Raw/ Vegan/ Gluten free/ Dairy free/ Refined sugar free
It was my birthday this week so I decided to make myself a cake… Because no one else will haha! This is the perfect celebration cake to impress friends and family plus they will be blown away when they realise it’s healthy;). Unlike traditional cheesecakes which uses cream cheese, refined sugar, and butter, This cheesecake uses all natural ingredients that is kind to your body and free from refined sugars, gluten and dairy. In this version, I have used soaked cashews instead of cream cheese. Cashews are relatively high is fat however, they are a monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat “a good fat” and When eaten in moderation, can help lower the risk of heart disease (along with a healthy diet of course). When cashews are soaked in water and blended they turn into a smooth creamy texture which is perfect for cheesecakes. I have added in some sweet, juicy and delicious raspberries which are the star to this cake! Raspberries are super heathy as they are high is various types of antioxidants! The chocolate ganache is delicious addition to this cake and is made using a good quality organic dark chocolate (which you can buy from any organic health food stores) gently melted with the addition of almond milk (an important step). The almond milk keeps the layer of chocolate soft and creamy on top. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
Raw Raspberry & Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Base//
- 1 cup approximately 12 medjool dates pitted
- 1 cup organic gf oats
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- Filling//
- 2 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or rice malt syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vannila extract
- Chocolate ganache//
- 1 cup 100g organic dark chocolate (can purchase from health food stores)
- 1/4 cup + 2-3 tablespoons if needed almond milk
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
Instructions
- Soak cashews overnight in water then drain water out in strainer.
- Soak dates in warm water for 10 mins prior to making the base then rinse water out. Blend all base ingredients until combined. Line your round cake tin with baking paper and press down until even and set in freezer while you make the filling.
- Blend the cashews, maple syrup, coconut water, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth then add in raspberries and stir through with a spoon (do NOT blend the raspberries). Pour filling on top of base and set in freezer for 6 hours.
- To make the chocolate ganache, in a saucepan, pour in water about half way and bring to boil. In a heat proof bowl, add in chocolate and place in the saucepan to melt, keep watching it and string it as you don't want it to over cook or burn. slowly add the almond milk and keep stirring until melted and smooth (I added a few tablespoons more to get creamy consistency however see how you go and add in more if you think it needs it). Pour on the top of the cake and smooth over evenly with a spoon, add on the raspberries and place in freezer to set. I left mine overnight.
- Gently remove the cake tin, take out the cake and let it defrost for for about an hour then serve. I stored mine in the fridge as I like it softer. Enjoy! xx
Thanks again Tiana
That looks delicious – yum
I would like to know how to make raw chocoalte to make this cake ?
Hello:) You need to buy the chocolate, you can purchase from most health food stores xx
Wow! This looks fantastic Tiana! I can’t wait to give it a try x
Re. Raw Raspberry & Chocolate Cheesecake
For the chocolate ganache, I want to use raw organic cacao powder instead. What do you suggest?
Hi There, If you want to use raw cacao powder you could mix it with coconut oil, sweetener and almond butter and pour on top! Hope this helps 🙂
Hi there! Looks so good…and thats why I made it ! 😛 Anyway I encountered a few problems, maybe you can help me figure out why these occurred and how to improve. 🙂
So the first problem was making the base. I have a very powerful blender but the base mix was sooo dry and sticky so it was impossible to process it. So I added just a bit of water to the mix and then could blend it through, still very roughly tho. In the end, base ended up a bit too soft and moist, would like it to be more on the dry and crunchy style, how did yours turn up?
Now the end product. My Chocolate ganache ended up to be very hard and not silk and smooth looking like yours. I used coconut milk (90 % coconut kernel extract, 10 % water) and Dark cooking chocolate (70% cacao).
Also the three layers did no really bond. As I start cutting it, top wants to slide off and when eating it also base kinda wants to seperate.
Otherwise, lovely cake!!!
Any kind of help/suggestions for the next one would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks 😛
Hi! thanks for this feedback!! For the base maybe try soaking the dates in warm water first. I found that that worked really worked but yes it is meant to be a soft base. However if you want it crunchy, maybe you can try adding it some buckwheat and less oats as I find that adds more crunch:) For the ganache, Mine turned out really soft so it is strange it didn’t work! Maybe next time try adding in more coconut milk and melt chocolate on a low heat and keep stirring until its smooth. I hope these tips help and I’m glad you liked it in the end! xx
If your chocolate became stiff it likely seized, which can happen when water is introduced during melting. Try 100% milk next time 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe. This is now my go-to dessert. It’s out of this world. So many people have asked me t share the recipe with them, and I gladly do. 🙂
Aww that’s so lovely to hear!! It’s one of my favourites ☺️ thank you shawna X
just made this (still in freezer) couldn’t figure our why the recipe said 2 tablespoons of coconut oil then didn’t mention adding it. I melted it and added it to the filling anyhow, but just wondered why instructions were left out..
Hi Maddy,
May of been an error! sorry about that! I have now mentioned it in the recipe:)
After reading this recipe I was so excited to prepare this for my mum’s birthday cake tomorrow but after reading the comments I admit I’m a little nervous. If I may make a suggestion? As a reasonably experienced home foodie, I find the most failsafe recipes use grams as the unit of measure as opposed to cups. By doing this there’s less room for error with ingredient ratios.
So for the lovely Tiana, perhaps you might consider this for future offerings and for everyone playing at home, I recommend googling conversions for each ingredient before you start.
Anyway, thanks! And I’ll let you know how mine goes!
T x
Hey Trace:)
Thank you for your tips, i’ll be sure to try and start using grams!
I’ve made this twice and mine has been amazing so I hope you have the same experience:) I hope your mum has a Lovely birthday too!
