Naomi Buff’s raw chocolate cheesecake is a deliciously dairy-free creation made with cacao, Medjool dates and lashings of maple syrup
Serves 8 – 10
Ingredients
For the base:
• 140g almonds
• 40g oats
• 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
• Pinch of salt
• 12 pitted Medjool dates (200g)
• ¼ tsp vanilla powder or essence
For the filling:
• 120ml coconut milk, chilled for about 4 hours
• 2 large ripe avocados
• 60ml maple syrup
• 20g raw cacao powder
• ½ tsp vanilla powder or essence
• Pinch of salt
For the chocolate sauce:
• 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• Pinch of salt
Method
For the base:
1 Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with a little bit of coconut oil.
If you are using a silicone mould of the same size, there’s no need to grease it.
2 Put the almonds, oats, cacao powder and salt into a food processor. Blend until the nuts and oats have broken down. Add the dates and vanilla then blend again until the dates have broken down and you have a sticky mixture.
3 Transfer just over half of this mixture to your cake tin and press down firmly with the back of a spoon or your fingertips to create the base.
4 Spoon the remaining mixture around the edges of the tin and use your fingers to press upwards from the base, creating sides about 2.5cm in depth from the base.
5 Use a spoon to neaten the top of the crust.
For the filling:
1 Make sure your coconut milk has been in the fridge for about 4 hours so it solidifies. Halve and destone the avocado, scoop out the flesh and put it into the food processor with all the other ingredients.
2 Blend until completely smooth and creamy, then spoon the filling into the base.
For the chocolate sauce:
1 In a small bowl, mix the ingredients together until fully combined then drizzle the chocolate sauce on top of your cheesecake.
2 Finish by decorating it with chopped nuts, dried fruit, edible flowers, cacao nibs or anything else delicious, colourful and edible you can find in your cupboards!
3 Pop the decorated cheesecake into the freezer and leave it to set for about 2 hours, or 3 hours in the fridge, and it should be ready to eat. You can either keep this stored in the freezer for up to 3 months (it will need a little bit of defrosting before eating) or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
4 If you used a silicone mould, you will need to completely freeze the cheesecake to remove it from the mould cleanly.
Recipe and image courtesy of Naomi Buff, extracted from Beder’s Kitchen (Meze Publishing November 2020). A collection of recipes and reflections from foodies around the world, Beder’s Kitchen also acts as an initiative to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention, launched by the young charity, Beder.
RRP £22, available via Amazon, bookshops including Waterstones and online from www.beder.org.uk and www.mezepublishing.co.uk.
