Healthy holiday desserts: Holly Clegg’s Red Velvet Cheesecake Recipe
When Holly Clegg sent over this month’s guest post, I nearly fell off my chair. I mean, Red Velvet Cheesecake, and one that is healthy? She’s a miracle worker!
You can find more of Holly’s trim& TERRIFIC® recipes at hollyclegg.com and The Healthy Cooking Blog. Don’t forget that Holly’s new cookbook, KITCHEN 101: Secrets to Cooking Confidence, makes a terrific holiday gift, too!
Holiday menus – no thinking required
The holidays are a magical time of fun and festivities, but before you know it, they can turn into one of the busiest, most stressful seasons making your “to do” list longer than ever! And there’s no need to stress about hosting a holiday meal when my new cookbook, Kitchen 101: Secrets to Cooking Confidence, takes the guess work out of meal planning with complete dinner and party menus, no crazy ingredients, just healthy, mouth watering food– no thinking required!
From the “Holiday Heroes” menu of the Ready-Made Menus chapter, the Red Velvet Cheesecake is a luscious combination of American’s favorite dessert with a holiday twist, and best of all you can make ahead and keep in the freezer to pull out before the meal. And, if you want an affordable gift for your neighbor, teacher, or friend, purchase commercially prepared chocolate crusts in foil disposable pans, fill, freeze and give out for the ultimate holiday gift – that’s what I am doing!
Red Velvet Cheesecake
Two popular desserts, red velvet cake and cheesecake create the ultimate indulgence.
- Makes 2 (9-inch round) cheesecake pies — 16 servings
- Ingredients:
- 2 (8-ounce) packages reduced-fat cream cheese
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon cocoa
- 1 cup nonfat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring
- 2 (9-inch) round commercially bought chocolate pie crusts
Directions:
Preheat oven 350° F. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
Add eggs, egg white, cornstarch, cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, buttermilk, vinegar and red food coloring, mixing well.
Pour into crust. Bake 35-40 minutes or until center is firm. Turn off oven and remain in oven 30 minutes.
Remove from oven. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
Terrific Tidbit: For chocolate crust: 1 1/4 cups chocolate, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons butter melted, combine all, press into bottom of spring form pan, and bake 350°F 10 minutes.
Nutritional information
Per serving:
Calories 270
Calories from Fat 39%
Fat 12g
Saturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 46mg
Sodium 262mg
Carbohydrates 34g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Total Sugars 23g
Protein 7g
Dietary Exchanges: 2 1/2 other carbohydrate, 2 1/2 fat
Recipe and photo used with permission of the author.
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