I have had a life-long love affair with cheesecake. My mum used to make an awesome mango cheesecake, sweet and rich! Unfortunately, all that sugar, dairy and wheat just doesn’t love me anymore.
Recently, I started hearing about all these healthy people making ‘raw’ cheesecakes. Now to be honest, when someone said ‘raw food’, I wasn’t exactly that excited. It just didn’t really appeal to me. It sounded weird – hippy food! Until I tried it – if this is what raw food tastes like, count me in!
I have made a few different ‘cheesecakes’ now, but this one I made up at Easter time, inspired by this recipe, is my favourite. It’s so darn healthy, I would serve it up to my kids for breakfast!
It’s raw, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, high protein, low carb. The best bit though……. it tastes flipping amazing!!
Try it, tell me what you think.
♥ Berry Coconuty Cheesecake ♥
So, this is what you need:
2 cups organic almonds, soaked overnight*
2 cups dates
1/2 cup organic cacao powder, (not cocoa)
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
3 cups organic cashews, soaked overnight*
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, defrosted a little
3/4 cup sweetener of your choice – honey, maple syrup, rice malt syrup
1 cup virgin, organic coconut oil
1/2 cup organic lemon juice
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (not essence)
1/2 cup filtered water (if needed)
* Why would you soak your nuts? Good question. Not only does it make the nuts softer and easier to process, soaking makes nuts easier to digest. Read more here. If you can’t manage overnight, at least do a couple of hours of soaking. Use filtered water.
Okay, so this is how you do it:
Drain the almonds well and place in your thermomix (or food processor) with the dates, cacao powder and cinnamon.
Blitz until it forms a crumb and is sticking together a little. Add a touch of filtered water if needed.
Place a piece of baking paper into a large, spring form pan or two glass pie dishes. (That’s what I did – one for later!)
Press the cheesecake base into the dish, smoothing it with the back of a wet spoon. Place in the fridge.
Now, fling the rest of your ingredients into the thermomix or food processor and blitz!
It should be very smooth and creamy. Keep going until it’s a nice texture! Use the water if it’s looking a bit too thick.
Pour this mix onto the base. Put some cling wrap over it and chuck into the freezer.
Leave it overnight or at least six hours.
To serve, take it out of the freezer for about ten minutes and cut into slices.
You could serve it with some fresh berries or even make a berry sauce with some more berries and honey, thickened with cornflour.
I find you only need a small serve. The nuts in this ‘cheesecake’ make it really filling.
~yum~
Now, if you are keen to get into this ‘raw cheesecake’ craze, you could also try this recipe from the beautiful girls at Like Chocolate for Women. Or try my mango version of this recipe.
I love comments. Do you have a recipe for a raw cheesecake? Do you love raw cheesecakes? Talk to me.