Raw Tropical Cheesecake
Posted in: Food - Monday, January 21 2013
You would think I’ve got a thing for cheesecakes given this is the second one I’m posting in a space of a week but trust me, the two cakes could not be more different! My Souffle Cheesecake with Sour Cherry Sauce was made before starting my raw food diet and today’s effort is a raw version of cheesecake. I’d always been curious about raw cheesecakes so when the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop came around again, it made sense to give it a go while I’m eating raw.
This month’s hop is hosted by the lovely Nic from Dining With a Stud and it’s appropriately themed ‘Tropical Paradise’ to celebrate our glorious summer and the abundance of delicious fruit bestowed upon us at this time of the year. I happened to be very well stocked with various tropical fruit this weekend (I used mango, banana and lime for my topping), so I got on with the business of making a cheesecake. Without cooking. Without cheese. Sigh…
Actually I was pleasantly surprised by how good some raw desserts can be. I made Raw Chocolate & Walnut Brownies last week which was pretty darn good and certainly delivered a hefty chocolate hit which I desperately needed. I hoped that a raw cheesecake would be equally tasty.
Most raw cakes and cheesecakes are nut based and while you can use anything from macadamias to almonds, I decided to follow the example of most recipes and used cashews. Cashews do have its own distinctive flavour but it’s surprisingly subtle when mixed in with other ingredients, unlike walnuts and peanuts. The nutty cheesecake mixture was promising and by the time I layered everything together, the whole thing pretty much resembled a regular cheesecake.
An amusing thing about raw desserts is that most need to spend time in the freezer to set but due to its low water content, it never really freezes and everything stays in place nicely. As for how this cheesecake tasted?b It wasn’t bad at all! The nut cheesecake filling is quite dense so it benefits greatly from having a nice layer of fruit on top to balance things out. The base isn’t crunchy but that could be remedied by using some activated buckwheat (memo for next time) in the ‘dough’.
All in all, not a bad rendition of cheesecake. It’ll keep me happy for the next couple of weeks while I slog it out with raw foods :)
(The SABH is brought to you by Dining With a Stud, 84th & 3rd, The Hungry Australian and The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader. This blog hop is open to all food bloggers so give it a go!)
- 1 cup pecans
- ½ cup dates
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- 2 cups cashews, soaked for 2 hours
- ⅓ cup raw honey
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- extract of 1 vanilla pod
- 1 mango or 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 small ripe banana
- ½ lime squeezed and zest retained
- In a food processor or Thermomix, blend the dates, coconut and pecans together until resembling fine crumbs (Speed 6 for 10 seconds).
- Place dough crumbs into a 18cm cake pan and compact with a flat spoon or similar utensil. Place aside.
- Rinse TMX bowl or food processor bowl and place soaked cashews inside. Blitz on Speed 9 f(high) or a few seconds until soft and buttery. Add honey, lemon juice and vanilla and mix on Speed 4 for a few seconds until combined.
- Scoop cheesecake mixture onto base and smooth out.
- Rinse TMX bowl again and place mango, banana and lime juice & zest inside. Blitz on Speed 3 for a few seconds until smooth.
- Cover cheesecake layer with fruit layer, cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer for two hours or overnight.
- Remove cheesecake from freezer an hour before serving, or slice desired portion and return remainder to freezer to consume as desired.
27 Comments for this entry
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I’m loving your raw recipes :D I def need to make this. It sounds amazing and so naughty but its totally good for you. Win/win! Thanks for joining the hop :)
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Thanks :) It’s a decadent looking thing but that’s right! It’s healthy lol I still love regular cheesecake but this helps immensely. Thanks for hosting!
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I took a Raw Dessert cooking class by Foodly Affair and found that you can make a good range of desserts and it’s healthier so you can eat as much as you want! I like the different layers in your cheesecake, I would be fooled that it was the real thing by just looking at it.
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Thanks :) I wasn’t sure how this would end up but it’s not bad at all. I think it’s best to think of it as a nut cake in its own right than a cheesecake substitute.
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This looks amazing! and its raw! Wow! Even better!
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Thanks :) Can’t wait to try some of your raw recipes :D
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This sounds ridiculously good – I am really interested in raw cooking, this recipe might be my first foray into it :)
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Thanks :) Give it a go! It’s the most restrictive diet I have ever experienced but it’s taught me a lot of interesting things in the process :D
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Ohhh! Very interesting. Don’t laugh at me if I tell you this but I’ve had a raw cheesecake like this before. Very interesting! Growing up in the tropics, it’s natural that I love any tropical flavours. Hope you’re well Mon! It’s been a while hey =)
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Hello! I’ve been busy but great. Hope you’ve been well, though I keep track of how you’re going via Twitter :D I think raw recipes will creep into a lot of people’s everyday diet in future.
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PS – When are you going to join the hop Winston!? :)
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Sounds perfect! I love raw vegan cheesecake although I add coconut oil to mine (not sure if you eat that?) and find it helps the filling to firm up a bit more once refrigerated. Loving the sound of the crust too!
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Thanks :) I came across a lot of cheesecake recipes using coconut oil but I am sensitive to the lauric acid in it so anything with coconut oil in it tastes like soap :(( Love the smell tho!
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This looks amazing!
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Thanks :) I quite like it.
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My Kitchen Stories
January 22nd, 2013 on 7:19 pmIve never tried raw cheesecake but this does look very nice. Good luck with the special diet
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I was on FB and came across these links and I thought of you. So I’m posting them here :)
I particularly love the Blackberry Lemon Lavender Cheesecake!! It looks so pretty!http://fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/raw-lemon-dream-mousse-cake.html
http://www.rawfoodrecipes.com/recipes/blackberry-lemon-lavender-cheesecake.html
The only thing that puts me off is the Cashews. I’m not a fan and can’t stand the taste.
But your cheesecake looks delish, nevertheless!! -
Oh and I forgot this one:
http://goodveg.squidoo.com/recipes/desserts-recipes/raw-chocolate-mousse-cake
:D
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I love nut cheesecakes, cashews make such a lovely and creamy filling! Looks gorgeous.
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I’ve never tried raw sweets before but this looks lovely. I would just love a Thermomix to crush nuts so easily for these sorts of recipes!
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Thanks Christine :) I have to say that I love my Thermomix because it just pulverises anything lol Comes in handy!
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What a beautiful cheesecake! I’d really like to do more but I think you really need a Thermomix or Vitamix to get the right texture :)
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Thanks Lorraine. It does indeed help to have the Thermomix to do the hard work.
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the pie loooks amazing and delicious. I want one! thank you for sharing this! :)
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Thanks for visiting :)
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What, that entire cheesecake base is just soaked cashews (with flavourings)? I’ve eaten soaked nuts before but the thought of blending them to make something like this never even crossed my mind. Huh…I’m baffled!
And I like the recipe layout you use; it makes recipes easy to read, and the dotted border reminds me of the recipes I used to cut out of foodie magazines. :) -
Oh it’s amazing what you can come up with when you can’t heat things above 46C/118F degrees! It wasn’t a bad cake at all. The recipe plug-in is pretty cool huh?
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Nic@diningwithastud
January 21st, 2013 on 12:59 pm