Lemon Cheesecake

I love dessert.  I always secretly thought you should have dessert before the main course to make sure you had room for it.  For some reason when I was growing up my parents didn't agree with this.

When I found out I was lactose intolerant, cheesecake was the first recipe I worked on.  It is my favorite dessert and I was determined not to live without it.  If you are looking for New York cheesecake, using soy cream cheese is probably not going to satify you, but if you are willing to make flavored cheesecakes, you are limited only by your imagination.  You can even make savory cheesecakes as appetizers.  Lemon and chocolate are my favorite cheesecakes.  The following recipe is very easy to adapt to whatever flavor you want.  Just take out the lemon zest and lemon extract from the filling and the lemon curd in the topping and then make whatever additions you want.

If you have issues with GERD, gastritis, and lactose intolerance as I do, I have been able to eat dairy free chocolate.  If you can't find it at a health food store it is available online.  I use it in all my baking, I get it in the semi-sweet flavor, it is the same price as the grocery store, and my family doesn't know the difference.  I have been using it for years.  Instead of a graham cracker crust I use a chocolate graham cracker crust.  That is less expensive than the chocolate wafers.  I melt 1/3 cup of the chips and mix in the filling.  For the topping, melt 1/4 C chips with 1 tlbs stick margarine and follow the directions below.  It may seem you don't have enough chocolate, but remember, people with these eating disorders have to watch how much chocolate they eat, even if it is dairy free.

Two more tips about crusts.  First, I always put some nuts in mine, toasted almonds if possible, (Make sure none of your guests are allergic) They add a nice crunch to the crust when the graham cracker may have lost it crunch.   Second, I always bake my crust, it makes it more crunchy and when it comes out of the oven, I spray it with cooking spray.  This puts a calorie free water proof seal on your crust.  Your guessed it!  I don't like soggy crusts.

                                                                 Lemon Cheesecake

Crust
14 graham cracker squares
6 tlbs. stick margarine, melted
3 tlbs. toasted almonds.
Mix together and press in the bottom and sides of a pie pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray.  Bake at 375 for 7 min. 

Filling
11 oz. soy cream cheese, softened
2 tlbs. plus 2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
Whip soy cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually add in sugar, vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon zest.  When combined, add eggs one at a time.  When all ingredients have been thoroughly combined, pour into pie pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 min or until firm.  Check to make sure center is firm but not over baked.

Topping
1 C soy sour cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. sugar
1 C lemon curd
When pie is cooled, combine soy sour cream, vanilla and sugar in one bowl.  In another bowl measure out lemon curd and whip until light and fluffy.  With alternating dollops, drops spoonfuls on lemon curd and soy sour cream mixture around pie until it is completly covered.  Gently shake pie to even out the top of the pie.  Whit a knife swirl the two mixtures around.  Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.  6-8 servings.

Because my husband I are emptynesters now, I don't make big desserts any more.  If you want to make this cheesecare in a springform pan, double or triple the filling recipe and adjust the baking time.

Next time:  How I relearned to eat in a restaurant or how what I did to make sure I wasn't the one left at home.