Posted on October 18, 2009

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Welcome to Slightly Indulgent Mondays – fabulous food made a little bit healthier. Link your Slightly Indulgent recipe below & make sure to check out this week’s perfect-for-the-holidays give-away.

My submission: Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a food that rarely graces my lips – there are choices I make everyday in addition to being sugar-free and gluten-free that help me maintain my weight. I’m not so sure that it’s worse for me than a big bowl of ice cream topped with granola but in my mind, I’m better off without it. I’m married to a cheesecake lover, though, and thought I’d work come up with a recipe we both could be happy with – it had be a little bit healthier for me and still taste close enough to the real thing to make Joe happy.

Quick and simple was another requirement for this recipe. I wanted to minimize oven and kitchen time while still producing a fabulous tasting cheesecake. Five attempts later, I came up with a dessert that fit the bill. I make the graham crackers in a big batch and freeze them so I don’t have to make them every time I want to make a graham cracker crust.

sugar-free-pumpkin-cheesecake

Printer-friendly recipe
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake
makes 4 individual cheesecakes

For the crust:
3 ½ ounces gluten-free, sugar-free graham crackers
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecakes:
¼ cup milk (I used 1%, it was what I had on hand.)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
12 ounces (1 ½ packages) light cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ ginger
¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves

To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare 4 (7 ounce) oven-safe ramekins or mini-soufflé dishes by lightly spraying the bottoms with cooking spray.

Break graham crackers in half and place in the bowl of a mini food processor. Add ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Process until graham crackers have become fine crumbs. Place in a small bowl. Melt butter in the microwave (about 15 – 20 seconds). Drizzle butter over graham crackers and, using a fork, work butter into the graham crackers.

Place 2 ½ – 3 tablespoons of graham crackers in each ramekin. Using the back of a spoon, press the graham crackers firmly into the bottom of each ramekin and slightly up the side. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

To make the cheesecake:
Place milk in a microwave safe container. Sprinkle gelatin on top and stir to mix. Let gelatin soften in milk for 5 minutes.
Place 3 paper towels on the counter. Spread pumpkin puree onto the paper towels so that it is about ¼ inch thick. Place 3 more paper towels on top. Press lightly, letting the paper towels pull moisture away from the pumpkin. Set aside, leaving paper towels on pumpkin.

Fit food processor with a steel blade. Add cream cheese, agave, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Remove top layer of paper towels. Use the bottom layer to fold the pumpkin in half. The paper towel will easily peel away from the pumpkin. Lift paper towel up and pumpkin will easily fall into the food processor bowl.

Pulse several times, then process until smooth scraping bowl as needed. Stir milk and gelatin mixture, then microwave for 20 – 30 seconds until milk is bubbly and gelatin has melted. With food processor running, pour milk mixture into bowl of food processor and process until thoroughly combined.

If the ramekins are still warm at this point, pop them into the freezer for a few minutes and they’ll cool right down. Using a spring-release ice cream scoop, divide cheesecake batter evenly between the 4 ramekins. If you have a little extra put it in another container and chill it, too.

Set ramekins on a small tray or a dinner plate, wrap, and chill overnight. Serve cold with homemade whipped cream, if desired.

Featured Blogger – Phoebe from Cents to Get Debt Free

Phoebe's Homemade Applesauce - Sugar-free, too!

Phoebe is a friend of mine – though not sugar or gluten free her recipes and way of living are a constant source if inspiration for me. She has something to offer everyone – healthier recipes, household managment, and frugal living ideas that work. You can find her applesauce recipe here.

I’m sure you’ll feel inspired, too, after reading her thoughts on cooking & caring for her family:

My cooking philosophy is to cook nourishing, healthy foods that my family will enjoy, while being on a tight budget. Growing up, my mom never took the time to teach me how to cook, so I’ve taught myself basically everything I know since being on my own at barely 18.

My husband and I began gardening in 2008 and I taught myself to can the same year. Our desire is to be able to produce the majority of our food, and to rely on the grocery store less. We’ve noticed a big change in our budget, as well as our health. What a great feeling that is!

This week’s give-away: a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com. I thought I’d keep things simple this week and am sure that with the holidays coming, everyone could use a little love from Amazon.

Last week’s winner of the Le Creuset mini-gratin dishes is: Jenn from The Leftover Queen! She’s also the genius behind The Foodie Blogroll. If you have a food blog and haven’t submitted your blog to be included in her blog directory, you can do it here.

Thank you to Accent Furniture for sponsoring a great give-away. They have an array of kitchen products at good prices – check them out for any upcoming holiday shopping.

To enter:

Link a recipe/post that fits the Slightly Induglent theme (healthier in some way) and include a link back to this post.
Leave a comment below.
Tweet about this give-away and leave a separate comment telling me you did.
Share about this give-away on your blog and link back here, then leave a separate comment telling me you did.

This give-away will be open until Sunday, October 25th at 8 pm CST.

I am looking forward to see what Slightly Indulgent foods your cooking this week. Make sure to tell us who you are and what you’re cooking . For example, I would enter: Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten Free – Pumpkin Cheesecake. And, I always appreciate the link back to this post.

Find more great food at Blessed with Grace’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Update 10/26/09: This contest is now closed. The winner as determined by Random.org – #32 Liz at Hoosier Homemade. Congrats!