I had this bright idea to make a low carb blackout cheesecake for Halloween. A blackout chocolate cheesecake as dark as midnight. I wanted a whimsical Halloween dessert, perfect for a holiday table that looked and tasted great.
This cheesecake is a delicious take on a blackout chocolate cheesecake, but with a whole lot of black food, dye to give it a Halloween spin.
It’s a really fun Halloween dessert, but, much like black candy, expect it to your dye your tongue and mouth a wee bit black.
Maybe a bit more than a wee bit.
EEP!
Low Carb Mocha Fudge Cheesecake With a Halloween Twist
So this recipe is actually a delicious mocha chocolate cheesecake in disguise.
I call this one a low carb blackout cheesecake because it’s black through and through. It’s actually hard to tell where the crust ends and the filling begins. Totally appropriate as a Halloween dessert if you ask me.
The top is a simple spider web and I promise it’s super easy to create. It’s quite eye catching without being overly difficult to decorate.
It’s one of those desserts that people will have a hard time believing is sugar-free, low carb, and gluten-free – but it is!
Don’t like artificial food dye and want an option?
I get ya and completely understand. I have allergies myself and tend to avoid things like MSG, red dye in makeup, and laundry (not the soap, the actual laundry, I swear I am allergic).
If you don’t want to consume black food dye, go ahead and make this cheesecake with out it. As a chocolate mocha dessert, it is DELICIOUS. You can even still make the spider web top without an issue.
Instead of a super black cheesecake, you will simply have a chocolate cheesecake. No foul, no harm, no one will complain, I promise.
What sweeteners work best in this recipe?
For this entire recipe, I used powdered erythritol. I find erythritol does very well in chocolate desserts.
You could also use any granular or powdered sweetener like allulose, monk fruit, erythritol, or any blend.
Liquid sweeteners work fine in the filling, but not so much in the crust.
Tips to make the chocolate crust
The chocolate crust is very easy, does not require refrigeration, and takes only 10 minutes to pre-bake before adding the filling.
- Toss all the crust ingredients into a bowl.
- Stir it all together until it turns into a soft dough. The dough is going to feel wrong, almost like cookie dough, but that texture is right.
- Spread the dough into your pie pan. I found wet fingers help to get the job done faster. Make sure to prick the entire crust with a fork before baking.
Baking Tips
A few things will help your low carb blackout cheesecake bake up to perfection every single time.
- start with room temperature ingredients
- do not overwhip your cream cheese, whip until soft, then start adding the eggs one at a time.
- Wrap the outside of your cheesecake pan with a double layer of tin foil. Almond flour has a tendency to over brown and burns easily, the tin foil helps prevent overbaking the crust and the cheesecake.
- Bake until the cheesecake is almost set. The outside of the cheesecake will be set, but the center will still be a bit jiggly.
- Turn off the heat but leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool completely. This helps to reduce cracks. Cracks do not matter in this recipe because we coat the top in delicious ganache, but if you want a perfect top, leave that cheesecake in that oven to cool.
Food Dye Recommendations and Tips & tricks
The topping for this blackout cheesecake is dark chocolate ganache made with Lilly’s dark chocolate chips, heavy cream, and black food dye.
I am going to tell you why I always recommend Americolors for food dye and not Wilton. I love some of Wilton’s baking products and tools, but NOT their food dyes, and here are the three very important reasons why.
- Wilton’s screw-top lid is ridiculous. If you ever used Wilton food dyes you know what I am talking about. You must use a clean toothpick every single time you grab more dye. Americacolor has flip-top lids. Much less messy and convenient.
- Wilson’s food dyes dry out and eventually crystalize. I find Wilton food dyes dry out so much faster than Americolors. I don’t use food dye all that often, but when I go to grab them for a recipe, they better work.
- The taste. WOW, talk about leaving a bad taste in your mouth. Wilton food dyes, especially the black and the red taste terrible. Americolors, even black and red has zero aftertastes.
