Raw Cheesecake

This is kind of a weird one.

But magically tasty.

Whilst Foodgawker-ing the other day, I stumbled across a beautiful picture of what appeared to be a regular cheesecake. After clicking the link and re-directing to the owner's site, I saw that it was actually a vegan/raw cheesecake. This of course means there is no cheese, no other part of an animal and it was never baked.

Oh I had to try this.

I did have to change the recipe a bit to suite the ingredients I had on hand:

• Soaked cashews: Substituted soaked almonds
• Nut/Date Crust: Substituted crushed graham cracker and honey (yes I know, no longer raw but go with the original)
• Coconut oil: Substituted applesauce
• Raspberries: Substituted strawberries
• I also pretty much halved the recipe, so my final product didn't have those nice thick layers. If you have a mini springform pan, my version would be perfect for 2 people.

All in all, twas delicious!

Raw Cheesecake Recipe:

• 3 whole graham crackers, crushed
• 1/3 cup honey
  
• 1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp applesauce
• 3 tbsp honey
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
  
• 1/2-1 cup strawberries, sliced

In a bowl, mix the crushed graham crackers and honey. With greased hands, pour into the pan and spread evenly on the bottom. In a blender (I highly recommend a Vitamix for this because my mixture never got quite smooth enough), combine all the ingredients except strawberries. You want an almost peanut butter texture: thick and creamy. Pour 1/2 the mixture on top of the crust and smooth. Then add the strawberries to the remaining 1/2 mixture, blend and pour on top. Cover and freeze for at least a few hours and then thaw 30 minutes prior to serving.

Definitely doesn't taste like "cheesecake," but it was unlike anything I'd ever had...and I loved it.