Strawberry-Rose Vegan Cheesecake

 

This recipe was originally called a white chocolate, strawberry, rose vegan cheesecake, but I found that to be misleading. There isn’t any white chocolate in this! And I know that white chocolate is essentially cocoa butter and sugar, but still, this did not taste at all like white chocolate, so I’m dropping that part. I also found the rose taste very subtle, and since I love rose water, I think you should add more.

I made this cake when my mother-in-law was visiting us; this was perfect because she has coeliac disease, but it’s gluten-free. (And it’s raw, paleo, vegan, lactose-free, etc.) I changed the nuts in the crust too because she also has oral allergy syndrome and reacts to raw almonds, so I used 1 cup of pistachios, ¼ cup of pine nuts, and ¾ cup of walnut pieces (this is purely based on what I had in my pantry at the time – just use what you have). I had to increase the number of dates to 16 for consistency; I also omitted the ½ cup of water entirely from the filling and switched up the garnish. Here is my version, which was lovely! (Sadly, it turns out that my mother-in-law had never tasted rose water before and to her, it tasted strongly of alcohol and she did not like it. But I couldn’t have known that because she didn’t know that. I still thought it was delicious!)


For the crust
2 cups raw almonds (see note above)
½ cup medjool dates, pitted, about 8-10 (see note above)
¼ cup cacao powder
2 Tbsp. cacao nibs

For the cheesecake filling
1 bag frozen strawberries, completely thawed (I used 1 lb. of strawberries)
¾ cup maple syrup, preferably medium or dark (former grade B)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. rose water (see note above)
1 pinch sea salt
3 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained
1 cup melted cacao butter

For the topping
2/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
a sprinkle of organic dried rose petals (I used candied rose petals)


For the crust
Pulse all the crust ingredients in a food processor. Press into a 9-inch springform pan.

For the filling
In a high-speed blender, blend the strawberries, maple syrup, vanilla, rose water, and salt. Once smooth, add the cashews and blend again. Add the cacao butter last and blend one more time.

Pour the filling on top of the crust. Place the cheesecake in the freezer overnight.

For the topping
Take the cheesecake out of the freezer, unmold it, place it on a serving plate, and let it thaw in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Melt the chocolate chips until smooth. Pour the chocolate into a ziploc bag, snip the tip of a corner, and pipe melted chocolate all over the cheesecake. Finish with a sprinkle of rose petals.

To serve, run a sharp knife under very hot water. For pretty slices, rinse it after every cut.