A
Valentine's Day Desert that is wicked tasting but eaten guilt-free!
Combine
two great symbols of love: apples and chocolate to show how special
your loved ones are. Don't need to tell them how very low fat it is.
Ingredients:
- Large (9 in) prepared lower fat graham-cracker crust
- 2 (@8oz) tubs of no fat cream cheese
- 1 Cup sugar
- 1 large Egg + 2 egg whites (or equivalent egg substitute)
- 2 small containers (@ 4oz each) of no sugar added applesauce
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 tubs (5.3oz) No Fat Greek style yogurt unflavored
- 12 drops red food coloring
Topping:
- 2 apples peeled, cored and cut into less than ½ inch chunk (Granny Smith or Golden Delicious)
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1½ cups chocolate morsels(I used milk chocolate – but semi-sweet will work)
- 1/3 Cup no fat half and half
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directions:
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees.
With
an electric mixer whip-soften the cream cheese until it is ah..
creamy. Gradually add sugar about a third at a time and scrape down
the bowl with each addition. Add the eggs one at a time with more
scraping of the sides of the bowl. A rubber spatula works great for
this. Remember to shut off the mixer each time you shove that spatula
in there!
Now
take the bowl out of the mixer the rest with be done by wooden spoon.
Add
vanilla, applesauce, food coloring and yogurt. Stir vigorously!
With
the prepared crust sitting on a cookie sheet, pour mixture to near
the top. You will end up with more than you need. I keep some
ramekins handy. I pour any extra filling into them and bake
alongside. This give you an excellent “sample” to taste test!
NOTE:
these prepared pie crusts are in a foil pan. Great for lifting just a
crust but not one loaded with filling. Always use on a cookie sheet
that will support it. This also will catch any cook-overs and helps
to keep the oven clean.
Bake
for at at least 45 minutes. The very center will still be jiggly but
not the outside edge. The filling will continue to cook and “set”
after it is out of the oven. Let it cool for about ½ hour – then
chill in refrigerator for 5 – 6 hours, even better overnight. Keep
covered with inverted plastic that came with crust.
Topping:
Have
a medium sized bowl handy with the lemon juice in the bottom.
Peel,
core, and chunk the apples and put them into bowl as you work. Stir
it around with your hand just so that the juice gets to all of the
apple. This will keep the apples from turning brown.
In
a microwave save bowl pour 1
Cup of the
chocolate morsels with the 1/3 cup of non fat half and half. Heat on
high in microwave for only 30 seconds, stir with wooden spoon and
repeat in 30 sec intervals until the chocolate is melted. When
it is all smooth, remove from microwave and add the remaining ½ cup
of chocolate morsels and stir until they are melted in.
Be
careful with this if it is to runny, it will never set. That can
lead to a big mess of chocolate everywhere. But that's a whole
different post! This mixture will make what is called a “ganache”,
a smooth firm topping. (great if you feel like dipping maraschino
cherries
or strawberries).
Pour
the melted chocolate into the bowl with the apple and stir until well
mixed and chunks are covered. All you need to do is coat the apples
and seal them with the chocolate. With a slotted spoon dish this out and
spread this on top of the cheesecake. You will want to do this before
the chocolate hardens as it cools. Don't take it all the way to the
edge, so you can crimp the cover back on. Cover and keep in
refrigerator.
Note:
as you can see from the picture I spread the chunks on the cheesecake
then poured chocolate over it the first time. This caused it to run
over the edge! So I thought best to mix in apples first.
Resist
the urge to add more things, don't get carried away. Keep it a simple
gift of love.
Remember
even if you find yourself alone on this February 14th, this “self
gift” offers comfort to one who needs it: You!
Owned
by my Cherished Master,
socialslave
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