I've just recently gone on a gluten-free diet for Isaiah's sake. I'm actually finding it pretty easy to pass up temptations to eat gluteness foods like bread, cookies, cake, etc. Because I know that if I do I'm not the one that'll pay for it later...Isaiah is, and that's just not fair to him. However, as I've never had to watch out for ingredients with gluten in them, I'm finding it tough to find/catch them. Also, there's so many of them!!! Did you know that there could be gluten in vanilla. What the heck???? Anyways, I made a cheese cake for Trish's wedding shower last night. Because I didn't want to be scaring people by staring at them and drooling on their cheese cake while I sat with an empty plate....I transformed a recipe to be gluten-free. Now, not only have I NEVER made a cheese cake in my life, I altered the recipe to the cheesecake I've never made! I snatched the first piece at the shower so that I could warn people if it was nasty. ha ha. Thankfully it turned out great, a definite make again. Which is why I'm going to post it on here. I'm the type of person that doesn't really tend to follow a recipe and then forgets what it was that I put into the food to make it taste so good. :) So here's the Gluten-free Cheese cake recipe.
Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake
2 c. finely crushed gluten-free chocolate cream filled sandwich cookies. (I found these at Walmart actually, and chopped them up super fine with my pampered chef chopper).
3 Tbsp. Butter or margarine, melted
4 pkg. Cream cheese, softened
1 can Sweetened condensed milk
4 Lg. Eggs
1/3 c. Gluten-free All Purpose flour mix (I used the Kinnikinnick brand)
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract (Gluten-free)
2 sq. Semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs, flour and vanilla; mix well. Divide batter in half. Add chocolate to one half of batter; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Top evenly with vanilla batter.
3. Bake 50-55 minutes or until center is set, cool. Top with Chocolate Glaze. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Chocolate Glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 squares of semi-sweet chocolate with 1/4 cup whipping cream. Cook and stir until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat; spread over cheesecake. Makes about 1/3 cup.
