Keto Basque Cheesecake Recipe 

Historically anyone trying to ketofy a Basque Cheesecake would have experienced it falling apart. Traditionally made with Cream Cheese, Allulose and Eggs it needed something to hold it all together. That was the case until the Keto Store™ Mashed Potato Mix came along.

Yes, I know it's a surprising ingredient on the face of it, but when Kelly (a clever customer of ours) took a look at the ingredients of our Low Carb Potato Mix and with her chef background guessed they'd be perfect to hold a ketofied Basque Cheesecake together, and it indeed worked a charm.   

So grab yourself a single serve of the potato flakes (or a 6 serve pack) and get your bake on. This recipe makes a Keto Basque Cheesecake that's creamy, sweet, not too heavy, nice caramel finish to the top sides and bottom, and of course absolutely delicious and absolutely keto! No detectable taste of potato.

There's a huge number of servings as it makes a whole 20cm cake tin of Basque Cheesecake, 

Ingredients (* = available here at Keto Store NZ):

600g Cream Cheese room temperature
Hints: Philadelphia Cream Cheese is my go-to and the lactose free has lower carbs. 
Do not use low fat cream cheese, otherwise it won't set.
You can sub out 200g with Cottage Cheese, however you must blitz it first and sieve to remove any lumps, otherwise your Basque Cheesecake will be grainy in texture.  

200g Allulose* (1 Cup + 1/4 Cup) 

250ml Whippable Heavy Cream (1 Cup) this is so the cheesecake sets 
Hint: use cream that can be whipped and take out of the fridge 15 minutes before use. 

25 grams Keto Store™ Mashed Potato Mix* (25g is a single serve)*  

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Bean Extract or Paste or 3 teaspoons of Vanilla Flavour It* 

220g whisked Eggs (4-5 large eggs) 
Important note: the eggs must be weighed to be 220g, as it's a critical recipe success factor.

Equipment: 
20" Springform Baking Tin
Mixer & Large Mixer Bowl + Scales
Medium Bowl for Cream, Mashed Potato Mix and Vanilla
Reuse the same bowl for the eggs
Sharp knife to pop bubbles  

Method: 
1 - Preheat oven to 200°C with the shelf in the middle 
Hint: Weigh and prepare ingredients in advance eg: measure and whisk the eggs.

2 - Dispense 2 sheets of baking paper each 40cm long and position in an X shape. 
Scrunch them up into a ball to crinkle the paper, then loosely spread back out to line a 20cm springform pan. With the paper on the bottom of the pan, fold down surplus paper over the edges. 
Hint: Don't smooth the paper out as the crinkle is key to the caramelising of the batter.  

3 - Beat 600g room temperature cream cheese, on medium speed 5/10 in a large bowl for 2 mins ensuring smooth and lump free. 

4 - Slow the mixer to 2/10 speed and slowly tip in 200g (1 Cup + 1/4 Cup) of Allulose, beating until incorporated.

5 - In a separate bowl add approx 150ml of Cream, sprinkle in 25g (a single serve) of Mashed Potato Mix then whisk to make into a paste. Add in the remaining approx 100ml of cream while whisking in the Vanilla to make a thicker, pourable mixture (not whipped cream). 

6 - With the mixer on low 2/10 speed, slowly pour in the cream mixture until just combined. 

7 - With the mixer still on a low speed, slowly pour in the whisked eggs.
Hint: as soon as the eggs are incorporated stop beating to minimise the air bubbles

8 - Pour the batter into the paper lined baking tin. Bang the tin down on a bench surface then pop any bubbles that rise to the surface with a knife.

9 - Bake at 200°C for 35 mins, then lower the temperature of the oven to 160°C and bake for a further 30 mins. 
Hint: once you've lowered the temperature of the oven set a timer for 20 mins and when it goes off check on the cheesecake. Keep your eye on it for the last 15 mins as you want it deeply golden, but not burnt. The centre will still be wobbly and the cake would have risen like a soufflé.

All ovens are different, so if the colour and wobble isn't as you expect it, give it more time. With some ovens, this cheesecake can take longer than an hour to bake. 

10- Cool in the cake pan for at least 2 hours on the counter top (it's normal for it to sink) then refrigerate uncovered for 8 hours. 

11 - After cooling, release the sides of the springpan and use the paper edges to lift off the base onto a cutting board or plate. 
Hint: Bring to room temperature for 30 mins for the best eating experience.

12 - Slice up, eat and enjoy just as it is  

Macros : The macros will totally depend on the brand of cream cheese and liquid cream that you use as these are by far the biggest ingredients. The mashed potato mix makes up just 1.8% of all the ingredients or 25g out of the 1350g total, but here are those macros for the whole 25g to include in those for the whole recipe: Energy 126 kJ. Protein 1.2g, Fat 0.2g, Saturated 0.1g, Carbs 5.2g, Sugars 0.2g, Dietary fibre 1.2g, Sodium 54mg.

Acknowledgement: the inspirational spark and idea to use our Mashed Potato Mix in this recipe, which enabled it to be ketofied, was from very clever customer, Kelly. We recreated it, modified quantities, tested with substitute ingredients, and took photos in our test kitchen here at Keto Store NZ. Thanks Kelly!