I always say that I’m not a raw person but that isn’t exactly true. When I’m in SF I’m practically tethered to Cafe Gratitude and one of the best meals I had in LA was at Cru. Brooklyn used to have a hole in the wall (almost literally) restaurant where I would enjoy soggy dehydrated pancakes. Yeah, I said soggy and enjoy in the same breath.
I think I just don’t have the patience for the preparation techniques, like dehydrating and spiral slicing. And while raw is all wonderfully healthy, I’m not positive that cooked spinach is going to kill me, despite the wacky emails I get from time to time. Luckily for us vegans, raw food is almost exclusively free of animal products and so that opens up a whole world of experimentation. I love, for example, using soaked cashews to create creaminess. In fact, many of my favorite vegan desserts have been raw. I’m just not into that vegan cheesecake, loaded with telltale, groan-worthy tofutti and confectioner’s sugar. My favorite cheesecake from Cafe Gratitude contains coconut, dates and Irish Moss. So gather your ingredients and…wait. Irish Moss?
Yeah, so I wanted to make a minimum hassle recipe that was easy enough to create from ingredients you could procure from any health food store. I scoured the internet for hints on how to go about it and I decided on my beloved soaked cashews and coconut oil. The oil is solid at room temperature so ensures that everything stays together. No special equipment needed, this cake came together in a snap. The only prep you need to do is to remember to soak the cashews in advance. Also remember that the cake will need at least 4 hours to set.
The end result was a really, really rich and creamy cake. And you’ll believe me when I say I am not rich-dessert phobic, but the cake really does serve 16. It’s got plenty of strawberry flavor and a little tang from the lime. It needed a little extra strawberry blast at the end, so I threw together a quick strawberry sauce. The crust was modified from the Cafe Gratitude desserts cookbook. I Am Pilfering. To melt your coconut oil place it in a small covered container and place that in a bowl of very hot water. Melt it right before using so that it doesn’t solidify.
Raw Strawberry Cheesecake
Serves 16
Crust
1 cup pecans
1 cup almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
Filling
3 cups raw cashew pieces, soaked overnight (or at least 3 hours)
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol free is preferred for raw desserts)
32 oz strawberries (reserve 9 for decorating), hulled and halved – about 4 cups
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Raw Fluffy White Frosting Recipe
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked overnight
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (alcohol free is preferred for raw desserts)
1/4 cup raw coconut oil, melted
Strawberry Coulis (Coulis is a fancy word for pureed sauce)
2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tablespoons agave syrup
Lightly grease a 9 inch spring form pan with coconut oil and set aside.
To prepare the crust, pulse nuts and salt in a food processor fit with a metal blade. When nuts are fine crumbs, add the dates and pulse until the dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers. Firmly press crust into the bottom of prepared cake pan. Set aside.
To prepare the filling, pulse cashews in food processor until crumbly. Add agave, water, lime juice and vanilla and puree until very smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure you get everything. Feed the strawberries through the top of the food processor and puree until incorporated. The filling should turn a pretty pink. With the processor running, add the melted coconut oil in a steady stream.
Pour the filling into the cake pan. It will look like a smoothie and you’ll think no way it will set, but it will! Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set. Make sure it’s level so that your cake doesn’t come out wonky. Let set for at least 4 hours.
Prepare the frosting in basically the same way as the cake. Pulse the cashews in the food processor until crumbly. Add the water, agave and vanilla and blend until smooth. With the food processor running, stream the coconut oil in through the top until combined. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill until set, about 2 hours.
Prepare the sauce when you’re close to serving. Just mash the strawberries up with the agave until it’s all red and syrupy.
To assemble
Release the cake from its springform prison. Use a mini scoop to place 8 mounds of icing around the perimeter of the cake and one in the center. Slice the tops off the reserved strawberries and gently smush them upside down into the frosting mounds. If you don’t have a mini scoop, just use a spoon and make them as pretty as you can, they’re gonna get smushed anyway.
To serve, place some Strawberry Coulis on the plate and serve the cake over it. Dig in!
HI, hi, totally serious-ditzy question: the three cups of cashews are BEFORE soaking right? because they get bigger! and my springform is not a 9 inch. best…
Yep, before soaking.
Thanks for the response. My niece has made this twice, to fantastic results. Mine didn’t hold together so well…. will have to try again. Cheers.
Made this today – it was great! It just didn’t set so I served it from the freezer to cut down on the sloppy factor.