Tiana x
Hi 🙂 just wondering what size springform tin you used? xx
Hi Alia:) I think mine is around 20cm X
Hi Tiana,
This looks delicious and I’d love to make this. But I’m allergic to nuts so I was wondering how to deal with that in this recipe. I assume I can replace the almond milk with soy milk. But what about the cashew?
Any advice would be appreciated. Finding healthy baking recipes without the use of nuts seems to be a true challenge…
Hi Deborah,
Aww no! I also have allergies to nuts but only walnuts, brazil nuts, and pecans! I guess I haven’t made this recipe without the cashews but maybe you could try silken tofu or coconut cream but it would have to be chilled in the fridge. I think you have given my a good challenge to create some raw nut free vegan cakes!! I will defiantly start looking into it so you can enjoy some yummy healthy treats.
Tiana xx
Thank you for your kind response Tiana! I’ve never heard of silken tofu or coconut cream but I’m very curious and will definitely look into it 🙂
I’ll keep following you and hopefully see some nice nut-free dessert recipes appearing. Already found your raw chocolate zucchini bites which I’ll be making very soon!
xx Deb
You’re welcome Deb! I can’t wait to start experimenting with nut-free desserts xx
Dear Tiana,
thank you so much for this recipe! This was the first raw vegan cake I made, but it was way easier than I thought. It tasted absolutely wonderfully, everyone loved it. My springform tin was about 18cm which was almost too small, but it worked out in the end.
Thanks again!
Susanne x
//insta: adayinherlife
Hello Susanne! So happy you loved it and and was easy for you to make! It’s one of my favourite cakes!!
Have a wonderful week!
Tiana xo
This recipe was a hit–and so easy to make! I’ll definitely be whipping this one up again!! While my end product was not as pretty as what you see here (It was short and lean–maybe my tin was too big?) the recipe is absolutely amazing!!
Thank you!! So happy you liked it:) Yes the smaller the tin the higher the cake will be! I’ve make this a few times for my family and it’s always a hit! I have made it using a small tin and it was higher but another time I used a bigger tin and it was a lot thiner. Tastes amazing either way hehe. Thank you for your amazing feedback xx
Hello!
I absolutely love the base of this dish!!
I had one slight problem though, the filling tasted too much like maple syrup, i put in 1/3 of a cup like listed but it had a very strong flavour through the filling. Hoping that once all frozen and ganache is on top (in freezer now) that the taste may mellow down?
Thank you so much though! This was awesome to make!
Hi Alicia! I think once it all comes together it won’t have such a strong taste:) I know mine didn’t anyways! Hope you enjoy xx
I made this and finished it today. This recipe is wonderful, Thankyou so much
Hi Lily,
Aww that is so nice to hear, thank you! It’s one of my favourites 🙂 Tiana xx
Just wondering what size cake tin you used for this Devine cheesecake ?
Hi Hayley 🙂 It was a 20cm cake tin. If you want the cake to be higher you can use a smaller one ! Xx
Just put my cashews on to soak for the trail christmas dessert! Coconut oil is very expensive in my local store tho any chance a substitute will be just as good or should I splash out?? Thanks for the recipe I’ll let you know how is goes tomorrow 🙂
Hi Kayla! Excited for you to try this! Thats ok you could always leave it out (it’s not ideal but I’d say it would still work out fine). Hope it turns out for you!! xx
Hello, it looks great, but I have prpblem to find raw cashews… can i use wholenuts onstead of them? Thnx
Hey Jana:) I’m not really sure what you can use instead of cashews as they are the best for a creamy filling!! Sorry xx
Hi
I’m just preparing to try out this recipe for sons 1 BD as he’s sensitive to gluten and dairy, but wonder how many is it supposed to serve.
Just to be on the safe side, so that no one will be left witdnout a slice 🙂
Hi there 🙂 oh what a lovely cake to make hehe! It will serve 8 normal slices or 10 thin slices. Hope this helps and enjoy xx
Hi 🙂
Does this cake hold up in the fridge or will it melt? I love the look of this cake but I need something that doesnt need to go in the freezer.
Thanks!
Hannah.
Hi Hannah 🙂
When you first make you it’s best to let it set in freezer but after that you can store in fridge for sure! If you mean you aren’t going to put in freezer at all then I’m not sure… you could try! It just might not be as firm xx
Oh beautiful! Thankyou 🙂 No I meant freezer then fridge.
Thanks again, off to make it now 🙂
H.
I followed this recipe exactly, and it turned out perfectly!
Thank you for sharing! Its been requested again, so im making it now as we speak.
Yay xxxx
I made this as a special Easter dessert this weekend. It was really amazing. Looked and tasted really good, thank you so much for the recipe!
Aww that’s so nice to hear !! Thank you xoxo
Hello,
Is it possible to substitute the shredded coconut and coconut water with other products? I dislike the taste of coconut.
Kind regards, Miep
Hi there:)
Instead of shredded coconut you could replace with any nuts or seeds… the coconut water you could replace with some sort of plant based milk… I haven’t tried but I’m sure it would work !
Hi!
I’d like to make this cake as the top tier of a three-tiered wedding cake. Although currently the weather is cool where I live, I’m wondering if this cake will hold up and not melt in the car on the way to the event and in the wedding hall… Is it too risky??
Hi !!! Oh wonderful choice hehe 🙂 it will depends how far it will be in the car for ?? It doesn’t melt but it might become soft which is fine ! Maybe have it in the freezer right up until you leave… hope this helps xx
I know this post is super old, but I’m hoping you’ll read this by tmrw. Whats the size of the cake tin you used?
Hi Nadja! I’m pretty sure I used my 20cm cake tin. The smaller the cake tin the higher the cake will be 🙂