It was my birthday this week (29th birthday), and to celebrate I wanted to indulge my recent random craving for something cheese-cake-ey. Usually I'm all up in the chocolate cake for my birthday, but not this year.
I have had delicious and wonderful baked tofu cheesecakes before, but I wanted something super dense and rich, and didn't feel like using the oven.
So, with the help of the handy vitamix I was able to borrow (pretty wicked machine - don't want to give it back) , this delicious cake was born, and the recipe was destined for a MacroTreat Friday (MTF) post.
I'm not usually so into raw desserts as I find they can sit quite heavy, but raw cheesecakes can be pretty divine once in awhile. This one held up to all my expectations <3
MTF: Raw Lemon + Raspberry Cheesecake
This is a tart and fresh, yet superbly decadent treat. If you're craving something dense like a cheesecake, and you love lemon - you'll love this recipe. It's not super sweet, so play around with adding in some more maple syrup if desired. I'd recommend serving with some ginger tea :)
* Largely Inspired by + Modified from a combination of this recipe and this recipe and another from one of my cookbooks :)
Ingredients
Crust
- 2/3 cup almonds
- 2/3 cup hemp hearts or walnuts (I used hemp hearts)
- 1 TBSP pure maple syrup
- 3 TBSP coconut oil
Lemon Filling
- 2.5 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener of choice)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup milk of choice (I used unsweetened coconut out of a carton) + a bit more
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (if you love lemon as much as me, add in even more!)
- 3 TBSP coconut butter
- 3 TBSP coconut oil
- pinch of sea salt
- zest of one lemon
Raspberry Swirl
- 1/2 - 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup water
Directions
- Make the crust: In a highspeed blender or food processor, combine the almonds and hemp hearts until they are crumbly (not butter). Add in the maple syrup and coconut oil, and blend again until combined.
- Line a 6" tart pan or springform with parchment paper.
- Press crust into bottom of pan.
- Make filling: Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Add to blender, along with all of the other filling ingredients, and process until very smooth. Add a little more milk if needed (I ended up adding about 2 TBSP more).
- Pour onto crust.
- Make Raspberry swirl: add in all ingredients to blender, and blend until smooth. Pour on top of cake, and using a fork, swirl it around to combine. If you use less raspberries, you'll get more of a swirl look. I used quite a few (yum!) so I ended up with a pink layer.
- Put into fridge overnight. If you have toothpicks, I'd recommend putting a few in around the edges and covering with plastic wrap. You can also place in the freezer to set faster - I'd guess about 4 hours or so. [in the end I put mine in the freezer to firm up, it wasn't quite as solid as I wanted the next morning].
- Bring out of fridge or freezer and let sit for about 15 minutes before you cut + serve.
- Enjoy!
It was really, really good, and hit my lemon + berry craving straight on the nose.
Do you like raw or vegan cheesecakes? What's your favourite recipe?
Have a great weekend, friends!
xoxo Jess