Cashew Cream Cake, By Wendy Ballen

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Cashew Cream Cake

By Wendy Ballen

Ioriginally discovered this recipe on a website called My New Roots by Sarah Britton. It looked wonderful so I tried it out, and it was!! I was raised by two wonderful bakers, my mother Jeanne and my Aunt Maxine. There was never a shortage of cookies and cakes in our house. Birthday cakes were wonderfully embellished with M & M’s and chocolate chips! As a young adult, I became more interested in eating healthy, so instead of baking with white flour, white sugar, and Crisco like my mentors, I learned how to bake with healthier, natural ingredients.

From 1980-1984, I worked as a baker at Staff of Life in Santa Cruz. I specialized in wedding cakes and developed a few cookies and treats still sold there today. Just graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Art, I also had two Cake Art Shows at the Louden Nelson Center in 1982 and 1983. I have made this raw, dairyless cheesecake dozens and dozens of times and have embellished it many different ways. It’s always been a big hit with friends and family!

It takes some patience and effort, but I guarantee it’s worth it!

Dairyless Cashew Cream Cake

Ingredients

Crust 1/2 cup raw almonds (pecan or walnuts will also work) 1/2 cup soft Medjool dates (or dried apricots) ¼ tsp. sea salt

Filling 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 5 hours or overnight Juice of 1 lemon I tsp. vanilla 1/3 cup coconut oil 1/3 cup honey 1/2 cup raspberries (frozen and thawed raspberries work best) 1 oz. melted dark chocolate Garnishes Raspberry Sauce: 1-10 oz. bag of frozen raspberries, thawed. Honey (sweeten to taste) Chocolate sauce: 1 bar of your favorite chocolate Fresh raspberries

Directions

First, put nuts and dates or apricots in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop until they are well processed but still a little bit coarse. The crust mixture should hold together if you squeeze a little with your fingers. Pour the crust into a 7” spring-form pan and press down firmly until the crust is evenly distributed.

Next, combine the honey and coconut oil in a small saucepan. Use medium low heat until they are liquified.

Then drain the soaked cashews. In the most powerful food processor/blender you own, (a Vitamix works best) place the cashew, honey-coconut oil mix, lemon juice, and vanilla, and blend on high until very smooth. If you have a Vitamix, use the tamper tool to help mix the ingredients. This takes a few minutes to get smooth.

After that, pour about 1/3 of the mixture into a small bowl. Add 2 oz. of melted chocolate and blend it thoroughly. With a spatula, transfer the chocolate cashew cream onto the crust and smooth with the spatula.

Take another third of the remaining vanilla cashew cream out and carefully add it on top of the chocolate layer.

Add 1/2 cup of thawed raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour on top the vanilla layer of filling and smooth it out.

Cover the spring-form pan with a piece of Saran Wrap. Place a piece of foil over the top and seal it well. Place in the freezer until solid.

Raspberry Sauce

Put the bag of thawed raspberries in a blender and blend until smooth.

I like to pour the blended berries into a fine mesh wire strainer and press with a wooden spoon to remove the seeds. It’s not necessary but makes a very smooth sauce. This mixture will be a little tart, so add honey or your preferred sweetener to taste.

Chocolate Sauce

Break up a 3 oz. chocolate bar and place it in a heatproof bowl. Bring about an inch of water to a simmer in a saucepan. Set the heatproof bowl over the saucepan, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the chocolate until melted. Make sure not to get any water into the chocolate mixture.

To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating. Run a smooth, sharp knife around the edges before opening up the springform pan. With the spring-form bottom intact, transfer the cake to a serving dish.

Garnishing

Drizzle some of the chocolate sauce over the top of the cake in an interesting pattern. Take the fresh raspberries and dip the bottom of each one in chocolate, and place them around the edge of the pie.

Use a sharp knife to cut into wedges. Serves about 12-14 people, as it is very rich.

Pour some of the raspberry sauce on the plate. Gently transfer a wedge of the cake onto the sauce. Feel free to add more of the chocolate sauce. Enjoy! n