Apple Cranberry “Cheesecake”
Needing to come up with a menu for a raw food dessert class that I recently taught, I decided to whip up a “cheesecake” recipe. It was actually pretty easy. And taste? The class was blown away. The crust is almonds and dates, and the base of the “cheesecake” is cashews! Don’t worry, I added apples and dried cranberries for that hit of fruit. The result? A healthy, tasty dessert that will be completely at home on your Thanksgiving or Holiday table. The consensus of the class is that non-raw people would never guess that this is raw, vegan or healthy!
Don’t be intimidated by this one, one serving is equivalent to only eating 1/4 C cashews and 1/8 C of almonds! Cashews are a good source of protein, fiber and also potassium, B vitamin, foliate, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and copper.
Apple Cranberry "Cheesecake"
SERVES 8
Crust
- 1 cup almonds
- 4 dates, soaked until soft with pit removed
Topping
- 3 apples, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1/4 cup agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons coconut butter
- 1/3 cup crust
Filling
- 2 cups cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup coconut butter (softened in dehydrator)
- 1/4 cup agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Read Through This Recipe Before Beginning
- 2 hours before: Combine apples, agave and cinnamon. Place on non-stick dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 116 for 2 hours, stirring once during dehydration.
- Make crust: Place almonds in food processor. Process until finely ground. Add dates, process until well mixed. Set aside 1/3 cup of the crust. Press remaining into spring form pan. I used a 6″ for this recipe. You may have extra crust. Place in refrigerator.
- Make Filling: Combine all ingredients in food processor. Process until smooth. This will take a bit. Pat over crust and return to refrigerator.
- Finish Topping: Combine dehydrated apples, dried cranberries, coconut butter and 1/3 cup crust. Press over top of cheesecake. Return to refrigerator and chill for 2 hours before serving. Slice with sharp knife.
Sharon Porter wrote on January 17, 2012
I tried this recipe. It is delicious, but I was wondering if the almonds are soaked and dehydrated first or just raw soaked almonds. My crust was not what I thought it should be.
Marie Tashkoff wrote on January 16, 2012
I’m sold on the appearance! I’m sold on the ingredients! Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Lynda wrote on December 8, 2011
Neither cashews (ever) nor almonds in North America are raw. Google and you will see much on this.
Susan wrote on December 9, 2011
Actually you can find raw almonds in North America. Many coops will import they from Spain, and they are available on-line and also at farmer’s markets in places where they are grown. You can google unpasturized almonds and you will find quite a few places that carry truly raw almonds.
Navitis Naturals carries raw cashews. They use a low heat extraction process that preserves the enzymes.
Nelda Elaine wrote on November 27, 2011
Susan, what a beautiful cheesecake!!! I love it!!!! Easy to make……thank you for sharing your delectable recipes! Gracias! Nelda Elaine – Texas
Morgan wrote on October 17, 2011
I made this today for a friends birthday cake and it was SOO GOOD. Probably the best thing I’ve ever made and it was incredibly easy. I didn’t use dried cranberries though because I didn’t want any processed sugar. I replaced Agave nectar with Stevia and put a little extra vanilla. It was so beautiful. Try it!
osei wrote on September 4, 2011
I have been preparing raw, baked, and cooked vegan foods since 1978. I must tell you that your recipes are quite good. As a thickening agent to help the cashews, you may want to try some irish moss (sea moss). You can get it at most good fruit stands in NY or wherever Caribbean people live. Soak the seamoss (1- 2oz pack) overnight after washing the salt out and cleaning it thoroughly. Depending on the quality, thick is better; put the seamoss in to a small bowl and add water to barely cover it, place it in your dehydrator @115-145º for 2-4 hours or until it dissolves and thickens. Stir it every hour. Blend until it is all smooth and refrigerate. I gets really thick when it sets. Combine with cashews and coconut butter and set. A smoothe creamy filling is the result. Enjoy!
Ruby wrote on August 8, 2011
Thank you so much for posting such wonderful recipes! You certainly don’t have to, and yet it benefits everyone who reads them! I’ve tried already a few recipes from this site and they are all absolutely delicious! I’m very grateful. This cheesecake looks so flipping good, I think I’ll make this tomorrow!
Tricia wrote on July 17, 2011
You’re dessert recipes look delicious!
I was wondering if it would be possible to substitute honey for agave syrup?
Thanks!
Susan wrote on July 17, 2011
You can try but I haven’t made it that way so I don’t know. You can find good, healthy agave. Xagave is one of them. It is raw, organic and a very excellent product.
Victoria wrote on July 3, 2011
I made this recently and it was a smashing success! Everyone was very surprised that it was a raw dessert.
Thank you so much for creating this!