In Celebration of Easter... Cheesecake! (with a carb free twist!)

Nothing says "holiday" like a feast, and typically the menu bears a certain "waistline be damned" quality.
The Schafer clan's favorite cheesecake however, is a guiltless baked New York style variety originally conceived as a part of the Atkins diet, but we prepare it today (and many other days) in an effort to stave off a pancreatic shut down, one dessert at a time.
It's so delicious, easy to prepare and cheesecake addict approved that I thought I would share our minimal guilt cheescake.

Ingredients:
~Three 8 oz packages of Neufchatel Cheese (Looks, smells and tastes like cream cheese, 1/3 the fat content.)
~1/4 to 1/2 cup splenda sugar substitute (or tweak your sugar substitute for flavor and adjust the calorie content. 1/4 cup Honey is also divine in this spot if you want to use MORE natural and local)
~2 Tablespoons vanilla extract (the real stuff is better, the cheap stuff is a wood processing byproduct.)
~3 whole eggs (or in my case, 2 large duck eggs)
~1 cup plain greek yogurt. (Oikos unsweetened is perfect, Fage is great, home made 'gurt is fab. You can also sub sour cream but I prefer the smoothness of yogurt.)

The unbaked batter as written (including food coloring.)

~ 6 drops of yellow food coloring (optional... looks more store bought with.)

Directions:
1.) preheat oven to 375 F
2.) Soften neufchatel in a large bowl
3.) With an electric mixer, blend cheese ALONE  until creamy and of an even consistency.
4.) Add sweetener, vanilla, greek yogurt and blend until thoroughly mixed.
5.) Beat in eggs ONE AT A TIME and blend after each is incorporated into the batter.
6.) Grease a glass pie pan or springform pan.
7.) Add batter to pan
8.) place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until slightly firm in center.
If you want to avoid a "cracked top" you may bake the cake in a water bath (by setting the cake pan inside another, larger pan in an inch of water... but you know... my family doesn't care if the top has some crackles in it :D)

Prep time, about 15 minutes!

The main difference in this cheesecake is a lack of empty carbs and fat in a crust, but almond meal dusted in the bottom on the greased pan is a delicious alternative for nut lovers. The basic recipe has about 5 grams of carbs give or take, but I encourage every chef to tweak this blueprint to suit your family's taste, local foods (or household foods!) and special diets.