Raw Cake: Vanilla Strawberry-Raspberry Cheesecake

Happy August everyone! Having been back in Amsterdam for 2 weeks already I must say I really miss the gorgeous summer weather back in Toronto. It's been cloudy, raining and on top of all this a super chilly August in Amsterdam. Leaving home this time was quite difficult. Having spent a whole month with my parents at home made it that much harder to leave them behind. I felt quite homesick coming back, and so I decided to cheer myself up by making something incredibly delicious.

Now I originally wanted to bake something super sweet, and indulgent as usual but having just been on summer vacation and not particularly watching what I've been eating... (aka junk food) I thought I should try to keep it healthy. Thats when the idea of making a raw cheesecake came into mind. I have seen several gorgeous raw cakes on Instagram and it has inspired me to make my own. I have once before attempted to these raw cakes... but let me tell you these cakes are seriously tough however they are very well worth the work. Now I don't want you to think that these cakes taste like the conventional "Cheesecake" the ones filled with cream cheese, butter, and eggs. I love those cheesecakes too but this cheesecake that I am going to share with you is more of a work of art that also benefits your health and tastes amazing at the same time.

Now that I've decided to go with a raw cheesecake it took me quite sometime to figure out the flavour of this little guy. I had made a Matcha Vanilla cheesecake before, but this time my boyfriend had kindly requested a fruity flavour since it is still summer. And since there were some fresh strawberries  and frozen raspberries in the fridge I went with those. I love the double layered raw cakes because of the beautiful colours each layer brought to the cake, so I decided to make the second layer a "Vanilla Cream" layer.

The structure of the cake starts off with the Base. The normal crust of a traditional cheesecake usually contains a "Graham Cracker and butter" crust. For the raw, healthy version I decided to go with a mixture of almonds, walnuts, and dates. So instead of filling our bodies with trans-fats and refined sugars, I went with the heart healthy monounsaturated fats, and natural sugars from the nuts and dates.

Now just so we are clear I won't be using any cream cheese, or dairy products in this cheesecake. The cream cheese is substituted with soaked cashews, maple syrup, lemon juice, fresh strawberries, and raspberries. These ingredients make up the first layer of the cake. As for the last layer, the Vanilla Cream, it is primarily made up of soaked cashews, vanilla powder, agave syrup, and lemon juice.

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The ingredients are quite similar between the two layer, however one contains fruits, and the other is mainly just a simple cream layer. Along with that I used two different types of sweeteners. For the Strawberry-Raspberry layer I used Maple Syrup because it will add a really nice flavour for the fruit layer of the cheesecake. For the Vanilla Cream I wanted a more creamy consistency so I went with Agave Syrup, which is less runny and will help to achieve the creamy consistency. Now that you know whats going into this cake I think you would agree that this cake is even healthy enough for breakfast. (hahaha says the person who is trying to be healthy...)

Ok ok... so we know that this cake is healthy, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and raw but how do we actually make it? haha... here we go!

Ingredients:

Base:

100g Almonds
35g Walnuts
100g Dates

Strawberry-Raspberry Layer:

200g Raw Cashews
150g Strawberry
50g Raspberry
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Vanilla Cream Layer:

100g Raw Cashews
3 Tbsp Agave Syrup
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Vanilla Powder
1-2 Tbsp Water (Optional)

Directions:

Before we start make sure you...

* Measure out 200g of Raw Cashews and soak this in water overnight/6 hours or more.
(Strawberry-Raspberry Layer)

* Measure out 100g of Raw Cashews and soak this in water overnight/6 hours or more.
(Vanilla Cream Layer)

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1. First off I used a square springform pan of 6 inches by 6 inches/15cm x15 cm.

(You can also use a round springform pan if you wish... just keep the size close to this one and it should be fine.)

I begin by taking a large piece of parchment paper and roughly cut out a square piece that was around the size of this pan and placed it at the bottom to prevent sticking and allowing the cake to come out easier serving.

2. Now we are starting the cake from the bottom the Base Layer. For this layer I measured out 100g of Almonds, 35g of Walnuts, and placed these two ingredients into the food processor. I found it to be much better to first process the nuts alone before adding in the dates. Process the nuts until they resemble a crumb like consistency.

3. Now that the nuts are blended up you can add in your 100g of Dates and process the nuts and dates together. *I used some Deglet Nour dates here which are much more affordable than the Medjoul Dates. Feel free to use what you prefer. I found that soaking them in some warm water for 30 minutes really help them to soften up and they blend up much better this way. (Just remember to drain the water out completely after soaking) 

Process the nuts and dates till it reaches a doughy consistency. (So basically when the dates are well incorporated with the nuts and it starts to form a sticky ball)

4. Once you have your sticky nut & date dough press this into the bottom of the spring pan. This part is super fun because you get to use your fingers! It's kinda like playing with play dough! Just try to press it down flat. This forms the crust of our cakes. Now place this into the freezer to set.

5.  While we wait for the Base to set. We are gonna move onto the Strawberry-Raspberry Layer. For this layer I used 150g of fresh Strawberries, 50g of frozen Raspberries (that I defrosted), 2 Tbsp of Lemon Juice, and 2 Tbsp of Maple Syrup. I placed all these ingredients into a food processor and blended it together till everything was smooth.

* Now if you prefer to having a super smooth consistency for your cheesecake then I would recommend taking a fine sieve and straining out the seeds of the strawberries and raspberries. But I personally really love the texture that they bring to the cake so I kept them. 

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6. Continuing with this layer take the 200g of soaked Cashews, and drain the water out and place this into your blender. Along with the cashews place the Strawberry-Raspberry sauce we just made along with 1 Tbsp of Maple Syrup and blend this together until it becomes smooth and there are no clumps.

7.  Now take out the Base Layer we made earlier from the freezer and spread this mixture of Strawberry-Raspberry Cream onto the base. I used a rubber spatula to smooth out the top of the layer. Place this back into the freezer to set.

8. The final Layer! Our Vanilla Cream. So for this layer I took 100g of soaked Cashews, 2 Tbsp of Lemon Juice, 3 Tbsp Agave Syrup, 1 Tsp Vanilla Powder, and placed these ingredients into the blender.

* I would recommend if your having troubles blending this mixture to add in a tiny spoonful of water just to help the mixture blend. Again we want to reach a very smooth and creamy consistency. 


9. Now take out the pan with the previous two layers we have made from the freezer and spread this Vanilla Cream over top of the Strawberry-Raspberry layer and smooth out the top. Place this back into the freezer and let the cake set for at least 2 hours before attempting to eat it. This is the really hard part! Hehe!

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So once it has been about 2 hours take your cake out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes. This will assure that your cake comes out of the pan in one piece. I usually place a large cup under the cake tin and push upwards to slide the cake out.

And now you can decorate your cake with anything you can imagine! I just sliced up some fresh strawberries and placed them right on top of my cheesecake.

I made approximately 7-8 slices of cake with this recipe, but its all up to the size of the pan you use, and also how you cut them. The left over pieces I keep stored away in the freezer. When I want to eat it I usually leave it out on the counter for around 30 minutes, or if you know you want to eat it for dessert on the night of, you can always leave the cake in the fridge on the morning of, and by dinner time it should be ready to eat straight out of the fridge! It is a bit of work to make this raw cake but I feel super satisfied and very proud to make something super beautiful and delicious yet extremely high in nutritional benefits! I hope you all will give this a try!!! Stay happy and healthy.

xoxo
Coco