Continuing my theme of making nut free recipes – I developed this recipe for a nut allergic friend but I promise you – you don’t even have to be a little bit allergic to enjoy this! With a golden, crunchy, biscuity, maple-spiked base and a creamy lemon-vanilla melt-in-your-mouth filling, this cake is tasty enough to please your standard cheesecake eaters whilst also providing a moreish dessert for your allergy-afflicted friends (well those who can’t have nuts, dairy or gluten/wheat anyway).
Credit where credit’s due though, I have to give a nod to one of my favourite blogs Minimalist Baker for giving me the idea to use cacao butter to help the filling set. Without dairy or nuts, I was having real difficulty with this until I saw this inspired idea!
NB: When making the crust, be careful not to press it too firmly into the tin. I did this the second time I made this and although it was still delicious, it was so hard to cut!
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
Maple Crust
- ¾ cup/105g sunflower seeds
- ¾ cup/85g oats
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- ¼ cup/60ml coconut oil, melted
- pinch of salt
- 70g/2 small bars dairy-free white chocolate, chopped
Lemon-Vanilla Filling
- 1 packet/350g silken tofu, drained
- seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or 1tsp high quality vanilla extract)
- 1 large lemon, zest and juice
- ¼ cup/60ml maple syrup
- ¼ cup/22g raw cacao butter, melted
- pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp soy milk
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Grease an 8”/20cm loose bottomed cake tin.
- In a food processor, blitz together all the crust ingredients except the white chocolate. If needed, you can add more syrup or oil to make sure the mixture sticks together.
- Gently press into an 8”/20cm round baking tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until firm and golden brown. Allow to cool.
- Melt the white chocolate chips in a small bowl over a pan of simmering water until smooth. Pour onto the cooled crust and allow to set.
- When the crust is cooled and set, place all the filling ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Depending on the power of your blender you may need to add a little more lemon juice or soy milk to help things along.
- Pour the filling onto the crust and cover the cheesecake before putting it in the fridge overnight to set. Serve with fresh fruit and a sprig of mint if you’re feeling fancy!