When craving something rich, creamy, and chocolatey, nothing hits the spot quite like this gluten free Basque cheesecake.
Now, imagine a cheesecake that melts in your mouth with the rich chocolate and has fewer calories. Thanks to the chocolate pastry cream.
What Makes This Gluten Free Cheesecake Unique?
Typically, cheesecakes are too heavy to eat because they contain a large amount of cream cheese. But this chocolate basque cheesecake is a low-calorie basque cheesecake.
By replacing half of the cream cheese and double cream with chocolate pastry cream, this cheesecake significantly reduces its calorie content while maintaining the rich, deep chocolate flavors.
Key Ingredients
- Chocolate Pastry Cream. It replaces half of the cream cheese and double cream.
- Vegan Cream Cheese or Creme Fraiche. They keep the cheesecake creamy while eliminating dairy.
- Eggs. Eggs are necessary to hold the shape and emulsify the cheesecake.
- Dark Chocolate. Bittersweet 70-80% dark chocolate is always the best for baking chocolate desserts.
Substitution Table
| Original Ingredients | Substitute With |
|---|---|
| Cacao Barry 72% Dark Chocolate | Pascha Dark Chocolate |
| Philadelphia Plant-based Cream Cheese | Oatly Dairy Free Cream Cheese |
| Surewhip Vegan Heavy Cream | Califia Dairy Free Heavy Cream |
| Oat milk | Rice Milk |
| Vanilla Powder | Pure Vanilla Extract |
Step By Step Process
STEP 1 – Cooking the Chocolate Pastry Cream
- In a mixing bowl, combine 1/3 of warm oat milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch. Mix well until homogenous.
- Pour the custard mixture into the remaining warm oat milk, then cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until it thickens. Remove from the heat, then add the cold vegan butter cubes and dark chocolate. Blend using a hand blender until shiny and smooth.
- Transfer the chocolate pastry cream to a bowl, cover with cling wrap on the surface, and chill it in the fridge.
STEP 2 – Baking the Cheesecake
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F (200°C/425°F fan-forced oven). Prepare a 9-inch cake or springform pan lined with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the salt, eggs, sugar, cacao powder, vanilla powder, and dairy-free cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
- Mix in the heavy cream, chocolate pastry cream, and warm melted chocolate until fully incorporated.
- Pour in the chocolate cheesecake batter into the prepared cake pan. Level the top with a spoon or spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top gets slightly burned and the center is set but still slightly jiggly. If you prefer to make thicker cheesecake, bake it longer.
- Remove from the oven. Allow the chocolate cheesecake to cool on a wire rack. The cheesecake will slightly deflate as it cools down, creating its signature rustic look.
- Once completely cool, refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight to set.
Low-Calorie Chocolate Gluten Free Basque Cheesecake
This low-calorie, chocolate gluten free basque cheesecake is made with luscious chocolate pastry cream and dairy free cream cheese.Note: Use the unit converter if needed. This recipe is measured by weight (metric) for accuracy.
Equipment
- 1 Digital scale
- 1 Springform baking pan (9-inch/23 cm)
Ingredients
Chocolate Pastry Cream
- 375 g oat milk
- 60 g egg yolk
- 35 g sugar
- 20 g cornstarch
- 120 g dark chocolate 70-80%
- 35 g vegan butter cut in cubes
Cheesecake Batter
- 180 g eggs three large eggs
- 280 g cream cheese Oatly preferred gluten free
- 150 g heavy cream dairy free, gluten free
- 60 g sugar
- 1 g salt
- 1 g vanilla powder or 10 g vanilla extract
- 10 g cacao powder
- 180 g dark chocolate 70-80% melted
- 1 Chocolate Pastry Cream the whole recipe
Instructions
Chocolate Pastry Cream
- In a mixing bowl, combine 1/3 of warm oat milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch. Mix well until homogenous.
- Pour the custard mixture into the remaining warm oat milk, then cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until it thickens. Remove from the heat, then add the cold vegan butter cubes and dark chocolate. Blend using a hand blender until shiny and smooth.
- Transfer the chocolate pastry cream to a bowl, cover with cling wrap on the surface, and chill it in the fridge.
Baking the Cheesecake
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F (200°C/425°F fan-forced oven). Prepare a 9-inch cake or springform pan lined with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the salt, eggs, sugar, cacao powder, vanilla powder, and dairy-free cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
- Mix in the heavy cream, chocolate pastry cream, and warm melted chocolate until fully incorporated.
- Pour in the chocolate cheesecake batter into the prepared cake pan. Level the top with a spoon or spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top gets slightly burned and the center is set but still slightly jiggly. If you prefer to make thicker cheesecake, bake it longer.
- Remove from the oven. Allow the chocolate cheesecake to cool on a wire rack. The cheesecake will slightly deflate as it cools down.
- Once completely cool, refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before cutting and serving.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
2 thoughts on “Low-Calorie Chocolate Gluten Free Basque Cheesecake”
I’m allergic to oats. Will I be able to substitute with oat free plant based ingredients instead?
Hey Sabrinia,
You can use soy milk or cashew milk. Even rice milk works too. AS for the cream cheese, any of these dairy free cream cheeses will work – https://amzn.to/3BobRmJ