How to make friends and influence people: a vegan cheesecake to change the world.

Okay so let's talk about this cheesecake. The base alone is good enough to eat from the blender... It's a miracle it made it into the tart tin really. It's made with raw cashews and almonds, coconut, medjool dates and coconut oil. The cream is cashew based with maple syrup, homemade vanilla essence, coconut cream and blended until almost mousse-like. I scattered sliced figs and blueberries over the base, poured on the cream and froze for a few hours. It keeps in the freezer for at least a week and I just pop lots of fresh berries on top when I serve it. Give it a little time to thaw before serving, although on a hot day, a cool slice is also a delicious, refreshing treat.

Seriously, this cake will convince anyone to ponder the idea of a show-stopping cheesecake minus the cheese and possibly even to like the idea of a dairy-free future if desserts look and taste like this.

Anyhoo, let's get on with the recipe:

Use a large, round tart tin with a removable base, or line a slice tin and make it into bars or squares, you can see from the photos that it isn't a deep filling, so double the filling quantity if you want deeper slices of cake. I line the tins with plastic wrap, if you are a zero-waster try just greasing the pan well with coconut oil or line with parchment and grease well. I have a decent blender but nothing super-charged and it does the job, probably not advisable in a Ninja or Nutribullet. You can also use a food processor, however we of the minimalist kitchen survive without.

Base:

• 1 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup raw almond meal (you can buy raw almonds and mill them in your blender)
• 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
• 8 pitted Medjool dates
• 5 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Maldon sea salt according to your taste

Filling:

• 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in cold filtered water for at least four hours or preferably overnight (if you are short on time or are just reading this once you have started to make the cake (LOL)) you can soak cashews in boiled water for one hour, but the results will be slightly less creamy and mousse like, but still dangerously good!)
• ½ cup canned coconut milk, shaken well
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder

Toppings:

• 3-4 fresh figs, halved
• 1 punnet of redcurrants
• 2 punnets of blueberries

Method:

1. Blend all base ingredients, giving the cashews a quick head start for 30seconds to break them up.
2. Scrape out all the base dough and press into prepared tin and smooth out with the back of a tablespoon. Place in freezer until you need it.
3. NO NEED TO CLEAN THE BLENDER - WOO HOO! Place all the filling ingredients in the blender and wizz until creamy and smooth, plenty of regular testing here is required, of course.
4. Remove the base from the freezer and scatter 1/2 to 3/4 of the blueberries around the tin, arrange the figs in a circle or however you like, get into it!
5. Pour the creamy filling over the base until it reaches all sides, tap the tin a few times so it can even out and fill in any gaps.
6. Cover the cake in plastic wrap or reuse a clean plastic bag, to wrap it up and pop it back in the freezer for about 4 hours.
7. When ready to serve arrange a pile of redcurrants and the remainder of the blueberries on top and allow 10-15 minutes to thaw before cutting into slices.
8. Serve with a blueberry chia jam and a big pot of strong black tea (or Champagne).

So this is a lil recipe heavily adapted from a few others I have used from various sources usually found on Instagram: @bakeritablog, @healthyeating_jo and @nutriliciously. These people are a few raw 'baking' masters and endless sources of inspiration in my quest for drool-worthy plant based treats, do go check them out.

Peace, love and cake, y'all X