Candy Cane Cheesecake pushes limits of low-fat dessert

Q. Dear Recipe Doctor, I tasted a frozen peppermint cheesecake at a restaurant and I would love to make something similar at home (but lighter). Do you have something like this in any of your cookbooks?

A. I’ve written many a cookbook, but I have to say the closest I’ve come to lightening a frozen peppermint cheesecake was a grasshopper pie recipe a few years back. But I did some digging and came up with a recipe (from Eagle Brand) I hope will fit the bill.

I really tried to push the limit and bring down the calories as far as they could possibly go, so the crust took quite a beating. I decreased the amount of crust by covering only the bottom of the springform pan (instead of going a little up the sides), I used Equal blend sugar, and I used lower-fat chocolate cookies and less-fat margarine.

For the filling I switched to light cream cheese and fat-free sweetened condensed milk, but the recipe also calls for 2 cups of whipped cream. I’m as big a fan of real whipped cream as anyone (I blame it on my Dutch heritage)…but in this case, with the powerful peppermint flavor and already thick cream cheese texture, I thought we could get away with fat-free or light whipped topping (such as Cool Whip). Use whichever one you like and, if you decide to use real whipped cream, I won’t tell. But if you do use the fat-free whipped topping, you’ll bring down the saturated fat from 12 grams per slice to 2 and the total fat grams from 20 to 5 and the calories from 299 to 179.

Frozen Candy Cane Cheesecake

The original Eagle-Brand Peppermint Cheesecake contains 299 calories, 20 grams fat, 12 grams saturated fat, and 59 mg cholesterol per serving.

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (such as chocolate Teddy Grahams)

3 tablespoons Equal blend sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons less-fat margarine, melted (with 8 grams of fat per tablespoon)

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons peppermint extract

20 drops red food coloring

2 cups fat-free or light whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)

Fudge ice cream topping, for drizzling on the plate or over each slice (optional)

In 8-cup measure, combine cookie crumbs with sugar blend. Drizzle melted margarine over the top and blend well. Press moistened crumb mixture on the bottom of a foil-lined 9-inch round spring form pan. Chill in freezer.

In large mixing bowl, beat light cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add fat-free sweetened condensed milk, mixing until mixture is smooth. Add the extract and food coloring and beat on low speed until mixed in. Fold in the Cool Whip.

Pour filling into the springform pan and cover. Freeze until firm (about 6 hours). Lift out the foil from the pan and cut into 16 slices. Garnish the serving plates or slices with slightly warmed fudge topping if desired.

Note: You can add more or less food coloring as desired.

Yield: 16 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving (using Fat-Free Cool Whip): 179 calories, 5 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 25 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrate, 7 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 152 milligrams sodium.

Weight Watchers points: 4

Note: Using Light Cool Whip adds 8 calories and 1 gram fat per serving.