Rich and creamy. Baked not refrigerator cheese cake. Just dense enough, but not too dense. Just tart enough, but not too sour.
Traditionally made with cream cheese, sour cream and eggs. This excellent dairy free alternative uses Kite Hill Almond Ricotta, (but most df cream cheese brands will do fine). I use Coconut yogurt for that essential little bit of tartness, plus a table spoon of lemon juice. Cashew nut and coconut creams for a silky texture.
Ingredients:
Base:
3/4 cup of fine ground raw almonds
3/4 cup of fine ground oats.
1/4 cup of pecan nuts
4 tbsp of df butter alternative, or use coconut oil. (I used Myokos butter).
1 pinch of salt
1 tbsp of coconut sugar
1 tbsp of date sugar
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ground mace. (or nutmeg).
Cheese Cake:
16 oz of Almond Ricotta. (I used Kite Hill). or substitute with any available df cream cheese.
1/2 cup of rich coconut yogurt
2/3 cup of maple syrup
1 cup of coconut cream
1 cup of soaked cashews. (soak in boiling water for 1 hour).
3 eggs. I prefer to use Duck eggs for baking, but chicken eggs will do.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice, (fresh squeezed).
1 tsp of fresh grated lemon rind.
1 tsp of vanilla essence
Equipment:
small saucepan
small mixing bowl
liquidizer / food processor
spatula
spring form cake tin
Step by Step:
Cover raw cashews in boiling water. Allow to sit for min 45 mins, preferably 1 hour.
For the base - put the almonds, oats and pecans, salt and spices in a blender and blend till fine.
Melt the butter or coconut oil
In a small mixing bowl, combine the melted butter / oil with the ground nut / oat mixture.
Line the bottom circle of your spring form cake tin with baking paper, (wax or parchment).
Pre-heat oven to 350F
Putting the nut / oat mixture into the tin, flatten it onto the bottom in such a way that the base is even, but the crust comes up the sides by half an inch all the way around the edge.
Place in the hot oven for 10 -15 mins.
Remove the crust from the oven. Allow to cool for 10 mins or so.
In the mean time...
Drain your cashew nuts and put them into the liquidizer with the ricotta / cream cheese, coconut yogurt, maple syrup, coconut cream, lemon juice, salt, vanilla essence.
Pulse until smooth.
Break the three eggs into the mixture in the liquidizer.
Add the lemon zest
Pulse briefly until combined. ( but not for so long that the lemon zest is liquidized itself).
Poor the cheese cake mixture into the tin.
Put the cake into the oven for 1 hour. (due to variations in ovens you might need 10 mins more or less... so around the 50 min mark take a quick peek to make sure it is just gently browning and not burning).
Remove from the oven. The very edges where the cake meets the walls of the tin should be a little brown and dry. The middle should be just a little jiggly when wiggled... but not liquid.
Allow to cool for 15 - 20min of the counter and then place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Serve with fresh berries, acompoteor even warm chocolate sauce.
Variations might include:
Replacing the maple syrup with a flavored syrup.
or add 3 - 5 drops of a rose or peppermint essential oil
or replacing the pecans in the base with toasted hazelnuts. Serve with candied hazelnuts