sweets

The only cake you'll  need this Winter... RAW BERRY CHEESECAKE

The only cake you'll need this Winter... RAW BERRY CHEESECAKE

While we're smack bang in the middle of Winter, let's bring a bit of those Spring vibes early with this little number...

Raw white chocolate and mixed berry cheesecake

This is such a pretty creation and it wows the guests every time, most people don’t even realize it’s healthy, I often don’t tell people it’s raw and vegan until they’ve devoured it, they don’t believe it! Haha! Tip; it also works to make into cute little tartlets too.

Base

55 g (1/2 cup) almond meal

8 medjool dates, pitted

25 g (1/4 cup) desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons almond butter

pinch of salt flakes

White choc filling

310 g (2 cups) cashews, soaked for 2–6 hours or overnight, then rinsed

250 ml (1 cup) almond milk

125 ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup (or coconut nectar)

185 g (3/4 cup) cacao butter, melted

pinch of salt flakes

Berry swirl

125 ml (1/2 cup) white choc filling (as above)

40 g (1/4 cup) raspberries (fresh is best but frozen are okay too), plus an extra

40 g (1/4 cup) of blueberries

handful of each to decorate 

You need a 20 cm spring form cake tin for this one.

For the base, put the almond meal, dates, coconut, almond butter and salt in a blender with 2 tablespoons of water and blend. You want a tacky/sticky mixture, so if it’s not quite there then add another tablespoon or so of water. When the mixture is ready, press it onto the base of the cake tin. Then pop it in the freezer until the filling is ready.

To make the filling, put the cashews, almond milk and maple syrup into a blender and whizz. Pour in the melted cacao butter and a pinch of salt and blend again, then pour this onto the cake base and put it back into the freezer to begin setting.

To make the berry swirl, put 125 ml (1/2 cup) of the white choc filling with the raspberries in a blender and mix. Pour the blueberry mixture into a squeeze bottle with a thin nozzle. Take your cake out of the freezer (it doesn’t matter if it’s not totally set) then draw circles from the centre getting larger until you get to the outside of the cake. Then take a knife and, just with the tip, draw a line from the centre of the cake out to the edge of the cake. Keep drawing lines from the centre to the outside edge, repeating all the way around until you’ve got a blueberry swirl on top.

Line the outer edge of the cake with fresh blueberries, then place it in the fridge for 6 hours or the freezer for 2 hours to set. Let it come to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

SERVES 12