The cheesecake part held up, but my whipped cream didnt… what did i do wrong? Regardless, it was very very good!!!:)
Make sure you defrost the fruit before blending if using frozen strawberries! I didn’t and because it was so cold the coconut oil solidified into little lumps in the blender, and then it didn’t set. =(
I made this for my sister’s birthday and I was soo exiceted to give it a try, because it looks awefully yummy. It didn’t turn out nicely at all, though. I had to add tons of agar agar, because the strawberry cashew cream didn’t thicken at all, and the taste was, well… Because of all the fresh berries and the cahews it was an expensive pie for my bin, and the first recipe of Isa that didn’t make me go “ahhhh”, sorry.
do you have to soak the cashews???…. and will the recipe still work with roasted cashews hmm ill guess ill find out
I used Blueberries instead, and made mini cupcake version with exact recipe, they turned out AMAZING thank you
Super excited to try this recipe.. but not very excited that my printer printed out over 10 pages of comments when I hit the print button on your post. That should probably be fixed…
I made it yesterday for a dinner for an omni friend of mine. She was absolutely delighted. Me too, by the way, it tastes so super fresh and yet creamytastic….. I took not only strawberries but also blueberries and redcurrants for it becaue they seduced me at the market. The three berries made also an extremely beautiful decoration with the white frosting. Thanks for this one 🙂
What can I use for a good coconut oil substitute? No stores around me has any. 🙁
There really isn’t one for this cheesecake.
Beautiful picture; I could almost taste it. Went to purchase everything I needed. Soaked the cashews the night before. Vitamix to the ready, followed the directions to the letter and put it all together. Placed the cheesecake in the frig for its “cooling off” period, actually nearly 24 hours until ready to assemble. Unlatched the springform lever and pulled up. The cake oozed sideways into a pancake. It does taste absolutely wonderful, and the crust is amazing too, but it’s not pretty at all, certainly not as pictured. After reviewing other “raw vegan cheescake” recipes, it appears that the majority suggest putting it in the freezer and placing it in the frig about 2 hours before serving. Perhaps this is the solution…or…any other suggestions?
I really don’t know! I didn’t freeze it, but perhaps if your fridge is not cold enough then freezing would be the way to go!
I also just made this and it refused to set…. no idea what went wrong but I’m super bummed out.
I made this the other night and it was fabulous! Mine set perfectly, but I used a little bit less than the full 32 oz of strawberries which may have made the filling a little bit thicker….less watery. Everyone loved it…even my kids. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I made this yesterday and mine also did not set. I ended up having to freeze it and eat it frozen, because it gets all goopy when thawed out. Unfortunate, because the flavors are positively divine!
I am considering three things that might have interfered with the cake’s ability to set: 1) I made the mistake of measuring the 3 cups of cashews after soaking, rather than before; 2) I used frozen strawberries, 3/4 of the way defrosted; 3) It’s warm enough here that my coconut oil remains in a liquid state, so I did not heat it up (to melt it) before adding it in. Do any of these seem like they could be the source of the problem?
I’m wondering if the problem is that people are using frozen strawberries, which collect a lot of extra liquid. But that’s all I got!
Don’t use FROZEN strawberries! Their cell walls are broken down and they’re all mushy. This makes it so much harder for the dessert to set! This was definitely my problem. Isa, can you add this to the instructions to not use frozen? Thanks!!
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it a few times now and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
This is absolutely amazing 🙂
I like to set it in the freezer anyways because I am impatient, then slice and freeze individually so I can pull out a little piece whenever I want some, plus the flavours seem to get even better with time.
Thanks Isa
Mine didn’t set either. I used fresh strawberries. The only change I made was using maple syrup instead of agave.
Uh – yum! Just put mine to set in the fridge and yes.. could be caught licking the blender. Tasty! (but glad I remembered not to lick the blades.) Thank you!!!!
Made this the other day and came out fantastically! I made half a batch strawberry flavoured, and half a batch pineapple with white chocolate and coconut topping.
For one half I used frozen wild strawberries, which I rinsed with some cold water to speed up defrosting, then left in a sieve over a bowl to lose potentially excessive water whilst defrosting. I simmered the excess liquid from the strawberries to reduce it and used it as a flavourful substitution for the water called for in the recipe. Although I added my cheesecake mixture to little ramekins (so I can defrost cheesecake on demand!), the texture was lovely and thick, and I’m sure it would have stood up well in a springform pan.
