Almost Raw Vegan Peach Cheesecake

The weather is cooling and fall has crept in.  Usually it waits for Labor Day weekend. But not this year.  Even though it's sunny the mornings and evenings have been much cooler.  The peaches are done, I have the jars of sliced peaches, some dried and in the freezer, and then some just frozen and ready for smoothies or a quick cobbler in November. It was a tasty job. I've had peaches for dinner a couple nights this week. I'll be putting up tomatoes next, some this weekend and the rest next weekend.  The garden has been going pretty well too. The other night while watering I had a cucumber, a small ear of corn, and some peas for dinner. My kind of fast food, just wash and eat. I just love the availability of fresh food at harvest time.

Almost Raw Vegan Peach Cheesecake

 I'm pretty happy with the peach cheesecake I made Tuesday night. This is almost an original recipe so I've got to write it down so I can make it again. The texture of the cheesecake filling was perfect. I call it "almost raw" because I baked a spelt flour and cardamom crust. It was crisp and crumbly all at the same time. I used a couple recipes I'd made before as a base. For the crust I began a Vegan Fusion recipe from a cheese cake in The Vegan Fusion World Cuisine.

I made a couple of changes to it which is highly encouraged in the Vegan Fusion cookbooks.  The filling I made up myself from experience making vegan cheesecakes.  It is really fun now that I can just create something without consulting a recipe sometimes.  I do have to write it down so I can make it again though.  This blog has come in very handy for that.

I made some vegan cream cheese ahead of time.  It's a very easy blend.

2 cups raw cashews soaked for two hours or more
1/2 cup vegan soy yogurt
1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend all together until smooth in  a high speed blender or food processor.  Place mixture in a large mason jar or glass bowl and cover with saran wrap.  Place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 24-48 hours until the desired thickness.  This cheese will last in a covered container in your refrigerator for up to three weeks.

Crust Dry:

2 C spelt flour
1/4 C Coconut Sugar
1 TB Arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Crust Wet:

1/3 C Coconut Oil, melted
2 TB Stevia Syrup*
2 TB Apple Juice, fresh (I used some of the applesauce I canned last summer.)
1 tsp Almond extract

Sift together dry ingredients, blend wet ingredients in separate bowl.  Mix the wet into the dry and mix until crumbly and dough slightly sticks together.  Press into a 9" pie pan and bake at 350º for about 15-20 minutes until it just starts to brown and you can smell the cardamom and almond.  Take out of oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

*Stevia Syrup - 3/4 cup fresh stevia, packed
1 pint filtered water

Combine Stevia and water in pint jar.  Allow to chill 24 hours.  Sift stevia out of liquid. Store in airtight container up to two weeks.

While the crust is cooling prepare the filling.

1 cup vegan cashew cream cheese (above)
1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice and zest from two lemons
2 cups fresh peaches, sliced or chopped
2 TB raw agave, or to taste
1 TB Agar powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water, cooled slightly
 
Blend all in the blender until smooth.

Pour into cooled pie crust and allow to cool for a couple hours.  After the cheesecake has set and thickened it's ready for the peach puré topping.

Peach Puré Topping

4 Medjool dates, soaked for 30 minutes
1-2 cup fresh peaches chopped
1/2 TB Agar powder dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water, cooled slightly

Pour onto cooled cheesecake and return to refrigerator to set.  Garnish with fresh peaches and toasted almonds.

My husband liked it so much he thought I should make it for our Vegan/Vegetarian potluck tomorrow night.  Not a bad idea!

Enjoy.

Vegan Blueberry Cheezcake

This is one of my favorite vegan cheezcake recipes for the Vegan World Fusion Cuisine cookbook.  I've made this for non veggies and didn't mention there was no cheese in it until it was enjoyed by all. I only made a couple changes.  I used 1 12 oz. package of firm tofu and one container of Tofutti, Better than Cream Cheese instead of the 2 lbs of tofu in the recipe. I adjusted the liquids as it blended for the right consistency. I also used coconut milk instead of the soy milk.

Shaka's Vegan Cheezcake 
      Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

Filling:

2 lb Tofu, firm
1 C Sucanat
1/2 cup soy milk
1.2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 1/2 TB Arrowroot powder
2 TB Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

Crust Dry:

2 C spelt flour
1/4 C Sucanat
1 TB Arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Crust Wet:

1/3 C Safflower Oil
2 TB Maple Syrup
2 TB Apple Juice, fresh (I used some of the applesauce I canned last summer.)
1 tsp Vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  For crust, place dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix well.  Place wet ingredients in another bowl amd mix well.  Add wet to dry, mixing well with hands, crumbling the ingredients together repeatedly.  Press into the bottom of a 10" spring form pan.  Bake for 5 minutes.  (I used a ten inch pie plate this time.)
    
2. Place all filling ingredients in a large blender and blend until smooth  Pour on top of crust and bake for 1 hour or until top turns  golden brown and center does not jiggle too much.  Allow to cool before running knife around the edge and removing from the spring form pan.

For the topping I just took the blueberries, about 1 lb, a cup of sparkling apple juice, 1/3 cup sucanat, 11/2 TB lemon juice, a dash of cinnamon powder and heated it all in a small saucepan until it started to boil.  I added about 21/2 tablespoons of Agar flakes to the mixture and let it simmer until it was dissolved, stirring constantly.  Since it was so cold outside, I just put it into a bowl and set in on our deck on the table to chill.  After it was completely cooled and thickened, I poured it on the cooled cheezcake.

Enjoy!

Dairy Free - Lemon, Pinneapple, and Mango Creme Pie

I have been thinking about lemon meringue pie, I used to love it. It is one of my favorite flavors. I had planned on making one yesterday and started looking for alternatives for a healthier version. Lemon Meringue Pie really is just sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice. The Meringue is egg whites and sugar. I really don't want to eat egg whites or that much sugar. Even one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks I have asked for 1½ cups of sugar for the filling and 1/2 cup + 1 tsp cornstarch. I need to change that and get the same or similar flavors. I used a little honey and agave, but then there is the volume to make up so I added more fruit. Before you know it, I had a tropical fruit pie. This is also a raw food, there wasn't any cooking except to dissolve the agar powder.

Crust

I made the crust with 1½ cups raw almonds soaked for an hour or more and 6 medjool dates and about a tablespoon of agave. Blend almonds, dates, and agave together in food processor until there is a mold-able texture. Sprinkle coconut shreds or flakes on the bottom of a pie plate and mold into a crust in the pie pan.

Filling

1 cup raw cashews soaked for an hour or more
3/4 cup coconut milk, more or less depending on texture
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice and zest from two lemons
A small pineapple chopped, chop about 1 cup into bite size and set aside
2 mangos, 1 for the blender, 1 diced into bite size pieces and set aside with pineapple
2 TB Local Honey, or to taste
1 TB Agar powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water, cooled slightly

Put all the ingredients above in the blender except the chunks of pineapple and mango and the dissolved Agar powder. Puree until smooth and then add to chunks of fruit in large bowl, stir in dissolved Agar. Pour into pie crust. The pie filling will set in a very short time in the refrigerator.

Tofu Whipped Topping
"The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook," page 101

1 cup soft tofu
1/4 cup oil (I used sunflower oil)
2 TB honey, preferably local
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla  (I used fresh vanilla bean, scrape insides)
dash of salt

Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping sides of blender. Whip a little just before serving if needed.

This pie is very similar to our daily smoothie, blended fruit. The addition of the raw cashews and almonds add fiber and protein. This is a meal, not just dessert. We had it for breakfast this morning.