...is still a sweet treat to behold and enjoy. Why cannot anyone have their cake and eat it too. Pregnant and avoiding soft cheese, vegan, raw foodist, or cheesecake purist... try one of these and be sure to fall in lust.
Traditional Itallian Ricotta Cheesecake
1 kg homemade paneer cheese, make with unhomeginised biodynamic milk
250 grams biodynamic creamy yogurt, unhomeginised greek works well
250 grams raw sugar, or evaporated cane juice
4 700g eggs
1.5 lemons or oranges, juiced and zested
flavouring of choice, rasins soaked in brandy, sour cherries, glace fruits
Crust
1 pack glutenfree, all butter, biscuits, or tea biscuits
2 tablespoons butter
Vegan Baked Cheesecake
1 pack silken tofu
250 grams cashews, soaked in hot water overnight
1 tablespoon cornflour
250 grams raw sugar or maple syrup or agave syrup
1.5 lemons or oranges, juiced and zested
Crust
1 pack vegan, glutenfree biscuits
2 tablespoons almond butter, or needed
Raw Food Cashewcake
1 kg raw cashews, soaked in warm water overnight
250 mills avage syrup or maple syrup
2 tablespoons phsylium husks, or as needed
1.5 lemons or oranges, zuiced and zested
Crust
250 grams walnuts
200 grams fresh dates
For the Italian Cheesecake, puree the paneer in a blender with the yogurt. Scraping down to make it as smooth as possible. Add the lemon juice and zest and blend further. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and add to the cheese.
Blend the cookies with the butter to make the crust. Line a springform cake pan with butter and baking paper.
Add the flavourings to the cheese and pour into the crust. Bake at 160oC for 1 hour and leave in the oven with the door ajar for 2 hours. Cool on the bench and serve when room temperature or fridge cold.
To make you own paneer cheese: bring 1-4 litres of milk to the boil in a large pot. I use unhomeginised biodynamic milk, but you can use anything from goat or sheep milk to possibly even soy. When it is boiling add 1 cup of live yogurt or 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon/lime juice. Stir and take of the heat. If it does not split completely add more acidulate and heat while stirring until you have snow white solids and clear, green tinged liquid. Strain the solids in a sieve, strainer or in muslin cloth. Leave to strain and cool. For a firm cheese press the solids into a firmer block of later sliceable and fryable cheese. For cheesecake simply let strain and use immediately or refrigerate and use within 4-5 days. Or freeze.
For the Vegan Cheesecake, blend the cashews with the tofu and lemon. Add the sugar when smooth.
If simply dairy free add 3 eggs and blend further.
Make the crust in a similar fashion to the Italian, using almond butter as needed. Spread into a lined tin and pour in the mixture. Bake as above.
For the Raw Food Cashewcake. Blend the walnuts with the dates and line a cake tin or small muffin tins. Turn out and dry in a dehydrator overnight until crisp.
Blend the cashews with the syrup and lemon juice as needed. Blend and scrape, blend and scrape until smoothe. Add water or almond milk if needed.
Add the phsyllium husks bit by bit to the blender until it starts to set. Pour into the prepared shell and leave to set on its own.
Enjoy!
Notes:
I have made all three of these with fantastic success. I hope you have as much fun as I have.
I know that they are a little rough as far as recipes go, more guidelines than strict rules, but I have tried to be as accurate to my original quantities as possible.
For me baking sweets and cakes is more about how you feel at the time, how sweet you want it, how rich... I find I cannot cook when I am hungry and don't want to eat what I create when I am not. So I like to cook cakes, like cheesecakes that take a long time, much waiting around for them to cool and then are best the next day! With lots of tea.
