Poco Mountain Girl

Just thought I’d post this recipe of something I whipped up for myself on my birthday.  Although it is raw, vegan, and gluten-free, this cheesecake is surprisingly like the real thing.

I’m not raw vegan anymore, but my favorite foods are still plant-based and raw.  Frozen or chilled concoctions with berries and coconut are especially refreshing during the summer months, and a raw birthday cheesecake sounded just right.

This cake is not really as complicated as the recipe looks, and it is very adaptable.  You can make it with or without the crust, strawberry edging, and decorator’s icing.  It is delicious even without the berry layer—just add some fresh whole or pureed berries when serving.

I got the inspiration for this cake from three different sources–here, here, and here.  They are all great recipes in their own right, but I changed several things to make this my own.  I subbed out honey for maple syrup, upped the lemon, downed the sweetness, dropped some ingredients, added others, etc.

It came out just as I’d hoped–sweet and creamy, but with the refreshing zing of lemon and berries.

Zia downed 2 hefty slices before I even got to to it, and David scarfed it like it was going out of style.  (I ate the most, of course.)   Zia actually burst into tears after David ate the last slice.

I have to say, this is our favorite raw dessert yet.  So without further ado…

Berry Delicious Raw Cheesecake

Use a springform pan or line a round cake pan with parchment paper cut to cover only the bottom of the pan.

Crust:
1 cup almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
dash sea salt
1/2 cup dates

Process almonds into meal and place in a medium size bowl.  Add cinnamon and salt; stir to combine.  Process dates until smooth and add to almond mixture.  Mix well to combine.

Roll out dough to the size of the bottom of pan, cut into a circle, and transfer to pan.

Strawberry Edging:

8-10 strawberries (if frozen, thaw partially)

Slice strawberries in half.  Place cut sides, points up, around edge of pan.  Filling will push berries against the pan.

Cheesecake Layer:

2 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours and drained

1/3 cup maple syrup (you can also use honey)

Juice of 3 or 4 lemons

1/3 cup + 1 T coconut oil

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

extra lemon juice or small amount of water if needed

Blend all ingredients till smooth, adding a bit of water or lemon until you reach a consistency something like soft-serve ice cream. It should be easy to stir but too thick to pour.

Reserve ½ cup (if making icing for decorating), and spread the rest onto crust or into prepared pan.  Set in freezer until berry layer is ready.

Berry Layer:

1 cup blueberries (I use frozen)

2 cups strawberries (I use frozen)

½ cup dates

1 T chia seeds

dash cinnamon

½ cup shredded coconut + 1 cup water (or 1 cup vegan milk)

extra water or vegan milk as needed

Just as with the first layer, blend all ingredients till smooth, adding a small amount of water or milk until you reach a consistency something like soft-serve ice cream. It should be easy to stir but too thick to pour.

Set in freezer.  Icing may be added when top layer is firm.

Decorator’s Icing:

Melt 1 T coconut oil and mix into reserved ½ cup of cheesecake filling.  Chill for a few minutes to firm slightly.  Transfer to a decorator’s icing bag and decorate top layer of cake.

For a cheesecake texture, thaw cake in fridge for one or more hours.  For an ice cream-like dessert, thaw 15 minutes or until just soft enough to insert knife.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Happy Healthy Hippie Food, Making Stuff, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.