I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. It rained and was super windy and cold here all day, really hard to get into the Spring spirit with that craziness going on outside! But we had a wonderful family dinner at my father’s house where there was plenty of room for an indoor Easter egg hunt for my nieces and nephew. As with every family gathering, there were plenty of non-raw temptations, but I behaved and my family has become a lot more supportive of my diet preferences. My sister was so sweet and brought a huge snack tray of organic fruits for hor’dourves mainly for me and healthy snacks for the kids. On top of that, I brought two raw desserts and one raw side and my mom brought a huge raw salad – so I was more than covered! :-)
One of the desserts I brought was The Real “Cheeze” cake from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen.
I ended up altering the recipe a bit, it called for one vanilla bean and when I saw the $12 price tag at Whole Foods for just one, I quickly surmised that the jug of Costco vanilla extract in my pantry would be just fine and thankfully I was right.
The crust of the cake consisted of macadamia nuts, coconut and dates and I was amazed at what a nice crust the three simple ingredients created after a few pulses in a food processor.
The cake part was mostly cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla and I had to juice 4 lemons to get the amount of lemon juice. The Vita-Max had no problems turning the unsoaked cashews into a beautiful, smooth cream.
I refrigerated the cake until it was served at Easter dinner and it was a huge hit!
Those 2 slices quickly disappeared. Pardon the messy slicing job, I forgot to pack a pie slicer and all my dad had was a serving spoon. :-P Many commented that they could not tell it was non-dairy, it tasted very much like a dairy-based cheesecake and maybe even better. My sister’s husband does not like cheesecake, but liked this stating it tasted like a very creamy lemon pie. Of course it was a huge hit with my little nieces and nephew. To me it tasted like a decadently creamy cheesecake with a strong lemon undertone, very good and the macadamia-based crust only enhances the experience with a smooth richness. For a dessert that impressed so many, it was very simple to make taking under 20 minutes to mix, assemble and start chilling. You can’t go wrong with serving a raw “cheeze” cake to non-raw or non-vegan guests! My husband thought this is a good raw gateway recipe. :-)
The second dessert I took was more of an experiment modifying my chocolate cake recipe. I basically added coconut oil, strawberries and NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia to the cake mixture.
Then added fresh strawberry slices to the top instead of icing.
Yeah, I realize I’m not going to win any culinary artistic awards anytime soon with my placement here. :-) It too was pretty popular.
The texture was like a thick Larabar with a moister, richer flavor. The pureed strawberries was a nice add to the cake mixture, even though it gave my powerful food processor quite a workout.
I also tried something new yesterday – homemade chocolate almond milk. I added 4 tablespoons of carob powder and about 20 drops of NuNaturals Pure Liquid Stevia before blending.
Wow, is it creamy and rich with a perfect amount of sweetness! It was a divine treat in my Easter morning coffee, almost like drinking hot chocolate. Would probably be great with cereal or chia seed pudding. I notice with the carob powder, it tends to separate quicker in the fridge and requires a good shake before each use. Also the almond pulp from this batch is also nice and chocolaty, perfect for another dessert recipe.
Wow, that “cheese”cake looks so amazing! Congrats on the great reviews of your unbaking!
Both desserts look awesome! Yeah vanilla beans are rediculously expensive but they’re soo good :D
I gotta try that homemade chocolate milk!
Delicious desserts!! I love the combination of chocolate and strawberry…and I think your artistic stylings are great! :-)
Looks great! I’ve been wondering how Ani’s cheesecake tasted-will have to try it out this weekend!
wow what interesting ideas/combos! I want to add some lemon ingredients into my life. I once heard that as long as you have a lemon in your refrigerator, your life will be good :)
Katherine
Sounds like you had a great weekend! I love the dessert photos, artistic presentation aside :)
Look at places like Marshalls and TJMax they have a food section and you can buy vanilla beans, saffron or other cooking stuff at much less then you would anywhere else. I bought 3 vanilla beans in a vanilla infustion kit (you are supposed to pour vodka over them) for 4$… yes they were on sale but I am so using them in cooking.
wow that cheezecake looks so creamy and good! what a hit :)
have a good tuesday!
I need some strawberries stat!
i used Stevia extract as a sugar substitute because i am diabetic. Stevia is really sweeter than sucrose..:”