Saturday, September 1, 2012

Cheesecake for Breakfast?!






One of the ironic things that I have learned along this path to healthier eating is when you cook with healthy whole foods, there really isn't an 'inappropriate' time to eat anything.  The past few months I haven't been eating dairy and have been staying away from all the sugar add-ins most ice creams have, instead I have been freezing slices of bananas, tossing them in the food processor and enjoying some banana ice cream.........I may or may not have indulged for breakfast, too.

This little creation of mine is no different.  I have been experimenting with numerous grain, dairy, egg, sugar free recipes for awhile now, but I wanted something a little bit more 'gourmet'.  I looked around and found that many people use cashew cream for raw cheesecakes.  I had a little experience in making cashew cream after making these chicken pot pies from the spunky coconut http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2011/01/pot-pie-pockets-gluten-free-casein-free.html.  Her recipes are incredible and really motivated me to get more creative about what I am making.

Truly, the hardest part about this recipe is waiting for your cashews to soak.  I have seen some people say you don't really need to soak them for more than an hour or so, but I have always just thrown them in water before going to work and by the time I get back, we are ready to go.  For this recipe, you don't need to save the water that the cashews are soaking in, but if you have more cashews in soaking than you need, throw the extra in a food processor with some of the water you soaked them in.  Blend it up and stick in the fridge.  You can use the cashew cream for so many things!


I wanted to create a recipe that was strong in flavor and really resembled a 'normal' dessert.  Naturally, my first instinct was peanut butter and chocolate.  Ok, yes, I usually avoid legumes and peanuts are legumes, however, you can sub in almond butter if you prefer.  I preferred a little cheat.  If you know me well, you know how crazy it is for me to now think of peanuts and peanut butter as "cheats" in my diet haha!  I am going to keep developing some new flavors, but for now, we have Vanilla, Chocolate, and peanut butter Cheesecake! You can also cut down on some of the vanilla if wanted.  I was concerned with the cake having too much of a cashew, nutty flavor so I put much more vanilla than I intended to.


Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Crust
The carb lover in me really likes crust.  That being said, if you don't want as much of a crust or don't want a crust that goes up the side as well, feel free to cut the recipe in half. 
10 Dates
Half Cup of Almond flour
1 Cup of Pecans
3 tsp vanilla

Filling
  • 2 c raw organic cashews, soaked overnight (just put in a bowl and fill with filtered water about an inch above the cashews)
  • 5-6 large dates
  • 1/3 c coconut oil, melted
  • Juice from 1 lemon (about 1/3 cup)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean (I used both)
  • 1/4 c almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp water
  • ·         1/3 c +2 TB of peanut butter
  • ·         3 TB agave nectar
  • ·         1 TB vanilla

For the Crust
Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  Blend until the crust sticks together when squeezed in your hand and is a darker brown color.  You may need to add a few more dates as needed.  Put a piece of parchment paper into an 8” spring pan and pour crust into pan.  Press the crust into the bottom of the pan and up the side about an inch or as crust allows.


Filling
Vanilla-Combine all ingredients up until the cocoa powder in a food processor.  After all is blended and VERY SMOOTH, remove 2/3 C and put into a separate bowl.

Chocolate-With the 2/3C you set aside, add the cocoa powder and water until well blended

Peanut Butter-Combine the peanut butter, agave nectar, and vanilla in a separate bowl and stir until well mixed.

Pour  the vanilla  into the crust and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.  Follow this with the peanut butter and then the chocolate.

Tap on the counter to even out.  If you don’t plan to eat it for a while, you can put it straight into the fridge.  We were eager to eat it, so we stuck it in the freezer for about an hour and then moved it down to the fridge and it was perfectly set!  Keep this in your fridge for up to a week……if it lasts that long!

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