As much as I love cheesecake—and that’s a lot—I hate that it typically is loaded with saturated fat and an excess of calories.  So, whenever it is possible, I start trying to pare it back to something approaching healthiness.  Mainly, it has to be said, so that I can eat more of it,  Did I mention that I’m greedy?

The latest cheesecake to go under the knife, so to speak, is Nigella Lawson’s Gleaming Maple Cheesecake from Nigella Christmas.

I had planned to bake this cheesecake as a dessert for New Year’s Day, but the flu put paid to that.  So, once I was better and feeling more enthusiastic about spending time in my kitchen again, I set to work adapting the original recipe…

To lighten things up, I’ve used extra-low fat cream cheese and substituted egg whites for most of the whole eggs called for.  I did keep one whole egg to ensure that the cheesecake set properly and to help keep the texture silky smooth.  The crust is, admittedly, a bit of a departure from Nigella’s recipe: I’ve used my standard cheesecake crust which is a mixture of Grape Nut cereal and amaretti biscuits.  It still has a slightly nutty taste and the flavour works perfectly with the rest of the cheesecake. And really… who cares that much about the crust?  We’re here for the cheesecake.  All my fiddling brought the cheesecake down from 13 Weight Watchers (UK) points per slice down to just 4.  Quite a difference, eh?

But… does it taste good?

Yes!!   I’m really pleased with this cheesecake.  You absolutely can’t tell that it’s a low-fat version and baking in the water-bath as stipulated by Nigella has kept it amazingly creamy all the way through.  The smoky-sweet maple flavour shines through and balances the creaminess of the cheese, yet isn’t sickly sweet.

Treat yourself to an extra drizzle of maple syrup on each slice… it tips it over into absolute luxury without breaking the calorie bank!

Lightened Gleaming Maple Cheesecake

Adapted from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

Serves 8

WW (UK) points: 4 per slice

• 75g Grape Nut cereal
• 75g amaretti biscuits
• 2 large egg whites

• 500g Philadelphia extra-light at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
• 40g caster sugar
• 100ml best-quality maple syrup
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

You will need a 7″ springform tin, tinfoil and a deep baking dish that will comfortably hold the tin.

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160).

Put the dry ingredients in a blender or food processor and process to coarse crumbs. Tip into a bowl.

Lightly beat the egg whites until frothy, and mix with the crumbs until thoroughly combined.

Lightly spray the springform tin with oil spray. Scrape the crumb mixture into the tin and, with the back of a serving spoon, spread it evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Take the crust all the way up to the top of the tin – the cheesecake mixture comes almost to the brim. If the crust sticks to the spoon then dip the spoon in some cold water.

Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes, then leave to cool (in the tin!) on a wire rack.

Boil a kettle of water.

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy (I used my KitchenAid, but a handmixer works very well, and I’m sure elbow grease would, too.)  Remember, everything for the filling must be at room temperature!!

Add the flour and beat in, scraping down the sides to incorporate everything.  Slowly beat in the sugar and maple syrup then the eggs, one at a time.  Lastly, beat in the lemon juice.

Wrap the sprinfrom tin in two layers of tinfoil and set in a deep baking dish large enough to take the tin.  Pour the cheesecake mixture into the crust then pour the hot water from the kettle around the foil-wrapped tin.

Bake for around one hour, until the edge of the cheesecake is set and the centre jiggles ever so slightly when you shake the dish.

Remove from the oven, take out of the water-bath and carefully strip away the tinfoil.  Cool cheesecake in tin on a wire rack before chilling for at least 5 hours.  Overnight is best if you have the time.

Serve slices with extra maple syrup poured over the top.