Recipe doctor: Celebrate new year with new cheesecake

Q: Dear Recipe Doctor, I like to make a new cheesecake every year for New Year’s and I have tried a couple of your different cheesecake recipes over the years and we have loved them both. Just wondering if you have a new cheesecake recipe to share.

A: I like that idea … a New Year… and a new cheesecake. I tried lightening a new cheesecake – the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cappuccino Cheesecake – and it worked out rather well. We made a few subtle changes, and the result is a cheesecake with 58 percent less fat, half the saturated fat, and 35 percent fewer calories per slice.

Cappuccino Cheesecake

The original recipe from Kraft Foods contains 420 calories, 31 grams fat, 19 grams saturated fat, and 130 milligrams cholesterol per serving.

For the crust:

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (like chocolate Teddy Grahams), almost 3 ounces

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons low-fat margarine or whipped butter, melted

For the filling:

2 tablespoons instant coffee

3 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur

5 packages (8 ounces each) light cream cheese

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup Splenda

3 tablespoons white flour

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1 cup fat-free sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or 325 degrees for a dark-colored nonstick springform pan). Coat the sides and bottom of 9-inch springform pan with canola cooking spray.

Combine instant coffee and liqueur in a 1-cup measure and stir to blend. Set aside to dissolve.

Mix the cookie crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the melted butter together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the mixture to the bottom of the springform pan and press firmly. Bake 10 minutes.

Add cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup Splenda, 3 tablespoons flour and vanilla to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until blended. Add eggs, egg whites or egg substitute 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Add sour cream and kahlua mixture and beat on low speed until blended in. Pour filling over the cookie crust.

Bake until center is almost set (about 65 minutes). Run knife around rim of pan to loosen the cheesecake gently from the sides. Let cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Yield: 16 servings

Nutrition per serving: 269 calories, 13 grams fat (8 grams saturated, 43 percent fat calories) 10 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrate, 64 milligrams cholesterol, .5 grams dietary fiber, 394 milligrams sodium.

Weight Watchers points: 6