a crustless cheesecake cooked in the crockpot
Our pumpkins did really well last year and I was able to can 10 qts. of pumpkin puree, and up until the point when our oven died, I was using it to make things like pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin soup. Now I have 4 qts. left and I was looking for new and interesting ways to use it that did not involve sugar, bread, or potatoes and this is what I came up with. It is my own creation, tasting like a creamy pumpkin pie without the crust…it is super good! And difficult to not devour the whole thing in a single sitting! 😀
Ingredients:
2 8 oz. packages of full fat cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1 1/4 cups of “Stevia In The Raw” (measures cup for cup like sugar)
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup thickened “greek style” yogurt, brought to room temperature
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
All of these ingredients mix together easiest when they are at room temperature. So, what I did was, the night before, I took the cream cheese and the yogurt and put it in a bowl and set it out on the counter to slowly come to room temperature overnight.
crockpot with canning rings and water...no it isn't dirty, just scratched and aged with use..
Then the next day, after breakfast, I prepared the crockpot first by plugging it in and turning it on HIGH and then putting several canning rings in the bottom to act as a “rack” to set the cheesecakes on so that they’re elevated above the bottom of the crockpot, and then I added enough hot water to just cover the canning rings.
Next, I mixed everything together (using fresh “still warm from the hen” eggs) until there were no cheese or yogurt lumps left and it was creamy and fluffy. Then I poured the batter into buttered 4 inch diameter ramekins, dividing the batter evenly amongst three total, and set them in the crockpot on top of the canning rings. Then I added more hot water until the water level came about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins, essentially creating a “bain marie” or waterbath.
paper towels added to soak up excess moisture
Then I took 2 layers of paper towels (to soak up excess moisture) and put them on top of the crockpot and put the lid on top of that. It’s important to let them cook for a whole 2 HOURS without removing the lid, once the paper towels get moist it’s hard to get them back into place anyways and there’s no point in replacing them just cause you wanna do a “check-up” on the progress. After 2 hours, turn off the crockpot, remove the lid and paper towels and let sit until water is completely cooled. Then remove from crockpot, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before eating…or if you’re like us, sacrifice one of them because it’s intolerable to wait that long and refrigerate the other two 🙂
This turned out really really well. I plan to use this same recipe again and adapt it to maybe a chocolate cheesecake or a vanilla one with a homemade sugar free strawberry sauce using frozen organic strawberries from the store….YUM!
Nutritional Breakdown for ONE 4 in. diameter cheesecake…which is enough for 2 adults or 1 adult and 4 kids with spoons ready to eat it right out of the dish (that was how the first one got sacrificed LOL)….788 calories, 70 grams of fat, 13 carbs, and 25 grams of protein!
Musings Of A Mountain Mama 