RAW Dairy-free Cheesecake
In honor of my birthday I am sharing my super yummy vegan cheesecake recipe with all of you! So whip one up and celebrate with me!
First, I have fallen in LOVE with using cocoa butter instead of coconut oil for my filling! You can sub it out if you like, but coconut oil has a lower melting point so it will effect the firmness of your cheesecake. If you are making this on a hot day using coconut oil, keep it refrigerated until just before serving or seriously crank the A/C! Before I discovered using cocoa butter, we had a terrible time keeping the sliced cake looking pretty in the summer.
Another of my secret ingredients is the vitamin C powder! It gives your cake that cream cheese-like tang without adding too much citrus flavor with the lemon juice. There are plant-based sources of lactic acid out there, but the flavor is very similar and the vitamin C is so much easier to get your hands on--and maybe a bit cheaper too. It can be omitted but I think it will deflate the "cheese" flavor and you will be left with a lovely cream pie.
In addition to the RAW nut crust below, I have included a crumb crust recipe in the notes for those of you who want a more traditional take on cheesecake.
This is a very basic recipe that I use for all of my cheesecakes. So have fun with the flavor possibilities! In addition to the chocolate marbled cake pictured I have done a banana cream with Nutterbutter crust (not raw, but YUM), various strawberry, blueberry, cherry swirls...the possibilities are endless!
RAW Dairy-free Cheesecake
PREP TIME 20 | COOK TIME 2hrs | TOTAL TIME 2hrs 20m
Servings: 12
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Crust*
Nuts, raw (almond) 2 1/2 cups
Cocoa powder 1/4 cup
Salt 1/4 tsp
Dried fruit 1/3 cup
Dates, medjool 8-10 pitted
Vanilla 1 tsp
Coconut oil 1 Tbl
Filling
Cashews, raw and soaked 2 1/2 cups
Milk, almond 1 2/3 cups
Cocoa butter/Coconut oil 1/2 cup
Agave 1/2 cup
Lemon juice 3 Tbl
Vanilla 2 Tbl
Salt 1/4 tsp
Vitamin C powder 3/4 tsp
Instructions
Crust
Lay overlapping sheets of plastic wrap inside the ring of a spring form pan. Place the bottom disc on the top of the wrap and snap the ring into place with the plastic on the inside of the ring. This will prevent any filling in its liquid form from leaking.
Put the nuts in a food processor and break them up a bit. Add the remaining ingredients to the machine and pulse until the nuts are small and the fruit is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. When the mixture holds its shape when pinched between your fingers you are good to go!
Dump the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan and spread it out evenly. Press firmly into place. Set aside.
Filling
Blend all the filling ingredients except the cocoa butter in a blender on high until smooth.
Liquefy the cocoa butter and add it slowly, pouring a steady stream in the top of the blender, while you blend the rest of the mixture on high. The mixture will be quite liquid, but should be smooth throughout.
If you would like to make a marbled filling, now would be the time to reserve about 1 1/2 cups of filling to about a 1/2 cup of fruit or melted chocolate. Just hold it in the blender and add your flavoring and blend it until smooth. Pour your flavored mixture into the base filling already in the pan. Drizzle it around or add dollops and create a design by running a butter knife through.
Cover the cake with plastic wrap and allow to set in the freezer for about 2 hours. Transfer to the fridge once it has set so that it can be easily sliced.
Notes
*Alternatively you can create a Graham cracker crust, or any other crust for that matter! I have been known to use stale banana bread muffins for example. Just mix about 1 1/2 cups dry material like the cracker crumbs with 3 Tbls of sweetener (omit if using muffins) and 4-6 Tbls melted butter or coconut oil. It just depends on how dry your crumbs are so just perform the same pinch test mentioned above to know if you need more oil. Then bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.