For the pineapple cheesecake, I used slightly less pineapple than I would have strawberries as it seemed more watery. The fresh pineapple lent delicious extra tartness, but I couldn’t really succeed in processing it to a smooth consistency – it may work better with canned pineapple. Nevertheless, I topped my mini pineapple cheesecakes with melted vegan white chocolate and a liberal sprinkling of dessicated coconut, which went very well with the pineapple, and the shredded coconut covered up that the cheesecake body wasn’t perfectly smooth.
I was blown away by the authentic cheesecake-like flavour of the cashew, agave, vanilla and lime juice mixture before adding the fruit… May have to try a vanilla variation next time! I also have it in mind to try a vanilla version topped with a thin layer of strawberry jelly / syrup, or a white chocolate and stem ginger flavoured version. Or blueberry, or white chocolate and raspberry…
Wow, this looks amazing! I don’t think I can wait for strawberry season to make it. Do you think it would work with mango? Without access to agave or maple syrup, do you think a regular sugar style syrup will work?
Just happened to look at this amazing recipe today, and cannot wait until morning to get started on this! There’s just one hitch… wondering if I can substitute coconut oil with some other oil? My husband and I are super allergic to coconut oil. Thanks, in advance for your response!
I just tried this recipe this week when I came across a great deal on local strawberries and all I can say is WOW!!! The crust to this recipe really reminded me of graham crackers and the cheesecake was so creamy and it did set up pretty well. My only advice is to be liberal with greasing the pan with coconut oil just to ensure everything comes out clean and pretty. I hope you break out a couple more raw dessert recipes in the near future (PS- I share your pain with raw food so I won’t be too upset if this is the last raw recipe I see on PPK!)
what size are the cups you use?
I can’t wait to make this for Fathers Day on Sunday! I’m slowly working on promoting veganism in my family. I think they will be blown away by this dessert. It sounds absolutely amazing!
Hi, PLEASE HELP PLEASE.
Second time making this, and it is not setting up at all!! It is the consistency of a thick heavy whipped cream. The first time I used refined coconut oil. My mistake I guess. So I bought unrefined virgin oil with this second batch.( Not really clear up there ^) Upon calling my local hometown health store they said they use a probiotic powder inside as well. Yet with this above recipe WHY WONT IT SET UP ??
I Froze it for an hour or so didn’t do much, I have it back in the freezer today.
This is gonna be the cake I bring to work for the Hospital Bake-off! You are so awesome, Ms Isa.
Hi, Isa. I came across this recipe kind of by accident, and it looked so good, I just had to try it. I followed the recipe to a t, but my cheesecake just would not get firm. I left it in the fridge overnight, but still had no luck. When I took it out of the springform pan, the whole thing just kind of collapsed. Any suggestions on what I might have done wrong? P.S. The filling was still amazing, so I ended up just scraping it out into a bowl and eating it that way.
I don’t understand how anyone got this to set. I left it in the refridgerator for almost 8 hours, and when i took it out it turned into a dripping gloppy mess all over the place. Any suggestions for a cake that won’t set?
My favorite dessert of all time! Thank you!
I just tried this recipe & sadly the cake as well as the frosting did not set properly. Literally, it is a big blob on my plate & melted all over my counter top. I even let it sit overnight!?! What happened??
Alas, it was not all a lost, the crust & the filling are really tasty. I highly recommend if you make this cake, freeze it…
This pie is DELICIOUS!!! But the consistency was like a mousse, impossible to cut. Should I use less water next time?
Made this for a friend’s birthday yesterday, and it was awesome! After reading comments about it not setting, I skipped the 1/4c water, and I think it turned out perfectly. She was thrilled.
I’m going to experiment with the same base recipe and use pumpkin pie filling instead…. if it turns out, I’ll let you know.
Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve made this several times in the past using hydrogenated coconut oil with wonderful success, and this time around I decided to try unrefined coconut oil and it tastes AWFUL. The aftertaste of the oil is overpowering and sickening and I just wanted to make sure that you guys all check the taste of the oil before pouring it in… I made this to serve at a function and I have had to toss the lot! It’s a good thing strawberries are in season, I’ll just have to try again.
can this recipe be made without the dates? i’m not a big fan of dates. if not, is there a substitution for it?
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This looks scrumptious
Hey Isa – So I’ve used the cashew cream dream before and (while I personally LOVED it in everything I tried it in) my partner really doesn’t like the cashew nutty flavor (especially in soups and deserts). He likes cashews well enough but for some reason the cashew cream just doesn’t do it for him. So now I want to try this…but it has that cashew cream in it.
Any suggestions or substitutes that would work just as well without the nutty flavor?