September 13, 2017
Cheesecakes… to me, they are the BEST dessert and always have been. Growing up I would never pass up a slice of this traditional, creamy, sugary dessert whenever I would have family dinner at my grandma’s house. However, times have changed and what was once a part of my diet is no longer. This is where raw vegan cheesecakes came to the rescue! After reading and reading and tweaking here and there on different methods to make the perfect raw vegan cheesecake, I finally came up with the BASIC method that worked like a charm every time.
Besides being incredibly scrumptiously delicious and decadent to the tastebuds, this method is also gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, vegan and basically 100% raw! All the ingredients are wholesome and packed with nutrients so you could almost add in there that it’s entirely guilt-free as well!
Raw Vegan Cheesecake
The methods ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups packed pitted dates
- 1 1/2 cups nuts (almond, walnut, pecan or preferred nut of choice)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (you could use sweetened if you prefer a sweeter base)
- Pinch of Himalayan salt (sea salt will work as well)
Filling
- 3 cups of soaked cashews (soaked for at least 8 hours or overnight)
- 2 large lemons (juiced) or 0.5 cup pure lemon juice
- 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted in double boiler at low temp
- 1 1/4 cup coconut cream (full fat coconut milk can work, use cream part on top and not liquids)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup (agave can work or honey if not strict vegan)
Optional add ins and tips
- Adding in 1/2 cup cacao powder into crust or/and filling to make chocolatey-cheescake
- You can add 1/4 cup oats(ensure gluten free if needed) or additional coconut flakes into crust to bulk crust if needed
- Adding in 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen berries into filling will make berry cheesecake
- Adding in 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or scraping of one vanilla bean for additional flavouring
The method
- Add your dates to a food processor and chop into smaller bits, set aside in small bowl
- Add your nuts to the food processor and chop into smaller bits, let pieces remain chunky for texture, keep in food processor
- Add all crust ingredients into food processor with chopped nuts, blend all together until it just sticks together in your fingers (if it needs help sticking together add 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup or agave)
- Lightly grease a 9″ spring pan or place parchment paper underneath for easier removal
- Dish out your crust ingredients from food processor onto spring pan and firmly press down until entire base is covered (if you prefer a thinner crust, keep some of your crust mixture and form into energy balls for later!). Place aside in freezer while preparing filling.
- Place all filling ingredients into high-speed blender (Vitamix works great but any high speed blender will work but may take additional time, keep pureeing until you get an extremely creamy, silky consistency). Scrape down the sides once or twice to make sure all cashews get blended evenly.
- Remove the spring pan from freezer and pour filling mixture into pan. Place back in freezer, uncovered for minimum 8 hours (cover the cheesecake after about 4 hours in freezer to make sure there is no freezer residue left on cake).
- Once the cheesecake has set, take out of freezer to thaw, slice a piece and ENJOY!
** Cheesecakes are great to hold in the freezer and take out pieces when desired *
