Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. reduced-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 lbs. reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. sugar substitute
• 1/2 cup granular sugar substitute
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp flour
• 5 eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free sour cream

Makes 10 Servings

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Coat a 10" springform pan with cooking spray and line the sides with a double layer of 6"-wide waxed paper.
3. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, blend the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar substitute and sugar until smooth. Beat in the cornstarch, lemon juice, flour eggs and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the top of the cake is brown. Turn the oven off and allow the cake to remain in the oven for 1 hour longer.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar substitute and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Spread over the cheesecake and return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the topping is set. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight before serving.

WW POINTS VALUE: 4 pts

 

Note: This recipe appears in the South Beach Diet Cookbook. Who does not love cheesecake? I made this healthy version for the first time and I must say it was pretty good. Cheese cake is great when you want to cool off in the heat. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds fat-free cottage cheese; I WOULD NEVER use cottage chees when making cheesecake. I only use cream cheese and sometimes ricotta for a different texture. I was also a little nervous about putting sour cream on top of cheesecake because that's not what you normally do. I was actually surprised that it tasted so good on top of the cheesecake. This was a totally different cheesecake because of the combination of the ricotta and cream cheese and it was totally delicious. This is a nice treat for this summer because it's light and refreshing.