17 Dec Vegan Christmas – Mini Lemon Cheesecake (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free)

Dessert is always the most important part in a meal right? So, instead of serving only one dessert in this Vegan Christmas Feast, we whipped up TWO – a raw lemon cheesecake and a spiced carrot cake. Both are vegan and gluten-free. These tiny lemon cheesecakes are so simple to make and easy to share. They are a bit larger than bite size, so you still have room for the spiced carrot cake even after the feast and the raw cake. We love to pour some raw cacao sauce over it before serving. The coldness of the cake will harden the chocolate sauce, hence creating a crispy layer on top of the cake. To save time, we recommend you to make the crust in advance (either the day before or before preparing other food in the feast). Most importantly, the best part of this recipe is that unlike other raw desserts, it only requires 5 ingredients for the filling and 2 ingredients for the crust. Super easy and super comforting that your guests may not know that it’s healthy and vegan!

Ingredients:

For the filling:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight
2 large lemons, juiced and lemon rind grated
(from 1 or 2 depending how strong you want the
emon flavour)
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp coconut nectar

For the crust:

1 cup pitted dates
soaked in warm water for 5 min
1 cup pecans and/or walnuts

To serve:

Coconut oil
Cacao powder
Goji berries

Directions:

1. To make the crust, add the dates and nuts to a food processor or high powered blender and process until a crumbly mixture forms. If the mixture is too wet add more nuts.
2. Take a 6 muffin baking tray and scoop in approximately 1 Tbsp of the crust mixture and press into the tray. Pop into the freezer while you prepare the filling.
3. Add all the filling ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth.
4. Remove the crusts from the freezer and pour the filling into each case on top of the crust. Pop back in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
5. When ready to serve remove from the freezer for 5-10 minutes to soften which will make removing from the tray easier.
6. Serve with coconut oil and cacao mixed together to make a simple chocolate sauce and top with goji berries