The indulgence of a cheesecake minus all the sugar and saturated fats. Nuts are bursting with healthy calories and nutrients. Both hazelnuts and cashews are a great source of protein, iron, various B vitamins, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium as well as dietary fibre and other essential minerals. With lots of seeds in the crust you’ll also get plenty of those all important lignans (flaxseed) and more protein, fibre and minerals. Strawberries add vitamin C to the mix and give it that wonderful berry sweetness you can only get when they are in season and properly sun ripened. If you miss that summer taste, but berry season is months away simply use frozen berries. Works just as well with raspberries!
What you need:
For the crust:
50g pumpkin seeds
50g sunflower seeds
40g flaxseed (brown linseed)
100g ground hazelnuts
160g dried, pitted dates – roughtly chopped
1tbsp hazelnut butter (almond butter works too)
2tbsp vegan butter (room temperature)
1,5tbsp coca powder (unsweetened)
Pinch of salt
For the “cheese” layer:
200g cashew nuts – soaked in boiled water for 30mins
200g strawberries – hulled (plus a few to decorate). If you use frozen berries make sure to partially defrost and roughly chop them first.
2tbsp strawberry jam (100% fruit content, I use St. Dalfour)
2tbsp coconut yogurt
How you do it:
Start by soaking your cashews in boiled water.
In a frying pan dry roast pumpkin-, sunflower- and flaxseed for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently until they start to pop and you get a nutty smell.
Transfer the seeds to a food processor and blend until you get a coarse, flour like consistency.
Now add dates, hazelnut butter, vegan butter, cocoa powder and salt and blend for a little longer until everything is well combined, scraping down the sides once or twice if need be.
Tip the slightly crumbly mix into a lined cake tin and using the back of a spoon press into a firm base.
Put the cake tin in the freezer while you make the strawberry “cheese”.
Drain the cashews and pour them into the food processor (give it a quick rinse first, so the cashew-cheese remains nice and bright).
Blend for a minute, then add strawberries, strawberry jam and coconut yogurt and blend for a further 2-3 minutes or until very smooth.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin on top of the hazelnut base and spread until you have a smooth finish.
Return to the freezer for at least an hour or until almost frozen.
If you make it the day before make sure to take it out of the freezer around 10 minutes before serving it up, it tastes best ice cold, but no longer frozen.
Decorate with extra Strawberries and/or shavings of dark chocolate.
