Last night I had the wonderful and sadly rare opportunity to sit down and have dinner with a few vegan friends at our nearby vegan restaurant. I feel so lucky to have the chance to talk with people with the same beliefs and habits as me. I walked away from a delicious meal wanting to be healthier, eat better, and run more. Great mid-week motivation, especially after whining about having a particularly obnoxious hump day yesterday!
I went home and finished making this delicious raw cheesecake. I’d thought a lot about cooking my cherry pie filling like you really would for a baked pie. I decided to go raw, but I came home from dinner last night enthused about my choice. Good call, Leslie, good call.
And oh man, it really was a good call. This is a guilt-free, nutritious, filling, and decadent dessert. Yes, guilt-free and decadent. One small slice is so filling, but packed with great nutrition from raw nuts, coconut oil, and fruit!
I’m way in love
cheesecake:
2 C raw cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 C coconut oil
1/3 C maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract
Blend everything together in a food processor until smooth.
cherry pie filling:
1 lb cherries, pitted
1/4 C coconut oil
1/4 C maple syrup*
3 T almond flour
1 t xanthan gum
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C crust mixture (below)
*you’ll probably want to use more or less depending on how tart your cherries are
Blend everything together in a blender until smooth.
crust mixture:
1 1/2 C dates
3/4 C raw walnuts
*take 1/2 C of the mixture out after you process it and save it to add to the cherry pie filling part.
Pulse everything together in a food processor until the dates start to form a sticky ball.
To assemble:
Grease a large springform pan with coconut oil (extra easy now that you can buy coconut oil cooking spray!)
Press crust mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Spread cashew mixture on top. Pour cherry pie filling on top of that. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze.
I recommend keeping it in the freezer because the cherry mixture gets very soft as it thaws. But I think it’s best served after you’ve thawed a piece just for about 10-20 minutes so it’s no longer frozen.
Creamy and smooth cheesecake with tart and sweet and fruity raw cherry pie filling! Oh so happy.
Drooling a little.
Gotta go, I need to visit my freezer.
Nutrition facts per serving (1/12th of the pie): Calories: 467; Calories from Fat: 256; Total Fat: 28.5g: Saturated Fat: 11.7g; Sodium: 13mg; Total Carbohydrates: 52.0g; Dietary Fiber: 4.2g; Sugars: 29.3g; Protein: 6.9g
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