Who doesn’t love a good vegan cheesecake? I have made some raw vegan cheesecakes before but without a dehydrator it is much easier and more cost effective for us to make an almost raw cheesecake. We have included instructions below on how to make it completely raw if you do have a dehydrator or feel like running your convection oven at it’s lowest temperature for 12 hours or more. Athanasia and I were discussing what our last post of the year should be and we decided to make this vegan caramel apple cheesecake. We had not posted any cheesecakes before today so it’s about time we did!

Ingredients for the crust:

• 1 cup (90 grams) of pecans
• 1 cup (129 grams) of blanched almonds
• 10 medjool dates (147 grams without the pits)
• 1/4 cup (50 ml) of water
• 1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan salt

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 6 cups (752 grams) of raw cashews
• 4 Tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
• 2 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 6 Tablespoons of raw organic powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 ml) of water

Ingredients for the caramel (adapted from a recipe we saw from Bamboo Vegan):

• 1 cup of medjool dates  (130 grams without the pits)
• 1/2 cup (100 ml) coconut oil
• 80 ml of water
• 1/4 cup (50 ml) of agave syrup
• 1 cup (130 grams) of raw cashews

Ingredients for the applesauce:

• 500 grams of peeled apple slices
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Instructions for the crust:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160° C (320° F)*
2. Add all ingredients into a high powered blender
3. Blend on a slow speed gradually increasing the speed while using the tamper to push ingredients into the blades
4. Keep blending until a pulsed mixture emerges
5. Push crust down into a pie pan you have coated with vegan butter and make it as even as possible
6. Fork the crust to help it bake evenly
7. Bake in oven for 8 minutes
8. Remove from oven and set aside

*To make this a truly raw vegan dessert: use raw almonds instead of blanched almonds, skip the vegan butter for coconut oil (on the pan) and dehydrate crust rather than baking it!

Instructions for the cheesecake filling:

1. Add all ingredients into a high powered blender
2. Blend on the highest speed using the tamper to keep pushing ingredients into the blades
3. Blend until mixture is as smooth as possible
4. Pour out and discard the excess oil
5. Empty mixture into a bowl and set aside

Instructions for the caramel:

1. Add all ingredients into a high powered blender
2. Blend until completely smooth
3. Empty caramel into a bowl and set aside

Instructions for the applesauce:

1. After you have peeled and sliced the apples add all the ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor.
2. Pulse if using a food processor. Stop every few seconds to scrape the sides of the food processor a bit. If using a high powered blender: blend on a low to medium speed using the tamper to mix it and push apples into the blades.
3. Continue pulsing or blending until only very small chunks of apple remain.
4. Empty applesauce into a bowl or jar, cover and refrigerate until serving the cheesecake.

Instructions for assembling the cheesecake:

1. Spread the cheesecake filling onto the crust as smoothly and evenly as possible.
2. Spread the caramel on top of the cheesecake filling.
3. Place cheesecake in freezer for an hour.
4. Remove from freezer and refrigerate.
5. When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, garnish each slice with some applesauce and enjoy!

Thank you to all of our readers, browsers and trolls for an amazing 2014 and we hope you all have a very safe and happy new year!

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