This strawberry cheesecake recipe is raw vegan and better than a smoothie bowl. It’s creamy and full of fresh strawberries, which makes it the perfect treat— you just might want to have a slice of this cheesecake for breakfast.
Fresh seasonal strawberries make the filling with a cashew and coconut base. Blend up this no-bake cheesecake and keep it in the freezer for whenever you feel like a slice (like after your workout because you need nutritional superfoods that only raw vegan cheesecake can give).
The crust is made with almond and flax seed meal with quinoa flakes, but you can substitute the quinoa flakes with gluten-free rolled oats.
At the base of most raw vegan cheesecake recipes you’ll find these two basics: cashews and coconut oil. They act as binder and solidify the cheesecake that would otherwise become a sloppy smoothie bowl. This rich cheesecake also has coconut cream and cocoa butter in it. It wasn’t easy to find cocoa butter, but ahh the smell alone makes me crave a chocolate bar! And times ten that when I rub cocoa butter all over my face and body. (Yes, cocoa butter can be used for beauty purposes as well, I highly recommend it!)
Most cashew-based cheesecakes like this are served frozen/cold due to the solidification of coconut oil at colder temperatures. The creamy quality of soaked and blended raw cashews is my favorite thing about this: I make a lot of homemade cashew creamer for my morning tea because the velvety texture is like thick cream. If you want to take the creamy factor even further, adding cocoa butter to the mixture truly does the trick. Lemon juice gives the cheesecake that “tang” your tongue is craving, and lends that “cheesecake” taste (like original cheesecake). The fun thing is, you can taste test it as you blend the filling (no dairy/eggs to worry over) so you’ll know whether or not to add more or less of any ingredient. I tend to go beyond the suggested amount of lemon juice when seeking that cheesecake-y taste.
And whenever I’m making this cheesecake there’s usually a sink full of tasting spoons!
Raw Vegan Berry Cheesecake
As this vegan cheesecake is refined sugar-free, I’ve used monkfruit for sweetener instead of coconut sugar. Maple syrup is acceptable for sweetener if you aren’t going entirely sugar-free.
This recipe celebrates strawberry season here in California as we have strawberries available for much longer than most places.
Ingredients
CRUST:
-
1 cup almond meal
-
1 cup quinoa flakes or gluten-free rolled oats
-
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
-
1 tablespoon coconut oil
-
3-4 Medjool dates, pitted
-
½ cup raw almonds
FILLING:
-
1 can full-fat coconut cream
-
½ cup coconut yogurt
-
6 tbsp coconut oil, liquified
-
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight and drained
-
½ cup fresh lemon juice
-
1 cup fresh cut strawberries and/or mixed berries
-
2 tablespoons cocoa butter, melted
-
1 vanilla bean pod, scraped
-
½ cup monkfruit sweetener (or ¼ cup maple syrup)
TOPPING:
1 cup freshly chopped strawberries mixed with any seasonal summer berries
A few sprigs of mint or edible flowers, to garnish
Method
CRUST:
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well combined. You may have some rough pieces of almonds (which I like) but if you want it less rustic, then blend until crumbly and slightly sticky. If too wet, add more almond meal. If too dry, add more dates (or date syrup, optional).
Press the mixture into the tin with the heel of your palm all around to flatten and spread the base. The form the edges, pinch the crust using your thumb and index finger, press the crust into the edge of the tart pan until completely shaped all around.
FILLING:
In a high speed blender, put in all filling ingredients and blend well until smooth. Taste to your liking, adding more sweetener if you need.
Pour the filling into the base. Cool in freezer until set.
Remove from the tin by pressing the bottom up very gently to loosen the edge of the tart tin. Place on serving plate.
Allow it to thaw at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes.
Top with fresh berries and mint leaves to serve.
