JIMMY MOORE'S PERFECT LOW-CARB KEY LIME CHEESECAKE
3 eggs whites
Pinch cream of tartar
8 packets True Lime (or the juice and zest of 2 limes) *
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda **
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
2 packets True Lemon
Dash ground nutmeg
Dash cinnamon
In a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and True Lime with a mixer until very frothy and thick. Add the heavy cream and beat until somewhat thickened. Then add the sweetener and beat well.
Gradually blend the softened cream cheese into the egg white mixture on low speed until the mixture is very thick. Add the 2 whole eggs and mix well. Add a packet or two of True Lemon, a dash of nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon and beat into the cheesecake batter.
Pour the cheesecake batter into a 6x9" nonstick baking pan sprayed with cooking spray and spread evenly in the pan. Bake at 400º for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on the edges of the cheesecake. Cool and chill at least 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream, if desired.
Makes 8 small servings
Freezing not recommended
* Two limes will yield about 1/4 cup juice and 2 tablespoons zest. Using fresh juice instead of True Lime only adds about 2 extra carbs to the whole cheesecake. The zest adds only a trace amoutn of carbs.
** Jimmy used 1/2 cup of erythritol. If you use that, you'll need to adjust the carb count accordingly. I used liquid Splenda equivalent to 1 cup of sugar because I didn't think it was sweet enough (see my comments below).
With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 307 Calories; 29g Fat; 6g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs
With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 295 Calories; 29g Fat; 6g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs
Because I didn't have enough packets of True Lime on hand, I used the juice and zest of 2 fresh limes. I did use the 2 packets of True Lemon listed but I probably got closer to the equivalent of one packet by the time I scraped it out of the wrappers. My True Lemon and True Lime have turned hard and gummy due to the high humidity here in Houston and that makes them difficult to work with. I usually have to scrape the goo out of the packets and dissolve it in a little hot water to make it usable.
After seeing how the batter came out, I'm not sure if it's really necessary to beat the egg whites and heavy cream first before adding the cream cheese and other ingredients. Once I'd added the cream to the egg whites, they deflated and the cream wouldn't get very thick. In the end, the batter was pretty much the same consistency as any other cheesecake batter. I think it would have been easier to beat the cream cheese first and add the liquid ingredients to it gradually. It's easier to keep the cream cheese smooth doing it that way. I did get my batter smooth eventually, but by then it had thinned down quite a bit. Because Jimmy's mixing method is so unique, it's hard to say if beating the egg whites first made any difference in the final product or not.
I ended up using twice as much sweetener as Jimmy called for. I didn't think my batter tasted sweet enough and things made with Splenda tend to lose a bit of their sweetness with baking anyway. After baking it, the cheesecake is quite tart and not all that sweet.