Was raw food cheesecake a sensible idea? I’m not really sure to be honest. I’m glad I made it, but a very small slice is enough to eat. I loved the base and the topping, but I can’t say the same for the filling. None of the kids liked it, but they are more used to dairy.
I do think that if I’d used a dairy filling, they’d really have liked it. With this size of cheesecake, you could easily get about 15 – 20 small portions.
Looks pretty easyish to make, but a bit disappointing for us. I’d say that you would have to be a die-hard vegan / vegetarian to go for this a lot, and the calories must be immense, but it does make a dessert for people who might not otherwise be able to have one.
Adding some more tartness to the filling might have made it a bigger hit here, but I’m not sure I would ever try it again.
Raw Food Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
Base
- 1.5 cups Walnuts
- 1 cup Dates
- 2 tablespoons Agave / Syrup or Honey If needed.
- 0.5 cup Dessicated Coconut
Filling
- 3 cups Cashews Soaked for at least 8 hours.
- 3/4 cups Lemon Juice
- 3/4 cups Coconut Oil The solid at room temp kind.
- 3/4 cups Agave / Syrup or Honey
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Essence
- 1 cup Water
Topping
- 2 cups Strawberries
Instructions
Cheesecake Base
- Put walnuts and dates into a food processor. I have to use my steel blade to get this to work and it can take several minutes to get the base to a place where it looks and feels like a cheesecake base. You can keep it with big chunks or wait a little longer to have a more finely processed base. I added a little agave syrup to help blend the nuts, but it really wasn't needed.
- Sprinkle the coconut onto the pan you'll use for your cheesecake to set in. It makes the first layer to stop your cheesecake from sticking.
- Press the walnut mix down on top of the coconut and your base is ready for the filling.
Filling
- Put all the filling ingredients, apart from the water into a mixer / processer at the same time. You can add water bit by bit, and keep processing until you have a smooth creamy mix. It may take a few minutes to happen.
- Put filling on top of the base and freeze it for about an hour to let it harden. At this point, it really is looking like a regular dairy cheesecake.
Topping
- Blend the strawberries until they are smooth. Put them on top of the base and filling.
- Put it all back in the freezer until the topping slightly hardens. Then all you have to do, is remove from freezer and serve immediately.
Notes