Raw Vegan Cranberry Apple Cheesecake

Our Thanksgiving dessert was delicious:

I started with a recipe I found online. That recipe didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, but I was able to rescue it by making some adjustments.

I made too many changes in the middle of creating this cheesecake to feel comfortable posting a recipe yet, since I would only be guessing what I added and in what amounts. 

I can tell you the basics:

Crust: Almonds and dates

Filling: Cheesecake with just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves

Topping: Cinnamon, apples, cranberries, almond crumble 

Yum! 

Just writing about it makes me want to go eat one of the slices still in the freezer.

I don't have step-by-step photos of the dessert-making process, but I'll describe it, and post photos of the finished product. Warning: you may be hungry by the end of this post ; )

The week before, I dehydrated the (organic) cranberries: 

Aren't they beautiful? It was super easy, too. Just note: cranberry juice stains EVERYTHING it touches. Such as your cutting board, the dehydrator tray, a ceramic knife, your clothes if you are not wearing an apron... 

The cheesecake crust is simply almonds and dates processed in the food processor until crumbly. Reserve about 1/3 cup of the crust mixture for the topping, then press the remaining crust mixture into a 9" springform pan 

The filling is super simple. Most raw cheesecake recipes start with soaked cashews as a base. I followed the recipe I'd found online, but I was not happy with the taste or texture. A note here: a Vitamix really does make a huge difference. The original recipe suggested processing in a food processor, and I tried that. The mixture just does not get smooth enough. No matter how long I processed, it still had little pieces of cashew in it. Not good.

So, I put the mixture in the Vitamix, added a little filtered water, gave it a 20-second whirl, and it turned out perfectly smooth and creamy, as a cheesecake filling should be! Mmmm.

The taste was still not right, however. So I added some ingredients, added some more cashews, and played around with the flavor until it resembled a fall-spiced cheesecake. Yum!

Next step: pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan, tap to remove any air bubbles, cover, and put in the freezer to firm up.

While the cheesecake was chilling, I peeled and cored 3 Honeycrisp apples. I sliced the apples super-thin with the mandoline, and dehydrated about 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, the apples were warm and soft, not fully dehydrated (which would have made them crispy or chewy). I tossed with agave and cinnamon, and quickly realized we would need more apples to cover the top of the cheesecake (I think that's because I used a 9" pan, while the original recipe used a 6" pan). So, I repeated with 2 more Honeycrisp apples. Then tossed all of the semi-dehydrated apples with about 2/3 cup of the dried cranberries, agave, cinnamon, and the reserved crust mixture, and voila! Cranberry-apple topping. Yum. Just place mixture on top of the cheesecake. When ready to serve, remove the springform.

Can you believe that this is a healthy, living food? It is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar free- but so sinfully rich, you would never know it.

(You know, I usually want pecan pie for Thanksgiving, but I just realized, I didn't even miss it!)

Here are some links to the health benefits of:

Cashew

Almond

Vanilla

Cinnamon

Cloves

Nutmeg

Apple

Cranberry

Cashew Butter

The other day, I was tired of cooking, and just wanted something that was already made. So I purchased this cashew butter at Whole Foods:

I thought I had bought it before. Even so, I always try to double check the ingredients, because things change. But when I got home, I noticed this: 

Sigh. 

I am very sensitive to sunflower, and safflower seems to have a similar effect. So, the $7.99 jar of cashew butter will be going back to Whole Foods. Good thing I didn't open it yet.

So, I made my own cashew butter, and thought I'd share the top secret recipe with you. 

Are you ready for this? Because it's kindof complicated.

Grab a pencil and paper... here it is...

Cashew Butter Recipe:

Cashews. Salt. Food processor. 

Hahaha- did you think there would be more to it? Heehee.

Nut butters are SO easy. You can use raw nuts or roasted nuts. I do not understand why manufacturers add oils to nut butters. You don't need to do that. If you keep processing them in the food processor, they release their own oils, and they turn into butter just fine. Sheesh.

Here is my cashew butter. I used about a cup of raw cashews (unsoaked) and a pinch of himalayan salt. I used a mini-prep food processor from the 1970s, so that shows you do not need any fancy equipment to make nut butter at home.

Try it using any kind of nuts you like. You can also add ingredients such as honey, cinnamon, maple, or chocolate, for a gourmet nut butter that costs next to nothing when you make it yourself.

Enjoy!