When I first got seriously into raw vegan food, it was about 2009. Funnily enough I had already been eating a very high raw diet for a few years already, but you know, the simple stuff. Lots of fruits and salads. That kind of stuff.
And then I dived right in to a 100% raw food diet in 2009 and of course, that inspired me to get cracking on some proper raw recipes.
And the first time I made a raw cheesecake, I think I actually did swoon. Now I was recently reading about how ridiculous it is to ever write the word ‘swoon’ in reference to food. And I guess I sort of agree, but in this case, I think I did swoon. At least a little bit. Let’s call it a mini swoon.
Because that first raw cheesecake (much the same recipe as this cheesecake below by the way), was so damn good it deserved a swoon.
But that was in the days when I thought if it was RAW, it meant you could eat as much of it as you could ever fit in your body and it would be FINE! Hehehehe, that isn’t quite right. Just because it’s raw doesn’t mean you should eat the whole pie.
But actually I’ll shut up now, if you wanna eat the whole pie – you go girl (or guy!). Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t! You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. 
This raw strawberry cheesecake is 3 layers of pure heaven. It’s ridiculously rich, but in a seriously good way, in the ‘I can’t believe how good this is’ sort of way.
Every layer is pure decadent delight. Smooth, creamy, sweet with just enough tartness and kick from fresh lemons blended with cashews to give it that fabulous cheesecake flavor.
Now, a lot of people use coconut oil in raw cheesecake recipes. And sometimes I do too. Coconut oil is great for raw desserts because it helps them to set more firmly.
But in this particular raw cheesecake, I left it out. I decided there was enough good fat in this cheesecake to last a week, and since it has to be kept cold anyway, it sets pretty well even without the coconut oil.
But should you feel inspired to, then just add in 1/4 cup of coconut oil to the ‘cheese’ part of the recipe, and 2 tablespoons to the topping.
Otherwise just go ahead exactly as I have below!
The best way to get it to set is to put it in the freezer until it has set completely, but thereafter you can keep it in the coldest part of your refrigerator where it keeps perfectly well for a few days. Alternatively if you want it to keep even longer than that, then slice it up and return to the freezer. You’ll need to thaw out your slice every time before you can eat it, but it’ll keep for weeks this way.
So, let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment! And if you’ve made it, rate it and let us know how it went! Take a photo too and tag it #lovingitvegan on instagram so we can get excited over your fabulous homemade raw cheesecake too!
- For the Crust:
- 1 cup (134g) Macadamias
- 1 cup (129g) Cashews
- 1 cup (145g) Pitted Dates
- For the Filling (Cheese):
- 2 cups (258g) Cashews (soaked for at least 1 hour)
- Juice of 2 Lemons
- 2 tsp (10ml) Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup (120ml) Date Honey or Maple Syrup
- For the Topping:
- 1 cup (129g) Cashews (soaked for at least an hour)
- 1.5 cups (200g) Whole Strawberries
- Juice of ½ Lemon
- 2-4 Tbsp (30-60ml) Date Honey or Maple Syrup
- For the Decoration:
- Sliced Strawberries
- Add the macadamias, cashews and pitted dates to the food processor and process on the S blade until a sticky dough has formed.
- Scoop out into a greased 8 inch springform pan and pat down until smooth.
- Place into the freezer to set while you make the filling.
- Place the 2 cups of pre-soaked (at least an hour) cashews along with the lemon juice, vanilla and date honey or maple syrup and blend until smooth.
- Pour this over the crust, smooth out with a spatula and return to the freezer.
- Allow this to set fairly firmly before you prepare your topping.
- When you're ready to make the topping, add the soaked cashews, fresh strawberries, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp date honey or maple syrup to the blender and blend until smooth. Taste test to see if it's reached the desired sweetness (the sweetness will depend on the sweetness of the strawberries), if not, then add more date honey/maple syrup and blend again.
- Pour this over the 'cheese' layer and return to the freezer to set solidly.
- When completely set, slice up fresh strawberries and serve.
- If you're going to consume it within a few days, you can keep it in the coldest part of your refrigerator, but if you would like to keep it longer, then slice it and keep it in the freezer in a freezer safe container, and thaw out only as much as you wish to eat, when you're ready to eat it.
- It will keep for weeks in the freezer.
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I wish someone would make this for me at least once a month!
Looks as good as your gluten free chocolate cake. I bet it tastes as good too
Hi! What did you “grease” the pan with?
Hi Michelle! I used coconut oil. Pretty much always use coconut oil for greasing. 🙂
Awesome! Just bought my pans buying my ingredients now! Thank you!
Great! Hope it turns out fabulously! 🙂
I made this in a high-speed blender, and the crust turned into a nut butter. It also got cooked because the blender was working so hard. I think next time I need to try and find a food processor. I think I’ll cut the crust in half, though. It came out really thick, and the filings went over the top. I wonder if maybe I used a smaller pie tin. I used parchment paper instead of greasing it. Came out very tasty, though
Hi Amber, the crust definitely would work better in a food processor. But if doing it in the blender, you could just pulse blend, and watch it carefully so that it doesn’t start turning into nut butter. And then maybe you have a 7 inch pie tin. The spring form pan I used for this recipe is 8 inches. So glad it was tasty though! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Hi,
I love this cake! I made it a couple times, and it looks amazing, but unfortunately, it starts melting very quickly, and the beautiful cake turns into a mess on a plate… What am I doing wrong?
Hi Mira! Are you keeping it in the fridge inbetween serving? It definitely does melt, which is why it has to stay in the fridge or freezer. If you are already doing that and it’s still melting, then I would recommend adding in some coconut oil, the recipe stays the same, just add in 1/4 cup coconut oil to the ‘cheese’ part of the cheesecake and 2 Tbsp to the topping. This helps it stay firm but it will still need to live in the fridge inbetween servings. All the best and let me know if this sorts out the problem! 🙂
Thank you so much, Alison! I will try the coconut oil!
Weird question…do you drain the cashews and then put just the cashews into the food processor or do you put the water mix in as well… I am new to cooking and just wanted to clarify
Hi Donna, definitely throw out the water. So soak them, then drain and rinse the cashews and only put the cashews into the blender, none of the water.
Hiii can i use frozen strawberries?
Fresh is best in this case as when you’re blending with the cashews you need the water from the strawberries to create enough liquid, if the strawberries are frozen that won’t happen, which means you would need to add extra liquid and that would affect the outcome.
I made this for some guest we had over or dinner. This is an amazing tasting desert.
Re only changes I made, I added more strawberries as well as a addition of coconut milk to strawberry layer. I wanted Strawberry layer more tart than the vanilla layer. I also made some raw chocolate and drizzled over the whole top.
Amazing!
Sounds fantastic Tiffany! Thanks for posting!
Hey Alison
I just stumbled upon this recipe and am so excited to try this weekend for a mothers day treat. I am wondering based on the comments I have read about it melting if the use of agar powder would help it set? Any ideas on this? I did read the comment about using coconut oil but I was trying to think of a way that didn’t add extra fat to the recipe. Whats your take on agar agar powder and how one might add to the recipe?
Thank you so much!
Hi Felicia, my only experience using agar agar is in a jello and it needed to be boiled first. So I don’t know how it would exactly work here. As long as you serve this straight out of the fridge, you shouldn’t have any issues with it melting. It should be exactly like mine, which as you can see isn’t all that melty. A little bit, but it’s hot as heck where I live! All the best!