Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Well folks, Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but let’s be honest, when are we not in the mood for sweets? …that’s what I thought : )

I recently got a new food processor, and have been dying to try it out. For the past few years, I have been living on a little baby 1 ½ cup processor, but am now moving up to bigger and better appliances! So this entire cake is made in the food processor or high-speed blender. This little recipe is easy to prepare and tastes delicious! You may be skeptical… thinking how on earth could there be such a thing as soy-free, dairy-free cheesecake?! Just give this a try! The creamy cashews make a great substitute for the typical fatty cream cheese.

This one has been tasted and loved, not only by myself, but non-vegans as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup raw walnuts or almonds
• 1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• ½ cup coconut creamer
• ½ cup agave nectar (or honey for the non-vegans

Optional Flavor Add-ins:

• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup blackberries

Begin by soaking the dates in warm water for about 10 minutes. Next, add the dates and walnuts or almonds into the food processor. Process until a doughy substance begins to form… it should begin to stick together in little clumps. Remove this mixture and add it to a lightly greased pie pan or cupcake pan. If making cheesecake cupcakes, add about 1 tablespoon of crust to each tin. (Sidenote: I originally tried this recipe in a cupcake pan, without wrappers and the crust stuck to the pan, so I recommend using wrappers… choose some cute ones, make it festive!) Now, throw the pan in the freezer to set, we are ready to work on the filling.

Add all the remaining ingredients to the processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy. If making peanut butter cheesecake, add the peanut butter to the food processor and process into the filling before adding the filling to the crust.

If making strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, snozberry, anyberry cheesecake – first, add the filling to the crust, then puree the berries in the food processor, drip atop the filling and swirl the berries into the filling with a knife.

Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and pop ’em back into the freezer to set, about 4 hours. Pull ’em out and serve ’em up!