Raw chocolate cheesecake
This is a delicious no bake, vegan, soy-free, gluten-free 'cheese'cake, with no refined sugars. It's made with walnuts, cashews, cocoa, dates and banana. The filling is slightly sweet, with a hint of banana and cocoa; it’s creamy with the consistency of “real” dairy cheesecake, but is lighter and less rich. The base is chewy, fudgy and totally chocolatey – complementing the filing extremely well. As a side note - raw-food purists wouldn't call this raw (as cashews are used).
Ingredients
Makes: 10 - 12 servings
- For the base
- 110g walnuts
- 40g unsweetened cocoa power
- 200g pitted Medjool dates
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- For the filling
- 360g raw cashews, soaked overnight in cold water, then drained
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 165g frozen ripe banana
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 pinch salt
- 40g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 75g pitted Medjool dates
Method
Prep:8hr20min ›
Extra time:2hr freezing ›
Ready in:10hr20min
- For the base: In a food processor, blitz the walnuts until you get coarse crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz until well incorporated. The mixture will be still quite crumbly; do not fear.
- Press about 200g of the base mix evenly into a cling film-lined 20cm round springform cake tin. Set aside.
- For the filling: Wipe out the food processor bowl, then blitz the filling ingredients until well incorporated and smooth. Taste the sweetness and add more dates as you wish. Pour into the tin and smooth out using a wet spatula or spoon. Cover with cling film and place into the freezer for 2 to 3 hours.
- Once set, slice, plate and enjoy! You can store the cheesecake in the freezer whole - slice the pieces as you need with a very sharp knife. The slices thaw in 1 hour.
Ingredients
When you can get bananas on the cheap, let them ripen, peel, chop into big chunks and freeze in a freezer bag. I find that Medjool dates are softer, squidgier and sweeter than other dates. If you can't get your hands on them, use ordinary dates, but you may need to add a few more.
Cook's note
You won't use all of the chocolate base. You can pop the remainder into your mouth with a spoon OR roll into balls, then pop into your mouth. You get the general idea.
Watch how!
Watch our video to see how to make the easiest no-bake chocolate cheesecake ever! Watch now!
See it on my blog
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(16)
Reviews in English (13)
Can you taste the cashews when the cheesecake is done? If yes, do you think it would work with a different kind of nut (almonds or hazelnuts or something)? thanks - 19 Mar 2015
This looks amazing, however - I'm allergic to nuts is it possible to substitute other ingredients? I refuse to believe in a life without cheesecake! [also, I don't own a food processor.. although I'm beginning to think it's something I should probably buy!] - 21 Dec 2010
Very yummy and good-looking recipe, with such unusual ingredients! Since it's a healthier version of cheesecake, i didn't feel too guilty about adding a layer of chocolate ganache to top it off and give a richer taste. The cheesecake by itself was sweet, sticky and fudgy from the dates but didn't really taste of chocolate so i put the ganache on for a little extra flavour. Would happily make it again! - 15 Feb 2013