Crustless protein cheesecake
70 min · 16 g protein · 116 cals / serving
A lemon-vanilla cheesecake with no crust and no added sugar: blended cottage cheese and Greek yogurt set with eggs and vanilla protein powder, baked low and slow the way a German quark cake is, then piled with fresh berries.
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 cups cottage cheese (1%), low-fat (1%)
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 1/3 scoops casein protein powder, vanilla, casein or a whey-casein blend
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp stevia, pure stevia extract powder, or any sweetener equal to 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- 1 heaped tbsp cornstarch
- zest of 1 lemon zest
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch salt
Topping
- 1 cup raspberries
- 3/4 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
Steps
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Line the base and sides of a 8 inch springform with baking paper.
- Blend the cottage cheese and yogurt until completely smooth and glossy, a full 1–2 minutes. Any curd left now bakes into grainy specks, so this is the step not to rush.
- Blend in the protein powder, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and salt, then add the sweetener a little at a time and taste: vanilla protein powders are sweet already, so you may not need all of it. Add the egg and egg whites last and blend on low just until even. Blending hard at this point whips in air, and air is what cracks the top.
- Pour into the tin, tap it on the counter to raise the bubbles and bake 50–60 minutes, until the edge is set and slightly puffed, the middle barely wobbles, and a thermometer in the center reads 160°F. Turn the oven off, prop the door open and leave the cake inside for 30 minutes, then chill at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Run a knife around the edge, release the tin and pile the berries on top just before serving.
Good to know
Casein or whey?
Casein, or a whey-casein blend, bakes up creamy and dense like a real cheesecake. Pure whey sets firmer and a little bouncy; it still works, but use 30 g and start checking at 45 minutes. It comes out at about the same score.
Can I make it with quark?
Yes, and in much of Europe that is the classic version. Swap the yogurt, or all of the dairy, for low-fat quark; swapping the yogurt gives about the same score. It is already smooth, so the blending takes seconds.
How sweet should it be?
Stevia brands differ a lot in strength, which is why you taste before the eggs go in. The mix should taste slightly sweeter than you want, because chilling dulls sweetness. An erythritol or monk fruit blend works too, at whatever amount its pack says replaces 1/2 cup of sugar.
Per
- Calories
- 83
- Protein
- (61%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (13%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (27%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 239 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 932 kcal goes into the pot and 1183 g of ingredients comes out as about 1120 g of food: 83 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.