CHEESECAKE MADE WITH NUTS- SAY WHAT?!

Soooooo…..sometimes if you are like me – you really like to bake and eat the dessert.  When Fiddy Cent rapped “I love you like a fat kid loves cake” – that line stuck with me for ages and made me feel connected to fiddy in a way he’ll probably never know.

Well, in an effort to keep well balanced in my now 40’s – sometimes I have to modify my desserts to include healthy fats to keep my omega rations in check (Did you know that the American diet can tend to skew this ratio in favor of the 6 which leads to inflammatory responses inside the body).   Luckily we are now more knowledgeable and I find that Instagram is amazing for looking up recipes from wonderful baking/food bloggers who have the most incredible pics and ideas on how to make wildly nutritious, nourishing, colorful divine creations.  My favorites recently are: Plentysweet200, ssweetrecipes, lexiliveswell, and thebigmansworld.

So for Easter I found a Lemon Lavendar Cheesecake I wanted to make on Sweetrecipes insta feed.  The recipe is from @365cleaneats and I had to make some modifications as I couldn’t find some of the ingredients or the correct pan.   Now, I love cheesecake made with cheese as well but if I overdo the dairy – it doesn’t work so well with my system.  And I am not alone.  About 70% of the population now has a problem with digesting dairy products so it’s useful to have some other ideas ready when the baking itch arises.   Plus, nuts are high in Zinc which is said to help fight the coronavirus if you do get it – so I love win wins!  Less digestive issues and more immunity after my dessert!  I am going to share the recipe below with a few things I found as I went along making my cheesecake.  The cheesecake has three layers starting with the crust and then a lemon layer and then a vanilla type top.  I could not find edible lavendar drops anywhere and I did have some that I put in the bath tub at night but I don’t like to cross my pottyroom potions with my kitchen essentials.  To be honest, I didn’t miss the lavendar flavoring. Tidbit number 1 is to soak your nuts before.  This helps both your vitamixer or mixer of choice as well as your tum tum in the digestion process and I think makes for a creamier more cheesecake like consistency.  This is what you will need:

The Crust:

3/4 cup raw walnuts

1/3 cup sunflower seeds (I used sprouted and salted nuts)

1/3 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

2 TBSP melted raw cacao butter (I could not find so used coconut butter)

4 pitted medjool dates

3/4 tsp pink salt

I blended all of this and then pressed it into the bottom of my circle pan spreading as evenly as I could to make sure every piece got the same amount of crust.  I believe in equal pie slice opportunity.  Then I put it in the freezer while I cleaned out the blender and prepared the second layer.

The Middle Layer:

2 cups raw cashews soaked about 4 hours

8 TBSP melted raw cacao butter (again, I subbed coconut butter -not the oil – you need the thicker stuff)

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup coconut cream

5-6 TBSP maple syrup (I did not use maple syrup in this layer because the crust was sweet and so was the top)

3 tsp lemon zest (I never understood the zest and did not use)

1/4 – 1/2 tsp turmeric (makes it a pretty color)

3-6 drops edible lavender essential oil (I opted not to use this)

2 pinches of sea salt

I blended all of this together and then layered the creamy mixture on top of my crust spreading it all the way to the edge as best as possible.  This layer turned out super creamy and very much like the consistency of cheesecake after it had been in the refridgerated.

The FINAL Layer

1 cup raw cashews soaked

3 TBSP melted coconut oil (now you can use the oil)

3 TBSP coconut cream

2-3 TBSP maple syrup

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla paste (I used vanilla extract)

Pinch of salt

I blended all of that whilst the first part sat in the freezer and then took it out and spread the final layer on top making sure again it made its way all the way to the ends.  For the top, the insta picture had this pretty array of blueberries, lemons and what looked like some edible flowers but I didn’t have any of that so I sprinkled some shredded coconut on top and voilah!  I kept it in the fridge until it was time to eat.  My daughter, Kirabelle, and I LOVED IT!  Stan said it would have been award winning had it been a bit sweeter.

Sometimes there is just something about the perfect slice ‘o pie to make my heart pitter patter.