Three Last Minute Photos With Recipes Submitted In 'Picture Perfect' Contest

The Kodak "Picture Perfect Low-Carb Holiday" contest is officially over and judging is currently underway to narrow down the field to three so that the grand prize of a FREE KODAK EASYSHARE 5300 All-In-One Printer can be awarded. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!!

As expected, there was quite a flurry of submissions on the final day of the contest on Friday as people who waited until the very last moment got theirs in just the nick of time. The winner will be announced on Monday, but I wanted you to see these final three entries because they all included with their gorgeous photos the recipe for how to make their low-carb holiday favorites.

In case you missed any of the previous five photos entered into the contest, you can access those here, here, here, and here. See the final three entries right now along with the recipe for each one. ENJOY and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Submitted by MARCI W. from California


"I love cranberry sauce, but they don't put sugar-free cranberry sauce in a can. Good thing it is so easy to make from scratch!"

LOW-CARB CRANBERRY SAUCE

1 bag cranberries
1 cup water
3/4 to 1 cup Splenda or other artificial sweetener

Cook until berries swell up and pop. (this will happen by the time it comes to a rolling boil) Mash and serve. 30 calories and 5 net carbs per 1/2 cup.

Submitted by REGINA W. from Missouri


"A festive addition to your holiday dessert table, the chocolate-coconut snowballs are the perfect sweet treat to offer those watching carbs because it's rich with fat and light on insulin/glucose-spiking carbohydrates!"

LOW-CARB CHOCOLATE-COCONUT SNOWBALLS

1-cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (good quality)
1/4 cup splenda granular
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
4 teaspoons shredded, unsweetened coconut

Place heavy cream, cocoa powder, splenda and coconut extract in a large bowl. Using a hand mixer set to highest setting beat cream until whipped firmly. Slowly fold in 1/4 cup of coconut. Place bowl in refrigerator and allow to set up for 10-minutes.

Then transfer into 4 shallow serving bowls using a large spoon, rounding each to look like a snowball or use an ice cream scooper. Once each bowl has its "snowball" in it, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of shredded, unsweetened coconut on top to make it look like a snowball. You can use more cocoa and Splenda if you prefer more intense chocolate flavor or sweeter end result.

Makes 4 servings

Per Serving:
Total Carbohydrate 9g
Fiber 4g
Net Carbs 5g

Submitted by KATE W. from Canada


"I made this recipe by combining some awesome ideas from the Sweet Treats section at the Active Low Carber Forums. The base is a standard low-carb cheesecake crust, the cake is a slightly tweaked version of the incredibly Bawdy's Cheesecake, and the topping is a higher-fat version of NancyLC's Lemon Curd."

LUSCIOUS LOW-CARB LEMON CHEESECAKE

CRUST
1.5 cups almond flour (if you have other nuts you like, feel free to throw a few crushed ones in - macadamia nuts are great for this)
5 tbsp melted butter
5 tbsp granular Splenda

Line an 8x8 cake pan with greaseproof paper. The easiest way to get the paper to "stick" to the pan is to smear a little butter from the butter wrapper around the pan and press the paper into place.

Press the cheesecake crust mixture into the bottom of the pan, and pop in the oven for 10-15 mins, until the edges start turning golden brown. I find the pre-baking stops the base soaking up the cake batter and becoming soggy.

While the crust is baking, make the cheesecake filling.

FILLING
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar-free vanilla syrup (or 1/2 cup of Splenda or equivalent sweetener)
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese (it's easier if the cream cheese is softened beforehand, and cut up into pieces ahead of time)
2 tbsp melted butter

Blend eggs, vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon juice, sour cream, and vanilla syrup together until combined. Then add the cream cheese and butter.

I usually let the crust cool a while before pouring the batter on top. Then, I bake the cheesecake in my own improvised water bath. I plop the cake tin into a wok half-filled with water and then put the whole ensemble in the oven to cook. The water prevents the top of the cake from cracking.

Alternative methods: a pan of water placed below the oven shelf you use for the cheesecake. This isn't absolutely necessary, so if you feel intimidated by it or don't have the pans, don't worry about it - it just makes for a prettier overall result.

Turn the oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes.

IMPORTANT: After the cooking time finishes, don't open the oven door. Just turn it off, otherwise the whoosh of cool air will crack your cake. Leave the cake in the turned-off oven for an hour (more if you can), before letting it cool at room temperature, and then moving to the refrigerator.

While the cheesecake is baking, it's time to make the topping.

TOPPING
Lemon zest from 2 lemons
Lemon juice from 2 lemons
3/4 cups of Splenda
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbs of softened butter (optional)

Grate the zest of two lemons into a bowl (when you hit white, stop grating and move to the next section. Or, if you have a lemon zester, you're very lucky--are you reading this, Santa?). Add the juice of both lemons and stir in the Splenda. Now, add two whole eggs, plus two egg yolks, and stir everything up.

The next part is to very slowly cook the mixture so it turns to curd. Place your mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and keep the heat low to medium. If you cook it too fast, you'll get lemony scrambled eggs. (I always found this double-pan method intimidating, but give it a try, it's not as hard as it seems.) It should take around 10-15 mins to cook. Keep stirring so the heat moves through the mixture evenly. It should start thickening, and once it reaches a pudding-like consistency, remove it from the heat.

Add butter for a richer, creamier taste. It will melt and combine if you stir pieces of butter in immediately. This is optional, so you can skip it if you'd like to marginally lower the calories of the final product!

Put your lemon curd in a container and place cling wrap over the top so it's touching the mixture, otherwise a skin will form. Place in the refrigerator to cool and thicken. This can be used as a topping for more than just cheesecake--on low-carb yogurts, flax muffins and more. It tastes like an extremely intense lemon custard.

Once everything is cool, you can remove the cheesecake from the pan and spread the lemon curd over it. The result is a deliciously creamy, rich cheesecake with tangy lemon topping. This is pure heaven for lemon lovers.

Makes 14 good size slices, each one containing:

331 calories
31g fat
8.5 total carbs (7.5 net carbs)
6.6 g protein

STAY TUNED ON MONDAY TO FIND OUT WHO WON THE KODAK PRINTER!!!