Celebrate this Mother's Day with this no bake, dairy free cheesecake loaded with strawberries! Thank you Stefania Calleja from Healthylicious for this delicious recipe.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 9cm springform pan / 2 5cm mini cheesecake moulds For the base / crust:- 125g raw / roasted almonds
- 90g / 5-6 Medjool dates
- 1-2 tbsp. water
- 200g raw cashews, soaked for 3 or more hours (if less time, soak in hot water) and drained
- 60ml coconut oil, melted
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 50ml honey / agave syrup / maple syrup
- 140g fresh strawberries, puréed
- 225g strawberries, quartered
- 50g sugar
- 75ml water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
METHOD
Prepare the base / crust:- In a food processor, pulse all the nuts until a fine grind.
- Add in the dates and continue mixing until crumbs form. Add water and continue mixing until the mixture starts to stick.
- Scoop out into the bottom of a spring-form baking pan, firmly and evenly. Set aside.
- Place the drained cashews, coconut oil, lemon and honey in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Divide the cashew filling in 2 separate bowls. In one of the bowls, add 1⁄3 of the strawberry purée to make the light pink colour. In the other bowl, add the remaining strawberry purée to make the dark pink colour.
- Scoop first the light pink coloured mixture onto the nut base evenly. Follow with the darker colour with the dark colour on top. Be gentle when spreading each layer but you don’t need to freeze each layer to let it set. Some blending is even better.
- Tap the pan gently to let the cheesecake settle and place in the freezer overnight or about 4-6 hours to let it set.
- Combine the strawberries, sugar, water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan on high heat. Stir thoroughly while bringing it up to a boil.
- After the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, and allow to cook for up to 10 minutes, occasionally stirring throughout. As the strawberries soften, use a wooden spoon to break them in pieces to release the flavours from the strawberries.
- Remove from heat. Using a strainer, pour liquid into a bowl ensuring to press as much juices through the strainer with a wooden spoon. Save any of the solid strawberries leftover from the mixture and return liquid to pan on low heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Then, pour into the simmering pan of strawberry juice.
- Increase heat to high and continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens into a glaze (approx. 3-5 minutes).
- Remove glaze from heat and pour into separate bowl to cool down. Once the glaze has reached room temperature, place in the fridge until it is chilled.