Vegan lemon cheesecake

I’ve been meaning to try a vegan cheesecake recipe for a while, I was just not sure if my food processor would survive, but it did! This “cheesecake” is interesting because it is raw, has no refined sugar and is GF. The sweetness is only coming from the dates, and it doesn’t require any type of cooking/baking.
I decided to serve it with a strawberry coulis – which contains refined sugar and is cooked! – because I had some strawberries in my freezer and also, it’s a great combination with the lemon. The candied lemon zests are cooked and contain sugar too so you can simply skip this part and serve the cheesecake with some fresh berries if you want to keep the dessert raw and sugar free.
The recipe is from a french blogger – Blooming Nolwenn – go check her out, her blog is both in french and english!

Vegan lemon cheesecake
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup almond flour 125 g
- 1 cup dates soak them in warm water for about 15 minutes if they are too dry
- 1 lemon, zests organic
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops almond extract
Filling
- 2 cups cashews 260 g – soaked overnight
- 14 oz can coconut milk keep in the fridge overnight and use only the hard part
- 2 lemons, juice
- 1 lemon, zests
- 4 dates soaked if needed
- ½ tsp turmeric
Candied lemon zests
- 1 lemon
- 3 pinch salt
- ⅔ cup water 150 ml
- ¾ cup sugar 150 g
Prepare the ring by placing it on a baking tray lined up with parchment paper. Use an acetate collar for the side, if you don’t have any, spray the ring with oil and stick a strip of parchment paper to it.
Make the crust by putting all the ingredients in a food processor and mix until it forms a dough. Press it in the bottom of the ring with wet hands.

Refrigerate while you’re making the filling.
Strain the cashews and put all the ingredients in the food processor, mix for a few minutes, until you get a smooth cream.
Pour the cream in the ring, and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. Then refrigerate.
For the candied lemon zests, peel the lemon and slice the peels lengthwise.

Put the lemon zests in a small pot, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and strain. Repeat this process two more times.
The reason why we’re blanching the zests is to make them softer and remove some of the bitterness.

Make a syrup by boiling the water with the sugar, and add the lemon zests once the sugar is dissolved. Cook for about 30 minutes on low heat.
Strain and garnish the top of the cheesecake.
Serve with fresh berries or a coulis!
