Raw Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Forget boring chocolate and flowers. Learn how to make the ultimate Valentine's Day gift.

Photo by Leah Lizarondo
 

It’s Valentine’s Day. I will unapologetically pay homage and nothing less than a most decadent dessert will suffice. And while dessert typically ends a meal, this one was inspired by a beginning.

This was all kindled late one night as I was sitting in my kitchen, alone with my cup of tea, daydreaming. Shamelessly. About love. I let the daydream wander and, of course, it eventually culminated in … food. I wanted to replicate the waves of emotion that new love brings – the excitement, anticipation, openness, richness. The elements of surprise and unexpectedness.

How would that take shape of a plate? Dessert, of course. I imagined a marriage of sweetness and tartness, luscious, creamy, interrupted only by not-quite-salty punctuations of a crumbly crust and finished – naturally, as if there was a choice – with the pure velvet that is chocolate ganache.

With this much inspiration, I had no choice but to work (late hour be damned) like a woman possessed, to realize this figment of taste in my imagination. In a fugue state, I gathered ingredients that would all come together in perfect harmony for this metaphoric confection.

The element of surprise? All this richness and decadence comes not from the common cream but from the coupling of cashews and coconut.

So here it is, a love story in three parts: Raw Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache. Throw in some luscious raspberries, too. Because V-Day is, after all, about red hot love.

  Raw Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Part 1 – The Crust

• ¾ cup almonds
• ¾ cup macadamia nuts
• ¾ cup pitted medjool dates
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Process the nuts into small pieces with salt in a food processor.
2. Add the dates and process until combined and sticky.
3. Press into the lined bottom of a springform pan and refrigerate or freeze until set.
4. Make the filling …

Part 2 – The Filling

• 3 cups cashews
• ¾ cup lemon juice, fresh preferred
• ½ cup agave or maple syrup
• ¾ cup coconut oil (must be liquid, place bottle in bowl of hot water if solid)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Optional: ½ pint raspberries

1. Cover the cashews in water and soak for about an hour.
2. Drain and place in blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.
3. Taste for preferred sweetness and tartness.
4. Pour into prepared springform pan. Place in freezer to set.

Part 3 – The Ganache

• 1 ½ c. grain sweetened chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk creamer  (or other nondairy creamer)

1. Place chips in a heatproof bowl.
2. Slowly heat the creamer in a pan, take off heat when it simmers.
3. Pour over chocolate chips and mix until chocolate is melted.
4. Cool for a few seconds while mixing. Pour over filling.
5. Decorate with fresh berries. Place in freezer to set.

When firm, place in the fridge until ready to serve.