Frugal Organic Girl

I finally feel like I can be my old crazy baking self again. Yay! I made my Turtle Chocolate Cheesecake! Wooowhoo! I just used my basic cheesecake recipe and added some melted semi sweet chocolate chips, pecans and a ready to use caramel sunday sauce..I know I cheated but I was too too tired to make a run to the store for the pre-made caramels or make the ‘real’ sauce from raw sugar, heavy cream, and butter and good old fashion heavy bottomed pan, but who has the time..heck I don’t! So I used the ready made sunday bottled sauce by Smuckers in the plastic squeeze bottle.

Anywhoo if you want to make the low-fat, creamy and super dense version the recipe and process I used to make it is available below:

Creamy Turtle Chocolate Cheesecake

Special Equipment:

1 8″-9″ springform pan
1 large shallow roasting pan (the one you roast the turkey in for Thanksgiving)
Boiling hot water in tea kettle or 3 quart saucepan w/ ladle
2 paper towels or a small kitchen towel

Crust
1 pkg double filled chocolate crème cookies, crushed/ground or 20 chocolate graham crackers, finely ground
4 tsp butter, melted

Filling:

3-8oz pkgs Cream Cheese ( 2 fat free, 1 reduced fat ), softened to room temp
3/4 C. Fructose (A natural sugar alternative- also known as fruit sugar) or regular white sugar
1.5 tsp PURE vanilla extract
3 eggs
8oz pkg light sour cream
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (using double boiler
methods)
4 tsp butter, melted
1/4 C Dutch-processed cocoa
1/4-1/2 C caramel sauce
1/4-1/2 C whole pecans raw or toasted, chopped if desired

Garnish:
1/2 c whole or chopped pecans ( your choice raw or toasted)
1 btle of ready made caramel sauce

Directions:

1. Using a food processor grind the cookies or graham crackers to a bread crumb consistency or you could get your aggression out put the cookies in a large Ziploc bag, seal it and crush the cookies or graham crackers using your hands or a heavy rolling pin. This will create a more rustic and thicker crust thus more cookies. Grease the spring form pan well with butter, press the cookies into the springform pan and refrigerate for at least 5 minutes to harden the crust.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. If you have two racks in your oven remove one and place the other rack on the lowest level in the oven. Mix cream cheese, fructose and vanilla with and electric mixer ( w/ a stand electric mixer use the paddle attachment) on medium speed mix well until completely blended to a smooth texture.

3. Add eggs one at a time and be sure it is fully incorporated into the batter before adding the next one; pour in the sour cream and again incorporate it into the mixture until it is completely smooth and silky. Let the batter rest for a moment to melt the chocolate.

4. Using a medium sized sauce pan and a heat safe bowl ( glass or metal) heat the sauce pan filled 1/2-3/4 of the pan allow it to come to a boil; measure out the chocolate chips using a dry cup measure and put it into the bowl off the pot. Once the pot of water comes to a boil place the heat proof bowl over the boiling water and allows the chocolate chips to melt slowly. Using a heat safe spatula stir the chips slowly to distribute the heat; When it gets hot and thick and looses its luster add some melted butter/ warm heavy cream to loosen it up a bit; Keep stirring to combine. Once the mixture is silky smooth allow it to cool slightly add it to the cream cheese mixture and combine it thoroughly. Pour it into the springform pan with the cookie crust in it and tap the pan lightly on a stable flat surface to get all the air bubbles out. Using aluminum foil create an additional ‘insurance’ seal around the bottom of your pan just to make sure that little or no water penetrates the bottom of the springform pan the the crust does not get soggy.

5. Put the paper towels or kitchen towel inside the roasting pan to keep the spring form pan from shifting then place it in the oven rack; then put the springform pan with the cheese cake in the pan and get the boiling hot water from the stove (hopefully boiled in a tea kettle or if you are using a pot use a ladle) and gently pour the water into the pan by pouring it in from one of the corners in a slow and steady stream so none of the hot water splashes into the cheesecake, until you reach about half way up the springform pan. Bake for 35 min then check it by shaking the pan a but..if it is too loose it will shake a lot let it bake for another 30-45 min. If there is a little bit of shaking in the middle then remove the spring form pan from the roasting pan and allow it to rest on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes then place it in the refrigerator to set completely for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to serve the cheesecake take a butter knife and simply run it around the inside of the springform pan to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Then slowly loosen the spring clip and slowly catch the bottom of the pan! Be sure to look at the sides of the pan to use the knife to loosen any parts of the cheesecake that might have gotten stuck. Cut the cake using dental floss, its the easiest and cheapest way to go or you could use a regular knife just be sure to dip a clean one in hot water before first use and wipe it clean with every cut and re dip it in the water to make sure it does not cause any drag marks in the cake, Garnish with pecans and caramel sauce as desired or simply leave it on the side to let your guests decided if they want it.

NO one will believe you when you tell them this is low fat..cuz its just really really dense. You could lighten it up even more by using 3 packages of fat-free cream cheese and replacing the fructose and sour cream with 1.5 cups of fat free condensed milk and instead of 3 whole eggs just use 2 whole eggs and 6 egg whites or egg substitute (its the same thing except with food coloring).