At the end of June we celebrated my husband’s birthday. He usually wants carrot cake, but as a family we are experimenting in using more raw food recipes in our diet and he asked for a raw strawberry mango cheesecake. I had made my youngest a raw raspberry cheesecake for her first birthday, but it had coconut oil in it which unfortunately my body cannot tolerate anymore. I looked up several recipes and ended up creating my recipe which my husband said was the best raw cheesecake I had made so far.
This cheesecake is easy to make even a novice baker or cook could do this. The biggest key to success is in the planning of making raw foods. The cashews have to be soaked at least 6-8 hours if not longer. You have to give time for the cheesecake to set up in the freezer and harden so it is perfect for your guests. I really like making raw foods and cakes from fresh fruit because they are healthier, there are no dyes from the frosting or other additives. This is also a great way to incorporate clean eating into your diet and not feel like you have totally ruined your day or feeling the need to add in a second workout.
- The Base
- 1.5 cup walnuts or almonds
- 2.5 cups Medjool dates (pitted)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- The Cheesecake
- 2 cups soaked cashew nuts (soak at least 6-8 hours, but I usually do mine at least 12 to get a creamier texture)
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup apple juice
- juice of two lemons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen, but if frozen thaw out a little bit)
- 1 cup mango (if frozen thaw out a little bit)
- Spring form pan any size you choose I used an 9 inch one.
- The Base:
- Take your heavy duty food processor and grind up the walnuts, Madjool dates, and sea salt until they are finely pulsed together.
- Then take your spring form pan or if you do not have a spring from pan use plastic wrap to make it easier to get your cheesecake out of the pan once it is set.
- Press in with your hands the walnuts, dates, and sea salt you just processed. Once this is nicely flattened and level clean out your food processor.
- Take your now very plump and soaked cashews and put them into your food processor with the honey, apple juice, and lemon juice until it creates a wonderful smooth mixture.
- Then take ⅓ of the mixture and pour it over your base nuts and dates. Smooth it out until it is level and then with the rest of your cashew mixture add in the strawberries and mangoes until chopped and blended to a smooth consistency.
- Take the rest of the cashew mixture and pour it over the base and middle layer of the cheesecake. Spread to make even and place in your freezer to harden.
- You can add fresh fruit as garnish if you want right before you serve it. Cheese cake should be taken out of freezer about 30 minutes prior to serving.
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