When I first learned I needed to eat gluten-free, I was also told to avoid chocolate. That would have hit me harder had it not occurred when I was also giving up wheat. Over the years, I have successfully reintroduced dark chocolate to my diet.

This is a recipe I’ve made for special occasions for about 30 years, but I had stopped making it when I gave up chocolate. I missed this decadent dessert as it had been a family favorite. Our nuclear family’s tradition was that on your birthday, you got to select the entire menu, no matter how difficult, and it would made from scratch. We would make our own ravioli, sauce, and still create whatever dessert was requested. My kids both learned early in life that chocolate cheesecake was a dessert worth asking for.

For my daughter’s eighth birthday party, I lovingly made her favorite—this labor-intensive chocolate cheesecake. I still cry (metaphorically) when I think of how her young friends took one bite and then refused to eat more. All of that beautiful cake went into the trash.

If you’re a cheesecake lover, you’ll be thrilled to eat this chocolate cheesecake (or share it with your cheesecake-loving friends). It’s worth the time it takes to prepare. And be sure to read through the entire recipe, as it requires a number of ingredients be prepared in advance (hot coffee, soft butter and cream cheese, melted chocolate, etc.)

Sorghum Flour Pressed Pie Crust

1 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup walnuts, pulverized in a blender
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons cold water

Filling 
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar (in two 1/3 cup quantities)
1 1b. (2 8-oz. packs) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life®)
1/2 cup hot coffee
2 tablespoons dark rum (rum that is not flavored is considered gluten-free)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust
Pulverize walnuts in a blender. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until mixed. Press (do not roll) into a 9-inch springform pan. (If possible, cut a piece of parchment paper about 1-inch larger than the bttom of the pan to seal the butter; otherwise, place a cookie sheet on the oven rung below the pan to catch any melted butter.)

Filling
Melt chocolate using warmer tray, warmer burner, or double boiler. Add hot coffee, rum, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks with only 1/3 cup sugar until lemon-colored. Cut cream cheese into one-inch cubes and beat into egg mixture. Then beat in chocolate mixture.

Whisk egg whites to soft peak stage. Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup sugar until stiff peak stage is reached. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites carefully into chocolate mixture.

Pour onto crust and bake one hour at 350 degrees; do not use the convection option. If you did not line the pan with parchment, place a cookie sheet below the pan to keep butter from dripping on oven floor. Bake until top is set. Open oven and allow to cool for the first hour in the oven. Refrigerate at least four hours before eating. Yield: 12 servings.

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My son came home for the holidays and requested this chocolate cheesecake. It might have been the first time I’d baked one when it wasn’t for someone’s birthday. The only adjustment I had to make was to change the typical graham cracker crust. No one missed it. And, we took the liberty of breaking off a few bites of the cake when it was room temperature, just before it was chilled. It was delicious! No one will ever suspect that this is a gluten-free alternative.

So make a New Year’s resolution to try this rich and delicious dessert. Your friends and family will thank you.

Yes, I’ve lost 32 lbs. eating gluten-free, and yes, it’s great to be a size 6 for the first time in my life (and anyone who thinks we all start at size 2 and move up through the sizes must not have been born female). But I miss the dessert bar, where before I could gorge on a little bit of “everything,” even though I knew it wasn’t good for me. Fortunately, my friends often think of me when planning the main dishes they’ll bring to a potluck. But no one bakes a cake or cookies without wheat--at least not in the world at large.

Cheesecake has always been one of my favorites. In fact, I love cheesecake so much that it became a staple for birthdays and special occasions. Craig Claiborne’s Chocolate Cheesecake was our family favorite, so much so that my daughter chose it for her birthday party when she turned 8. I lovingly spent more than an hour of prep time, grating graham cracker crumbs, melting chocolate, separating and whipping egg whites. I gave each young guest a generous piece. I can still feel my horror at the waste, as each girl other than my daughter picked at her slice, leaving it mainly uneaten, but not pristine enough to eat myself.

After that learning experience, we decided to reserve our special treat for family, and the next year for my daughter’s party, I baked a boxed cake (which I had never done before as an adult) that the kids literally ate up.

My daughter experienced her own headache with a cheesecake, deciding to make a gluten-free version for my birthday, but using a water bath around the spring form pan. The entire cake turned to soup, and I never got to see it. Her version was complex, with gluten-free cookie crumbs as part of the base.

Here’s a simple, easy, and delicious cheesecake without a crust. These mini-cheesecakes are so light that there’s no guilt in eating one. I’ve brought them to potlucks so that I can partake in a decadent dessert, and everyone raves.

Mini-Cheesecakes

Base

3 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese – softened
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Base: Cream the sugar with the cream cheese, adding eggs individually, followed by the vanilla. Using two muffin tins lined with cupcake wrappers, fill each of the 24 cups approximately 2/3 full. (Use an old-fashioned ice cream scoop with the metal piece that helps get the batter out.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes while making topping.

Topping: Mix sour cream, sugar, and vanilla with a wire whisk. Then spoon onto each mini-cheesecake. Bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool in pans before storing in refrigerator. Yield: 24 cupcakes. Freezes well.

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I brought these to my grandson’s first birthday and wondered how he’d react when I tested a small bit in his mouth. He must be my grandson, because his eyes lit up, and he gobbled what I shared. I guess the secret to creating a cheesecake lover is to start them young.