Low Carb Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake

This is an adaptation of Dana Carpender's Chocolate Cheesecake from 500 Low Carb recipes, I had to change it because I had a terrible allergic reaction to the Splenda (sucralose) in it. I got an itchy acne-like rash that covered my face, neck, legs and arms and was absolutely shocked to find I was one of many thousands and thousands of people who have had similar symptoms after eating sucralose, many people suffering side effects far worse than I. I have no idea how that company gets away with advertising its product as having 'no known side-effects.' I think it will quickly go out of fashion though as I am beginning to wander who doesn't suffer some terrible side effect of sucralose? More and more people are making the link between adding sucralose to their diets and their sudden rashes and other various symptoms and deciding to either reduce the quantities that they eat it in or cut it all together.

I chose cream cheese over Dana's cottage cheese because for some reason in Australian supermarkets the only option is seriously reduced fat cottage cheese aka fairly tasteless cottage cheese.

My adaptation of this cake contains a very small amount of sucralose that should not be harmful, but if small amounts are still harmful to you obviously I don't recommend cooking this cake! I have instead used Stevia for the main sweetening of the cake.

Almond Crust Base:

150g Almond Meal

1/4 cup Vanilla Whey Protein Milk shake Powder (this is the product that contains some sucralose, I am not sure but maybe pure vanilla whey protein won't contain any, I just went for the cheaper option)

Fine Dessicated Coconut (read instructions for detail)

4-5 tbsp Butter melted

Cheesecake:

500g Cream Cheese (full fat)

150 ml Sour Cream

50-55g Sugar Free Dark Chocolate melted (sweetened with Stevia, try finding 'Well, Naturally' bars in your local supermarket, they are 45g a bar, buy 2 and eat most of one for yourself lol)

2 Eggs

Fine Dessicated Coconut

1/3 cup Hermesetas Granulated Stevia

Serve with:

Whipped Cream

1) Turn oven to 180C, spray a spring-foam pan with non-stick cooking spray, combine almond meal, melted butter, and whey protein-shake, mix well, sprinkle a thin layer of coconut over the mixture and mix again, add a little water or a little butter if the mixture is very dry and not holding together. It should be a medium-fine texture and if you press it down with your mixing spoon it should 'stick.'

2) Place the mixture in the spring-foam pan and press down until it covers the entire base of the pan. Sprinkle another thin layer of coconut, place in the oven for 12-15 mins.

3) Meanwhile, mix the eggs, cream cheese and sour cream, place it over boiling hot water to help melt the cheese a little (I usually boil the kettle, pour the water in the sink and place the mixing bowl in there and that makes everything melt pretty quickly). Melt the chocolate on the stove and add it to the mixture, stir well, be quick since it is not cooking chocolate if it begins to cool and harden it may be a problem, add the Stevia, use a blender to really mix it all together, you should notice the mixture going from very dark brown with white blotches to a creamier brown colour as the dark chocolate blends with the creams. Again, sprinkle a coconut layer over the mixture and mix it in.

4) When the crust has been cooked, pour the mixture onto it, sprinkle a thin layer of coconut over the top and place it in the oven for 45 mins between 170C-180C.

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

The most expensive ingredient is the whey protein shake but thankfully you can get a fair amount of use out of it! This cake is pretty easy to make too. The cake is pretty high in protein, saturated fats and quite low in carbs, I consider it quite nutritious since it makes use of nuts and dark chocolate over a biscuit base and sweetened milk chocolate. Enjoy!