Blueberry Cheesecake, Raw & Vegan

Wow, August has been such a fulfilling and busy month. Somehow my last post was four weeks ago from Vermont! I stayed in that lovely state for nearly two weeks, came home for less than week, then was in Seattle for eight days. And now I’m in Philadelphia, celebrating my sister Emily’s 30th birthday, along with our older sister Hope. Traveling is good for my soul, less great for blogging.

I wasn’t about to show up in Philly empty handed so a birthday treat was in order. Cupcakes? Nah. A regular ole flour-based cake? Seemed uninspired. Blueberries are still in season and I’ve been interested in exploring more vegan and raw desserts so I turned to Emily von Euw’s blog, which has become one of my favorites to explore lately, and sure enough, got inspired.

Like a lot of raw and vegan desserts, this cake takes its base from a combination of nuts, coconut oil, and sweetener (in this case, maple syrup). And like a cheesecake, this cake ends up tasting creamy and rich, with strong overtones of the cashew flavor. It is freaking good. Find some local blueberries and keep that oven off. This was super easy to make and garners lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” and “wow, it’s vegan and raw?” And gluten free, as long as your oats are. So almost everyone can eat this cake!

Oh and are you following me on Instagram? I hope you will! @laduelala

Blueberry Cheesecake
adapted from Emily von Euw

Crust
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 dates
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
drizzle of maple syrup

Filling
2 1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked overnight (or at least a few hours) and drained
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice from 1 small lemon or 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 coconut oil
Scant 1 cup water (less if water is transferred from your cashew’s soaking liquid)
2 1/4 cups blueberries

To make the crust: you’re essentially making oat flour out of your oats. Process in a blender until you achieve a pretty fine texture. If using a food processor or a blender with blades like a Ninja blender, then add the dates and maple syrup and process until it becomes one sticky mass. If using a regular blender, you will want to transfer the oat flour to a bowl and add the dates and maple syrup, mashing with your hands until it becomes a sticky dough. Then press the dough into the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan to form a crust (a springform pan would probably work great, but I don’t have one). I placed a large piece of saran wrap as a liner in my cake pan, underneath the oat crust. Chill in the refrigerator while you do the next steps.

To make the filling: blend everything together except the blueberries until it forms a thick and creamy mixture. Mine was a little watery so I added approximately two tablespoons of oats and re-blended, which helped. But go easy on that cup of water, start with a little less perhaps so you can judge the consistency. Poor half of this mixture onto the chilled crust in the cake pan. Then place one cup of the blueberries on top of this layer. Blend the remaining cup of blueberries with the remaining filling and process until smooth. Poor this on top of the blueberry layer. Chill in the refrigerator until it sets (a few hours at least), or you can place in the freezer, which is what I did, since I had to transport it to Philly. We made it.

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Here are some Seattle photos from last week.

Olympic Sculpture Park right after sunrise.

The International Fountain, in the shadow of the Space Needle. Kids love this place!
The Samarya Center, a yoga studio recommended by my teacher back home in New York, had the sweetest class there with founder Molly Lannon Kenny.

Loved this store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle called Totokaelo, a mashup of clothing, pottery, art journals, textiles, lighting design, and shoes. Found my friend Paul’s journal Convolution there, above, in orange.

Sarah and I.

Molly Moon’s ice cream. Had maybe the best salted caramel I’d ever tried. Their waffle cones are made to order.