Vegan cheesecakes- really worth making!

So vegetarian 'Come dine with me' style dinner parties have now become part of my weekly routine. Last week was my turn to host and to add to the challenge, one of my friends decided to become vegan for Lent. Although initially uninspired at the thought of vegan desserts, I decided to finally make a nut based cheesecake after having putting it off for such a long time. Results were great and this has now become a definite keeper!

Variations: Although I used raspberries for this batch, you could play around with ingredients and use something that is more accessible and readily available to you. For instance, use the same amount of fresh juicy mango flesh or for flavours such as chocolate, peanut butter or lemon, use bananas as they are bland and would add volume to the mix along with a couple of tablespoons of cocoa, peanut butter or lemon juice. Taste the mixture and alter to your preferences.
Note: You do need some sort of blender for this. A strong hand held blender works just fine. I use the word 'about' in the ingredient list as this was one of those "alter as I went along" recipes, best thing is to use my figures as a guide and taste/alter as you go along.

RASPBERRY VEGAN CHEESECAKES
For about 6 individual cheesecakes

• About 45g oats
• 20g of  nuts (preferably easy to blend), I used almond meal, but walnuts and pecans work just fine
• 1 large tbsp maple syrup / honey if you're not vegan, alter to taste
• 1-2 large tbsp of coconut oil

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
2. To make the crust, blend the oats and nuts until you obtain a powdery, lump-free mixture, pour in the sweetener of choice and oil until everything comes together.
3. Divide the crust into greased individual mini muffin pans (I used silicon muffin cases just to make sure they didn't stick, but if not, greasing well should do the trick). How many you make will depend on how thick you want your crusts to be. Press the mixture firmly down with the back of a spoon and bake for about 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and leave to cool.

Raspberry filling

• Around 150 g cashew nuts (unsalted preferably), wash and soak in warm water for at least 40 minutes until soft
• Around 60 g of raspberries or other fruit, I would add more next time!
• About 5 generous tablespoons of coconut milk
• About 5 tbsp of maple syrup/ honey or more according to taste
• 6 tbsp of coconut oil (helps to set the cheesecake)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, optional if mixture tastes too rich
• Fruit to garnish, optional

1. Blend the drained cashew nuts, berries (or selected variation), coconut milk and sweetener of choice until broken down nicely. 
2. Slowly pour in the coconut oil whilst blending on high and you obtain a smooth mixture. Add in the vanilla and lemon juice. The mixture should be relatively thick, similar to chocolate mousse or instant pudding.
3. Pour the mixture on top of the completely cooled bases and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours, or if in a rush freeze for an hour or so, making sure to leave in the fridge a little before serving.
4. Decorate with fruit, nuts etc.

Enjoy!

On another note, this week was my best friend Nan's birthday! It saddens me to think that in a couple of months, all my University friends will be heading off to different parts of the world to start new chapters in their lives. I decided to make Nan a pink ombre rose birthday cake which we surprised her with during one of our Econometric teaching sessions. Here's the surprise video played to her during our session, with amazing vocals by Mr Anthony!
Click here for video

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