I don't care to drive when it's snowed a lot, so I take the time to do or make things I'm otherwise too busy for - like baking. I'd been sitting on this low-carb cheesecake recipe for a while, so I figured I'd give it w whirl. This way if we'd be tucked away all day Saturday hankerin' for sweets, we could satisfy our respective sweet tooth without feeling terribly guilty. I've had a spring-form pan for a while now, but haven't made a cheesecake with it (or anything else, for that matter) because most of the recipes require water baths, and I don't have a roasting pan big enough. Alas, a cheesecake recipe that doesn't require it!

To start, I preheated my oven to 325 and lined the bottom of the spring-form pan with parchment paper, since this cheesecake doesn't have a crust. Now, you'll need:

• 3 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/3 cups Splenda
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Beat the cream cheese and Splenda on low speed until blended, then add your eggs one at a time. Add the remaining ingredients and continue on low speed until there are no visible lumps. Pour into your pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let it rest for at least an hour and come to room temperature, then store in the fridge overnight.


The verdict: Not too shabby. I think next time I might go halvsies and use part Splenda baking mix, which is partially sugar. The consistency was pretty much perfect - a nice, firm cake (even though on the thin side) and little to no aftertaste from the artificial sweetener. I was hoping for the nice, smooth, browned top, but mine cracked a bit even though I resisted opening the oven door during baking.
I will warn you that if you use any other kind of fake-sugar besides Splenda, it supposedly comes out pretty gnarly. We don't have any on hand, but some raspberries could really jazz this up and make up for a bit of what it's lacking in taste.