38 COOKERY
13 MAY 2021
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Vegan Banana ‘Cheese Cake’ You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy this cake. Sweetened with dates and over ripe bananas this has an amazing delicate flavour. Plan ahead – you will need two frozen bananas – freeze with the skins on – and the nuts need overnight soaking. Preparation Time: 30 minutes plus 30 minutes fridge time, 8 hours to soak cashew nuts plus 1 hour to set. Cooking Time: No Cooking Serves: 8
Another delicious recipe from Denise Phillips For more recipes and inspiration visit my website: www.jewishcookery.com
Ingredients Base 175g soft dried dates 150g raw unsalted cashews 100g dried banana chips – soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes 3 tablespoons coconut oil Pinch salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon Cheesecake 350g raw unsalted cashews (soaked in water for 8 hours) 50ml coconut oil 2 frozen bananas – defrost and remove skin 100ml maple syrup 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon chia seeds Pinch of salt Topping 75g melted chocolate, banana chips and chopped walnuts For the Base Method - For the Base 1. Pour boiling water over the dried dates and banana chips and leave for 5 minutes to soften. Drain 2. Add the dates, dried bananas and cashews to a food processor and blend for a few minutes until a sticky, crumbly mixture is formed. 3. Melt the coconut oil then add it to the date and cashew mixture along
with the rest of the base ingredients. Give everything another quick whizz. 4. Transfer the mixture into an 22cm cake tin lined with parchment paper and press down using a spatula or your fingers. 5. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. For the Cheesecake Filling 1. You need to soak your cashews for at least 8 hours in water for a creamier texture. 2. Drain and rinse the cashews then add them to your blender/food processor along with the rest of the cheesecake filling ingredients. 3. Blend on high speed for a few minutes or until the mixture is completely smooth. 4. Take the base out of the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture on top. 5. Return to the fridge and leave it to chill for a few hours or until completely set. 6. Decorate with melted chocolate, dried bananas chips and chopped nuts.
Vegan Cheesecake – Something for Everyone
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BY DENISE PHILLIPS
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For many Jews Shavout is best known as the ‘Cheesecake festival’. With the rise in recent years of people avoiding dairy for health and allergy reasons, I have been considering their options. Whether you are dairy or lactose intolerant or following a vegan diet there is no reason for you to be excluded from the ‘cheesecake experience’. Traditionally cheesecake has three stages – base, filling and topping. Each is quite different in taste and texture but still should complement the others. The base can be made using shortcrust pastry made with non-dairy margarine. This can be enriched with a spoon of non-dairy yoghurt. Other bases can be made with crushed vegan cookies and coconut oil, chopped nuts with pureed dates or other dried fruits, oats mixed
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with plant-based milk or a thin layer of dark chocolate and nuts. On to your filling – ‘creamy’ is the key texture. Soak macadamia or cashew nuts overnight and blend until smooth with coconut cream and vanilla. Vegan cream cheese with coconut oil, lemon juice and flour is another ‘cheese’ filling. Use maple syrup, apple puree, vegan jellies, agave nectar, bananas, peanut butter, caramel sauce and fruit purees to sweeten and thicken. The most important thing to remember is that your filling needs to be well blended – no lumps at all – to ensure a smooth luxurious cake. The topping should sit easily with the rest of the cake. Try fresh fruit, fruit purees, melted chocolate, caramelized nuts, cocoa powder, coffee icing drizzle, vegan toffees, or sweets; these can be used alone or added to the non-dairy cream cheese or non-dairy yoghurt. Tahini, icing sugar and non-dairy cream cheese makes a great halva tasting finish. As you can see nobody has to miss out on a truly delicious Shavuot! Chag Sameach Above is my recipe for a vegan Banana Cheesecake.
