(Gluten Free, Vegan | Paleo-Friendly) I arrived to Wisconsin last week for a visit to celebrate the weddings and birthdays of family and friends. My sister is currently avoiding any sugar so making her a birthday cake was a little tricky. Luckily, I had made this awesome raw cheesecake in the past so I had a trusted recipe up my sleeve. My sister LOVED the cake and described it as ‘delicious and fabulous,’ which was a massive win! Basically, this dessert is a rich, decadent treat that will surprise all your guests with how healthy it is -so enjoy!

One note: the only difficult part about this treat is that you really do need a high-speed blender. I’ve tried making it in the past with a wimpy blender, and it was a massive headache so I wouldnt recommend.

Crust Ingredients

• 20g (1/4 cup) dried, unsweetened desiccated coconut
• 200g (1 1/2 cups) of macadamia nuts (or a macadamia nut and/or walnut mix)
• 75g (1/2 cup) dates
• A pinch of sea salt

‘Cheesecake’ Filling Ingredients

• 400g (3 cups) unsalted cashews
• 175 ml (3/4 cup) lemon juice
• 113g (1/3 cup) honey -or maple syrup/agave, if vegan (The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup (254g) of honey, but I reduced because my sister isn’t eating much honey/maple syrup. It still tasted great!)
• 160g (3/4 cup) coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) water, if necessary to get filling mixed (use as little as possible)

Fruit Topping Ingredients

• 300g (2 cups) frozen strawberries
• 75g (1/2 cup) dates

Directions

1. Sprinkle the coconut evenly on the bottom of a cheesecake (spring form) pan as the first layer of crust. You can also use a glass dish.
2. Throw the macadamia nuts/walnuts, dates and salt into a food processor or high speed blender. Press the date and nut mixture down into the pan on top of the coconut to form the crust.
3. Throw all filling ingredients into your high speed blender and blend until smooth (add as much water as needed). Pour mixture on top of crust.
4. Put crust and filling in freezer for about an hour until it’s firm.
5. Throw strawberries and dates into blender and mix until smooth. Pour this mixture on top of the firm crust and filling. Put the finished cheesecake in freezer until it reaches the desired consistency (5 hours is recommended, but my cheesecake only had about 2 hours in the freezer).
6. Defrost the frozen cheesecake for around 30 minutes before eating -depending on how long you’ve had in the freezer.

Happy birthday to my beautiful sister! xxx

Source | The Rawtarian