Double Choc Cheesecake

This is the cake I make for friends who swear they ‘aren’t into that weird raw food stuff’… Because it really doesn’t taste raw at all - I’ve yet to meet a single person who doesn’t like it!

INGREDIENTS

BASE:

• 2/3 cups hazelnuts

• 2/3 cups almonds

• 1 cup pitted dates

• 1/3 cup of cacao

• 1/2 Tbsp water

• ½ tsp of pure vanilla extract

• Pinch of himalayan pink salt

Chocolate Filling:

• 2 cups of cashews, soaked for 2 hours

• 1 cup almond milk

• 2/3 cup cacao powder

• 1/3 cup rice malt syrup

• 1/3 cup agave nectar

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

• OPTIONAL: Cacao nibs, shredded coconut and Raw Bliss Balls to decorate

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the base, place the hazelnuts, almonds and sea salt into a food processor and process until finely ground.

2. Add the dates and process until the mixture becomes sticky.

3. Add the cacao, water and vanilla and process until the mixture sticks together. It should look quite crumbly but should become firm once you press it together between two fingers.

4. Press the mixture into the base of 20x20cm spring form cake tin and freeze while you make the chocolate filling.

5. Place all of the filling ingredients into a food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the food processor at regular intervals to make sure all ingredients are well blended.

6. Take the base out of the freezer and pour in the filling. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or 3 hours in the freezer until the mixture has set. It should be quite firm, like ice cream.

7. Decorate with cacao nibs, shredded coconut, frozen berries or Raw Bliss Balls. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving to make it easier to cut
   

TAMARAS' TIP: This dessert tastes DELICIOUS with coconut cream and strawberries.

This recipe is featured in the Sweets & Treats eBook, along with 50 others nutritiously raw snacks.

A Word from Tamara Lee What I love most about this recipe is that it’s very versatile and is so quick to make (assuming that the cashews are soaked and ready to go). Sometimes I’ll halve the recipe and make 12 mini cheesecakes instead, using silicone mini muffin trays as the cake mould. Once the cakes have set you can just pop them right out, easy as. And minimal mess. Now for for all you seasoned raw foodies out there, I know what you are thinking. WHY AGAVE??? Honestly, I hardly ever use it. The fructose content is reeeeally high (70 – 90%), meaning it reacts in the body very similar to the way white sugar does and can spike blood insulin levels very quicky. That’s why I’ve paired with with rice malt syrup, which is a fructose-free (and substantially less sweet) alternative. ​ The thing is, agave tastes even better than sugar – so I use it to coax raw food sceptics into loving their first experience with a raw dessert. It works wonders on newbies to light the fire in their bellies for all things raw – but then I quickly encourage them to wean themselves off it as quickly as possible to a healthier alternative. There is such a high nut content (aka fat content) in this recipe that any spikes in blood sugar from the agave will be substantially limited by the fat – it will slow the absorption of sugar right down. If your new to raw, start off with pairing the two sweeteners together and then slowly reduce the amount of agave used. Or swap it for maple syrup or coconut nectar syrup and avoid agave altogether. One more thing – this cheesecake is very rich so please go easy! If you’re looking for a raw recipe to enjoy healthfully every day, this isn’t it. Treat this as, well, a treat, to be enjoyed on special occasions. ​ Fresh fruits works magic in hitting a sugar craving in the healthiest way possible, so opt for fruit as your treat as often as you can!