My point? Since you have to use so much food dye to get a true black, use the food dye that isn’t going to taste terrible or make a mess and will be ready to use next halloween.
Tips for Using Food Dye to Color Chocolate
Coloring chocolate is a risky endeavor. There are a few things that can go wrong. I am going to tell you what those things are so you can avoid ruining a batch of chocolate.
You cannot use water-based food dyes. Those cheap food dyes we can purchase at the grocery store – those are not going to work. They will seize up your chocolate and your ganache.
Wilton food coloring as well as my personal favorite Americolor both work great for dying chocolate. Steer clear of Wilton black and Wilton red unless they specifically say no taste.
When you dye your ganache add the food dye to the warm cream before pouring it over the chocolate. This ensures the food dye blends perfectly.
If you are attempting to dye chocolate be sure your food dyes are approx the same temperature as your chocolate when you add them.
Storage & serving suggestions
Store this low carb blackout cheesecake in the fridge. Leaving it on the counter to warm to room temperature will create a very soft cheesecake texture. Cold out of the fridge the dessert is thick and creamy just like a cheesecake should be.
The cheesecake will also last for days in the fridge without issue, just keep it covered.
Low Carb Blackout Cheesecake for Halloween ( It's Mocha Fudge!)
A chocolate mocha fudge cheesecake decorated for the Halloween season. This thick and creamy New York-style cheesecake is black all the way through and makes a great fun dessert for a Halloween table.
Ingredients
Chocolate Crust
- 2 cups almond flour
- 2 Tbsp sweetener (I used So Nourished Powdered Erythritol Monk Fruit Blend)
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 4-5 drops of black food dye
Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake Filling
- 3 cups ( 24 ounces ) full fat cream cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sweetener (I used So Nourished Powdered Erythritol Monk Fruit Blend)
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp instant espresso granules
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 10-12 drops black food coloring
Topping
- 1 cup Lilly's sugar-free dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup Lilly's white chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4-5 drops black food coloring
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add almond flour, powdered erythritol, and cocoa powder into a 9-inch springform pan wrapped with tin foil. (see notes)
- Gently whisk butter with the egg, black food dye, and vanilla and add to the pan.
- Blend all ingredients well with a fork. Once blended spread mixture evenly at the bottom of the pan. The back of a small flat bottomed measuring cup works very well. Prick all over with a fork.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until just lightly golden brown.
- Cool to room temperature before adding the cheesecake batter.
Cheesecake Base
- In a medium-sized bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer whip cream cheese, vanilla, powdered erythritol, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and blend until soft and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time until fully blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding each egg. Add black food dye and blend until combined.
- Pour cheesecake filling into your crust.
- Bake at 350F oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cheesecake is set in the center.
- Leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool.
Ganache Topping
- Pour dark chocolate chips into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Warm heavy cream until bubbles form on the rim of the pan. Do no boil. Add the black food dye to the heavy cream and stir to combine.
- Pour the warm cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 4-5 minutes. The cream will melt the chocolate perfectly during this time.
- Stir the ganache until dark and shiny, if the chocolate isn't quite the right color you can add more food dye at this stage.
- Allow the ganache to cool for 5 more minutes before pouring over the cheesecake. Set the cheesecake aside.
- Melt the white chocolate chips and add them to a piping bag. You do not need a tip for this, you can snip off the end of the piping bag and that works just fine. Start at the outside rim and draw a spiral all the way to the center of the cheesecake.
- Using a toothpick, or skewer, draw lines from the center of the cheesecake out to the rim. This will create a spiderweb pattern.
- Cool the cheesecake completely before serving.
Notes
Tips for a perfectly baked cheesecake
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Wrap your springform pan, sides and bottom, in aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Don’t open the oven door, don’t peek while the cheesecake is baking.
- When the cheesecake is done, leave it in the oven to cool.
Black food dye will temporarily stain your mouth. Just a heads up!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 296Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 56mgCarbohydrates: 7gNet Carbohydrates: 4gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 7g
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.
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