Creamy Vegan Lemon 'Cheesecake'

I regularly hear people lamenting the loss of various foods in their diet, foods such as dairy, eggs and wheat, as though all is lost and scrumptious creations are a thing of the past. As you know I have faced multiple food intolerances (and yes, I too lamented the loss of my beloved eggs, yoghurt and cacao..which by the way, appear to have made a come back) and as disappointing as it felt at the time, as soon as I got my head around the changes I needed to make I realised the alternatives were as good as, if not better. Today's recipe is a perfect example of that. 

If you're yet to try a vegan cheesecake, do get amongst it folks. They are super simple to make and always a winner with the friends and family. What's more, they freeze beautifully so why not slice one up for random pop ins ("Oh you know, I just whipped it up this morning...do have a slice!").

Today's recipe is by my plant based inspirer, Buffy Gill of Be Good Organics. Thanks Buffy for sharing your no bake lemon cheesecake recipe with us today.

Makes one 18-19cm cheesecake with 16 slices

For the base:
1 1/4 cup almonds (soaked overnight and drained)*
1/2 cup medjool dates, pitted 
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder/extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the filling:
3 cups raw cashews (soaked 2 for hours and drained)
1/2 cup coconut milk (we like the BPA free Ayam brand)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup light coconut nectar
2 tablespoon cacao butter, melted
1 tablespoon lucuma powder**
1 tablespoon psyllium husk or lecithin
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder/extract OR 1 vanilla pod scraped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Line a cake tin (preferably one with a removable bottom) with a circle of baking paper, cut to fit.

Add all the dry base ingredients* excluding the dates to your food processor and blend until fine. Then add the dates one by one until you achieve a sticky mixture. Pour into your cake tin and flatten down completely with the palm of your hand (wet your palm slightly if it starts sticking), then place in the freezer.

Now add all your filling ingredients except the coconut oil, cacao butter and psyllium and blend until super silky smooth. If you have a high-speed blender you'll get an even smoother result, but a food processor will also do just fine. Once blended, add your melted coconut oil and cacao butter, and psyllium husk, and blend again until completely mixed. 

Pour the filling over the base, smooth down with a spatula, then put back in the freezer and leave for at least 2 hours to set or overnight in the fridge.

In the morning, remove, top with the lemon zest and slice. Keep some slices in the fridge for the week, and put the remainder back in the freezer in a sealed container.

* You could also use brazil nuts, hazelnuts or walnuts. Or do a half half with sunflower seeds which are often more affordable.

** If you don't have lucuma, increase the light coconut nectar to 1/3 cup.

Buffy has load more plant based inspired recipes over on her website too. Find Be Good Organics here.