Ok. My picture for this might not be the best, but it really is no reflection on how awesome this tastes. It proper tastes like a full fat, creamy, coconutty, sumptuous cheesecake and the best bit….it involves no cooking. Yes, it’s raw. I’m not a raw food expert (yet) but, the sheer mention of raw food, seems to have people running for the hills, apart from my faithful food testing husband ( or the “monkeyboy” as he is known). Every dish I make seems to be his favourite, like ever.
The other thing that seems to scare people off, is when you tell them it’s vegan. They seem to think vegan equals dull and tasteless and nothing could be further from the truth. So, I’ve basically decided not to divulge such information until people have devoured the lot and asked for seconds, and watch their faces change! This one I did actually make specially for monkeychops. It was his birthday, he loves coconut and to be honest I couldn’t be bothered dusting down the kitchen-aid to whizz up some cake mixture. Recipe makes 4-6 small tarts, depending on sizes of tins and how thick you like the base.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
- 1 cup of pitted dates (the stones don’t taste so good)!
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Coconut vanilla cream 1 can of full fat coconut milk refrigerated for several hours.
- Seeds from vanilla pod or a tsp on vanilla extract (whatever you have)
- Pinch of sugar or drop of agave or maple syrup
- Fresh berries for the top.
Construction:Cover your dates with water and soak for a few hours to soften (the longer the are soaked the easier they are to blend), but you might not always have the time.Blend the nuts for a few minutes until they become like a chunky flour. How fine you get it, really depends on how good your blender is. Add in the dates and vanilla and whizz until it resembles a crumbly dough. Press base mixture into small tart cases lined with baking paper and bung in the fridge.Take the chilled coconut milk out of the fridge and carefully scoop out the separated solid coconut milk part from the top. You won’t need the liquid part and to be honest I haven’t found a use for it yet! Add to a bowl and whisk, whisk, whisk. When it starts to form stiff, coconutty peaks add in the vanilla or seeds and a little sweetner. I don’t add a lot as I think it’s sweet enough, but knock yourself out. Spread the whipped cream onto the base and top with a selection of fresh berries. I added on some fresh grated coconut too as I had some in the freezer, but this isn’t necessary. Refrigerate until ready to eat and tadahhhhh a tasty, healthy, creamy, raw, vegan dessert. But remember, ssshhh until seconds have been asked for.
swizzlerskitchen.com 
Published by