Raw vegan lemon cranberry cheesecake

MY favourite thing about this recipe is the gorgeous, lush, pink colour and decadent creamy texture. But the real selling point of this raw vegan cheesecake is how easy it is to make!

Simply defrost this cake an hour before you are ready to serve it and devour! But take note: because this cheesecake has a lot of coconut oil in it, it shouldn’t be left out for too long or it will gradually melt and become an oily cheesecake smoothie!

I love to serve this cheesecake with raw vegan vanilla cashew cream or almond cream and a sprinkle of lemon zest. A simple dessert that anyone can prepare!

Crust ingredients

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 2 cups chopped pitted dates
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Filling ingredients

• 3 cups raw cashews soaked for two hours
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup organic unrefined coconut oil
• 3/4 cup raw agave
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp alcohol free vanilla extract
• pinch Celtic sea salt

Place the almonds, dates and cacao powder in your food processor and whizz until well combined.

Roll this mixture into a ball (you might need a few more dates).

Grease a 23cm springform cake tin with coconut oil.

Press the crust into the bottom of the tin and set aside.

Place all of the filling ingredients into the blender and blend until rich and creamy.

Tweak flavours to taste. You might want some more sweetener or lemon zest. Note: this is quite tart.

Pour the filling into the tin.

Cover this tin with aluminium foil and place in the freezer for at least five to 12 hours.

Before serving, allow the cake to defrost for an hour and then place in the fridge.

Note: because of the coconut oil, this cheesecake will melt if left out in the heat.

To serve, remove cake from tin, cut into slices and serve with raw cashew cream and lemon zest.

This delicious recipe was provided by Tess Masters, The Blender Girl, who knows all about the fine art of cooking with a blender for whizz-bang results. You can find out more at Healthy Blender Recipes.