Low Calorie No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

As the post title suggests, Low Calorie No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake, you must be wondering, if there is chocolate and its a cheesecake, how could it be low calorie - well, its not really low calorie, but it would be definitely lower than an actual "cheesecake" :)

This cheesecake is a fast track recipe which can be thrown in within a few minutes. I don't follow the classic baked cheesecake method. I've tried earlier and failed. But later I came across the no-bake cheesecake recipe and that became the base for all kinds of cheesecakes that I have prepared earlier.

Coming to the ingredients, I don't use cream cheese which is the base for any cheesecake, because, firstly, its very high in calories and secondly its very not easily available here. So see we saved some calories there, with a little price paid on the taste. However, I can bet most people won't be able to make out the difference whether there is cream cheese or something else.

I'm preparing this chocolate cheesecake for the first time. I've been conceptualizing this recipe for sometime in my mind. Actually I've been off baking for sometime now. It actually took me sometime to get this recipe in place unlike earlier where reinventing or putting a new recipe together was a few hours job.

Ingredients:
For the base:
5-6 dark fantasy biscuits,
2 tbsp butter, melted

For the cake:
400 ml fresh cream (I've used Amul)
250 gms dark chocolate, chopped, melted,
5-6 tbsp powdered sugar,
~~15 gms~~ 20gms of gelatin, soaked in 15 ml of water,
7" cake tin with a removable base,

For Decoration:
1-2 tbsp powdered sugar,
1-2 tbsp chocolate shavings,

Method:

Crush the biscuits in a mixer. Add the melted butter and mix well.
Layer the crushed biscuit powder on the base of the cake tin and press it hard.
Put it away in the refrigerator to set.
While the base is getting ready, put the chopped chocolate in a microwave proof bowl and heat for less than 1 mins. Remove, mix well and reheat if required. You must have no lumps and should be of a pourable consistency.
Heat the gelatin in the microwave for about 10-15 secs. It should look transparent.
Pour the contents of fresh cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat for less than 1 min.
Now pour gelatin into the cream and mix well.
Pour the warm chocolate into the warm cream mixture and mix well.
At this stage if you need more sweet, add a few tbsps of powdered sugar.
Pour the contents into the base (which by now should have become quite stiff). Tap the contents a little bit to remove any air bubbles that might have formed.
Put it into the refrigerator and allow it to set overnight.

To remove the cake, run a pallete knife along the sides first. Gently push the tin base upwards and push the cake side tin downwards.
Place it on a serving plate gently.
Take a tea seive and put some powdered sugar onto it. Now gently tap the seive to make a bed of snow like covering on the cake.
Take a piece of chocolate and using a small grater, grate the chocolate on top of the powdered sugar.
Serve a chilled slice immediately.

Important Notes:

Its important to follow the sequence of steps as mentioned above.
For the base, you could also use a thin slice of chocolate cake, cut into the size of the cake tin.
Every microwave is different, so you might have to adjust the timing according to your microwave.
I think a little more gelatin would have done. If you notice the picture, the cake is quite sticky. I was worried it would fall off and not stay stiff. It should be stiff.
This should be kept refrigerated at all times.

I'm sending this cake to all my loved ones for whom I have not baked anything for quite sometime. It also goes out to all my friends who love me and/or hate me, but I'm still a part of their life. This also goes out to all my blogging friends and friends from my workplace who have been an immense support and warmly welcomed me into their lives. Last but not the least, goes out to my son and his bunch of friends, for whom I specially made this!