender or a vertical blender to smooth
the filling very well, such that the tofu isn't chunky.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 35 to 40 minutes.
Try not to let the top of the cake get toasty &
burned. When done, a knife inserted into the center
should come out clean.