So… what would you do if you could not eat dairy but wanted cheesecake? There is a way, my friend, and funny enough, cashews are the answer!
This cheesecake pie is delicious- serve it frozen as a creamy treat. You would never know, in a million years, there was no dairy! The cashews give almost an exact creamy dairy taste and texture, it will blow you away. The possibilities of this are endless- start with a crumble crust, add in the ‘cheese’ filling, and then top with whatever concoction your heart desires.
For this cake, I used rhubarb, but you could easily do strawberries cooked with a little lemon and honey, or blueberries cooked with ginger and a little orange zest, or some banana slices and dairy-free ice cream, or a thin layer of almond butter and drizzles of chocolate and caramel and clouds of almond dairy-free whipped cream or coconut dairy-free whipped cream or raw dairy-free whipped cream .
Oh I just love dessert. I must say. :) Now, on to the recipe!
MyRealFoodLife.com
Rhubarb Cheesecake (Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo/Primal, Sugar Free)
ABOUT THE PIE
This recipe is in three parts. Everything is enough to make two pies.
1- Make the cheesecake filling first (see below)
2- Make the crumble crust second, assemble, then freeze.
3- Make the rhubarb topping. Put the rhubarb topping on the frozen cheesecake. You can add a little non-dairy whipped cream, or puree a few frozen bananas and put in an icing bag, pipe them on top. Perfect. You can serve it frozen (tastes best and holds together that way), or serve cold.
Dairy Free Cheesecake Filling (Vegan, Paleo/Primal)
Ingredients (makes enough for 2 pies)
- 2 cups cashews
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp agar agar powder (optional -for stability- Non vegan: try unflavoured gelatin)
- pinch salt
- 3 tbsp agave nectar (non vegan: 2 tbsp honey)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp orange zest (optional choice 1 – for flavouring)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract or seed from 1/2 vanilla bean (optional choice 2- for flavouring)
- 1 tsp almond extract (optional choice 3- for flavouring, goes well with choice 2)
Directions
-
The night before: Grind the cashews as finely as possible- do them in batches in a coffee grinder. Put cashews and water and agar agar in the bowl, along with your choice of flavourings, mix enough to combine, let soak over night. (Note: if you have a Vitamix blender or high powered blender, soak the cashews whole over night in the water without agar powder instead of grinding them first. The next day drain them and blend them with the agar powder and the rest of the ingredients in steps 2,3,4). I don’t have a high powered blender so the only way I can get the cashews pulverized fine enough is if I do it when they are dry before soaking.
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Melt the honey or agave and the coconut oil the next day. Mix together. Add to the cashew mixture and mix well (or blend well in blender). You may wish to taste for sweetness- if you want it sweeter without the calories, go for a few drops of stevia. Otherwise, you can try using more honey or agave or adding in your sweetener of choice.
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Pour the mix on top of your crumble crust, and let set in the fridge for a few hours. The best result is to freeze it- it makes it the most solid.
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Put whatever topping you wish on top! I like using the rhubarb sauce below.
MyRealFoodLife.com
Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust (GF, Raw, Vegan, Primal/Paleo, Sugar Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts (roast them if you aren’t raw! very yummy)
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut (the dried shaved kind- organic tends to be sulfite free)
- 2 tbsp warmed coconut oil (or unhydrogenated organic palm oil)
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 6 large dates (or 12 small ones) soaked in water over night (or if you aren’t raw, microwave 3 minutes or more in a bowl of water till soft)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt ( 1/8 tsp)
- 1 tbsp agave nectar (non vegan can use honey) (or more, to taste)
- 1 tsp almond extract
Directions
- Put the pecans, almond and coconut in the blender, pulse till finely chopped (but not till its like flour!)
- Add in the dates, honey,cinnamon,salt and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture is well incorporated and starts becoming a ball rolling around in the blender.
- Press into the sides of a pie pan. Done! Fill it with whatever you want. No baking!
- HINT: Line your pie pan with parchment paper first, so its easier to remove pie wedges. Otherwise, this is very sticky stuff. Flip over your pie pan, trace a circle around the top of it, cut it out, and then cut slits into the sides of the circle. It should fit nicely into the pan and prevent a mess.
- ALSO: This freezes soooo well. Perfect for an ice cream pie!!
MyRealFoodLife.com
Rhubarb-Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped young rhubarb stalks
- 3 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped, plus 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or fat of your choice- olive oil, if you have dairy, use butter, etc…)
- 2 tbsp honey (or agave nectar) (or more to taste)
- pinch salt
- (a tsp of grated orange zest is also nice if you want)
Directions
- Heat the coconut oil in a skillet and wait till it melts
- Add in the 3 tbsp of ginger, and cook on medium heat until softened, don’t let it get brown
- Add the rhubarb and the honey, and optional orange zest
- Cook until the rhubarb has softened, but hasn’t entirely lost its shape. (You want some firmer pieces in the sauce).
- Done! Add in the exta fresh ginger at this point if you want more zing to the sauce. Pour over pie, ice cream, white cake, brownies, or layer with custard. So delicious.
NOTE: As also featured in Cybele Pascale’s Allergy Friendly Fridays- Submit your recipes too!
Hiya Emily!
You’ll want to soak the cashews in the fridge over night, and you can add the agar powder directly to the blended mix later in the recipe (so you don’t need to let it pre-thicken). Hope this helps! Happy un-baking :D alea
When you’re soaking the cashews and agar agar overnight, do you leave it out, or soak it in the fridge? Are you wanting the agar agar to thicken before you blend it with the other ingredients, or will it re-set after?
Thanks in advance! :)
Hi Connie!
You are so very welcome for the recipe :) If you want, you can simply cut out the coconut oil and keep the agar powder in, and you should be good to go :)
happy ‘raw’ baking!
alea
What can I use instead of coconut oil? … and thanks for this beautiful recipe!!
thank you so much Eryn! i can’t wait to check out Pumpkin’s Pantry :D
So glad I found your blog (and this recipe :) through Our Spunky Holiday. Such a beautiful cheesecake!
Oh my! I just made a raw lemon cheesecake the other night and it’s gone already. This looks even better. I must try it.
thank you so much Brittany! btw, big fan of your site :D
Gorgeous!! and SO creative :)
Hey ther Kris- thanks so much! let me know how yoru cheesecake turnos out- if you have a high speed blender like a vitamix, you might find that blending the soaked cashews with coconut oil also makes a great base. :) best of luck!
I’m so glad that I stumbled upon your blog! I’m brainstorming up a vegan cashew-based cheesecake…thanks for giving me some reference for it. I’ve already added you to my links on my blog! Cheers.
This one is a keeper :D Love’s it!