December 26, 2016
I tried my first raw vegan cheesecake at a local market a few months ago. I’m a bit of a cheesecake connoisseur and I was surprised at how good it tasted even though it wasn’t made with cream cheese. I liked that it had less sugar and was made with all natural ingredients.
I wanted to make one at home so I tried out a few recipes. Some were made without dates, some were made with macadamia nuts, some were made with cashews and some had a lot of lemon and were a bit too tart. After experimenting with a few recipes and tweaking things a little I finally came up with one that I love.
This raw vegan cheesecake contains just 7 ingredients and it super easy to make! It has almonds, dates, cashews, lemon, maple syrup, coconut milk and a touch of coconut oil.
It requires no baking, is dairy free and is really creamy and decadent.
Being that it is made mostly of cashews and coconut milk it has a slightly different taste than cream cheese cheesecake but trust me it is so good you will absolutely love every bite!!
Ingredients:
Crust
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1 cup pitted dates
Filling
- 2 cups raw cashews (pre-soaked in water)
- 1 large lemon
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey if you prefer
Topping
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions:
1. Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with water (approx 1/2 cup water) and soak for 8 hours or overnight. As an alternative you can also speed up the process and soak the cashews in hot water for 1 hour instead.
3. Place your can of coconut milk in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight while waiting for the cashews to soak.
2. For the crust place the almonds, dates and a pinch of sea salt in a food processor and blend until a sticky dough forms.
2. Line a 9″ glass dish or baking pan with parchment paper and press the crust mixture into the prepared pan. Set aside.
3. Drain and pat the cashews dry and place them in your food processor. Blend the cashews until they are fine.
4. Open your can of coconut milk and scrape off the thicker cream that has solidified on top and add it to the ground cashews. *Do not use the whole can of coconut milk, just use the thicker cream on top.
5. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
6. Pour the filling over the crust and place in the freezer for 4-6 hours.
7. To make the blueberry topping place the blueberries in a saucepan along with the water, lemon and maple syrup. Cook on med heat and bring to a low boil, constantly stirring until the mixture thickens. Approx 5 mins. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
8. Remove the cheesecake out of the freezer once it has set. Let it thaw at room temperature for 10-15 mins before serving. Cut cheesecake into pieces and top with your blueberry sauce and enjoy!!
Xo Chelsea
Serving size: 1 slice cheesecake Calories: 319 Fat: 20 g Saturated fat: 8.7 g Carbohydrates: 29 g Sugar: 18g Sodium: 10 mg Fiber: 2.6 g Protein: 6 g
