Growing up in Slovenia, my mum always used to bake. She loved being in the kitchen and making us treats. I spent most of my childhood eating cakes most days with sugar, white flour, eggs, and dairy. Back then, no one questioned the health risks associated with all those ingredients. It was the norm to consume them all on a daily basis.
I want to point out to you that I LOVE dessert and I found it reasonably difficult when I first became vegan. I’ve been eating healthy my whole adult life, so have always used only the best quality ingredients and didn’t cook with sugar, bad fats, etc. I did find, however, that it was difficult to bake without eggs. Not having an oven in our current home meant that I couldn’t experiment with it, but I’m loving all the raw desserts that I can make. Once you’ve made a few different ones, you get the hang of the general way of making them. It’s SO easy! All you need is a food processor or high-speed blender and away you go! I love experimenting in the kitchen and not wasting anything that I have. This is how I generally come up with new recipe ideas. See what’s in the fridge and maximise the ingredients to make a delicious meal.
This vegan (almost raw) passionfruit cheesecake recipe can be altered in many ways to use whatever fruit you would like to incorporate. I don’t often buy passionfruit as I don’t have many ideas on how to use it besides adding it to my breakfast bowl, make a coconut ice cream or jelly.
My sister tried this cake and said: “I normally don’t like passionfruit, but this cake is amazing!” This is coming from someone that cooks for a living and is very honest with her feedback. So, naturally when someone says that, you want to share the recipe with the whole world.
I have also shared another great raw cheesecake recipe for all the chocolate-orange lovers out there.
So here it is, simple yet delicious. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
- 3 cups cashews (soaked for 3 hours)
- 6 drops of double strength vanilla extract or ¼ tspn of normal strength
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 2 passion fruits
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut cream
- ¾ cup water
- ½ tsp coconut sugar
- 2-3 grams agar agar
- ½ passionfruit
Instructions
- For the base, place the almonds and dates in a food processor and blend until you can pinch the mixture and it sticks together. This should normally take about 2 minutes.
- Press down the mixture in a 21cm or 8.5" springform cake tin lined with unbleached baking paper. If it's sticking to your fingers, use the back of a silicone spatula or spoon to press it down.
- For the filling, add all ingredients in the food processor and blend for around 3-5 minutes until you reach a creamy smooth consistency.
- Pour on top of the base and place in the freezer for about 1.5-2 hours or until the filling has gone firm.
- While the cake is setting, bring the water, coconut sugar and agar agar to the boil for the jelly in a small saucepan.
- Once boiling, simmer for around 3-4 minutes, stirring. Make sure that the sugar has completely dissolved. (If the packet of agar agar has special instructions, follow them, and then add the sugar and passionfruit.)
- Add in the passionfruit and stir. Let it cool for about 5-7 minutes then pour over the set cake.
- Put it in the fridge to set. This should take no more than 20-30 minutes.
- Serve cold, slicing with a hot knife each slice so that it doesn't stick to the knife.
The total time excludes the soaking of the cashews.
Pretty easy right? This cake is quite rich, so a small slice should be satisfying . What about you? How do you use passionfruit in your recipes?
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Just wondering if the cashews could be substituted for anything else as I can’t eat them? My daughter loves dessert but has recently had to go gluten, dairy and egg free so if
I could fix the cashews she and I would be in heaven
Good question Louise. I personally haven’t tried this recipe with anything else. You may be able to substitute the cashews with silken tofu and add a little more coconut oil. Let us know how you go.
Wondering if you can substitute the almonds for anything else. The only nuts I am allowed are cashews.
You can try substituting the almonds with sunflower seeds and some shredded coconut and see how that turns out. Alternatively, use some cashews again but don’t soak them otherwise it will be too soft. Let me know how you go 🙂
This is genius! I have never thought of making vegan jelly, I can’t wait to try it now! Your pictures are stunning too!
You come across interesting and exciting things when you start experimenting and thinking outside the box 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Ahhh, have to try this! Totally love the pretty plates, too- curious about where you got them… 🙂
Thanks! They are gorgeous, aren’t they? I actually don’t know sorry…I borrowed them from a fellow food photographer friend.
Thanks for this delicious looking recipe; I cannot wait to try it! I’ve got all the ingredients together except the agar agar, which I can’t find where I am currently living… Any thoughts on other thickening agents that are also vegan-friendly? I was thinking maybe to try it with ground chia seeds but I’m afraid it might be more of a jam (liquidy) consistency… What do you think would work best? Cheers and keep up the good work, I love your blog! <3
Hi Maya, I would try chia seeds and a little bit of coconut oil so that when you put it in the fridge it sets the jelly. It will be a different consistency and won’t be clear like agar agar but that would be the best second option. Let me know how you go!
For the filling do you blend the seeds of the passionfruit too?
Hi Amanda, yes you do!