of Honest Cheesecake, or a cruise in the raw vegan galaxy
People get ready. Not only is this raw, vegan cheesecake a cinch to whip up, but it’s made with ingredients that nourish your body. This cake exists in a whole new universe, far far away from the refined sugar and animal fats orbiting around conventional cheesecake.
I brought this cake to a party for my brother and sister-in-law, who have gone vegan for Lent. Don’t be fooled. This is anything but a sad Lent cake.
HONEST CHEESECAKE
Adapted from My New Roots’ recipe for raw cashew dreamcake
CRUST
1/2 cup almonds
2/3 cup Medjool dates (about 8), as moist and fudgy as you can find them
two pinches sea salt
FILLING
1 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts, soaked in water overnight
juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup agave nectar or maple syrup (honey is also fine, but not vegan)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup berries of any variety (I used raspberries/cherries here)
Blend the dates, almonds, and salt with a powerful kitchen tool – food processor, blender, staff mixer, or machete – until they turn into a sticky crumble. Pat the mixture firmly into the bottom of a 7in/18cm springform pan that you’ve greased or lined with plastic wrap.
With your powertool of choice, whip the soaked cashews, lemon juice, coconut oil, agave/maple syrup and vanilla for several minutes on high until smooth and glossy. Pour half of the batter over the crust, then blend the berries into the remaining half. Carefully spread this over the first layer.
Cover the pan in plastic wrap and set it in the freezer until solid. Then, wait for some friends to come over (preferably the foodie snob ones), pull it out like it’s no big deal, and watch the eyes pop.
Store any leftovers (haha!) in the freezer.
We will try this dessert soon — it sounds delicious — and we will even track down the moist fudgy Medjool dates.
Meanwhile is it okay if we notice the presentation — and the photography?
This dish is so well presented — as are the ingredients — and the lighting is just exactly so. Beautiful photos artfully arranged.
Beauty is….Balance? Proportion? Complement? Coordination? Whatever it is, this post demonstrates it to perfection. Really nice presentation; you should perhaps work for Wolfgang. Or preside over the quiet little tea shop tucked into the corner of some urban Hilton.
Whatever. Your food creation sounds quite yummy but we are not past the presentation yet. It is really, really nice. (Really.)
thank you, friends. (:
i likes the look of this! i agree with the above post, you managed to make the presentation so much better than the original recipe. your photography skillz rock. and i love those little plates – are they the ones we got at that massive garage sale when i came to visit you in pasadena? adorable xx
Pasadena flea market all the way, baby.
I’ve just stumbled on your blog, so nice to find other expat bloggers here in Holland :) This vegan cheesecake looks awesome and I’ve been wanting to give raw ‘baking’ a try so this could be a tasty start!
Let me know how it goes, Lily!
Great recipe! I served it to some friends without telling what was in it. Turned out that one of my friends had a nut-allergy but didn’t expect that a cheesecake would contain nuts…. ooops :-) Well, gladly she survived :-)
Oh no! I’m glad the element of surprise was delicious but not deadly, in the end. (:
I got all the ingredients except the berries and I want to try this awesome-looking cake as soon as the cashews are done floating. Do you think it would be good with kiwis? Haha it seems weird I’m not sure if I’m gonna run off anyway to the supermarket or try it, since I’m bringing the cake for a dinner party.
Another question: how long should the cashews minimally be soaked? (unfortunately I didn’t do it overnight)
Thankss
Hi Judith, try to soak the cashews for at least 2 hours, so that they liquify into that luscious creaminess when you blitz them. Kiwi sounds like a lot of fun — a green layer! Or you could leave the whole cake plain, and cover the top with paper-thin slices of kiwi when you serve. Pretty! (: Let me know how it goes in any case.
Hello Valerie, thanks for the tips:) I did go ahead and try it with kiwi, the taste was pretty good but no greenish transformation – I guess its colour is not strong enough. I might want to make this more often so it’s nice to try it with different fruits for variation. Not all of them will create the awesome three-colours layer effect though xp
It’s a great cake to try different combinations on, definitely! By the way, I’m thinking some matcha (green tea) powder might also work wonders at boosting that green colour…
sarah britton for president, definitly. ik maakte deze laatst ook en het was de lekkerste taart die ik ooit at. zo vullend ook, in a good way.
Are those cashew nuts the ones I buy in the supermarket or some special kind?
Hi Eelke, I’m not always successful in finding them unroasted and unsalted at the supermarket – try the toko, natuurwinkel, or the turkish/moroccan grocery.
Thanks Valerie, I’ll try the turk op de hoek.
Top! Laat je me weten als het gelukt is? Succes en eet smakelijk! (:
Britton for president inderdaad! (: