Look to your left. Do you see what that is? I bet you it's not what you think!
What that is, is a big fat (yup, I used the fat word again) RAW cheesecake. Yes, it is, it's raw. So raw that it's cheesecake without a drop of cheese, and I made it. Thank God for small mercies - like the person who had the savvy and fortitude to invent raw cheesecake. And, not only is it raw, but it's a hubby approved raw cheesecake.
I told you yesterday that I was off to celebrate. And because red wine is off the menu, and champagne is definitely off the menu, and the only olives I eat now are the ones in my salad instead of the ones in my martini, I decided to bake. Well, raw bake, which in reality is called blending and freezing.
I came across this recipe from the very clever person called Raw Food Nut on RecipeZaar http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Lemony-Cheesecake-With-Berry-Sauce-Raw-Vegan-316719
Now because I'm new to this whole raw thing, I don't know anything about RecipeZaar. I just look around and see what's out there and what appeals to me and I found their site. I had all of the ingredients for this in my pantry so I thought heck, I'll give it a shot. Let me tell you, RecipeZaar and Raw Food Nut in particular are my new favourite friends.
This turned out so well and tasted incredible. Most importantly though, hubby said that if he hadn't known it was raw, he wouldn't have guessed. Wow!
The website is great too, because you can adapt recipes. For example, this cake serves 16 but you can use the doo-da (ahem... that's a technical term) next to where it shows you the serving size and you can adjust it to how many servings you need. Once adjusted, it will automatically adapt the recipe for you. Cool.
I followed the recipe exactly as is, except for three changes.
1) I soaked my cashews for about 10 hours, because I've read that the longer they soak, the creamier they get (I have no idea, I'm a cashew-soaking virgin).
2) I added the zest of one whole lemon to the filling (because I love lemons more than I love life).
3) I only put in just under 1/2 cup raw honey, instead of 3/4 of a cup which I had melted in a bain-marie (that's a fancy word for putting the bowl of honey in a bigger bowl filled with hot water) because I don't like things too sweet.
It turned out to be the creamiest, yummiest, non cheese cheesecake ever.
Now don't get into a tizzy. I know that the point of going raw is not to eat cheesecake every day. However, my belief is that when you are transitioning and are still trying to let go of your old food habits and tastes, it's not a totally bad thing to make things like desserts or treats.
I firmly believe, and like I've said before I'm no expert, that as one gets used to all the raw food and that as our bodies change, the desire for things like cheesecake will diminish. I also believe that if you are craving something, rather find the raw alternative and indulge in it instead of denying yourself and then caving and running out to have a big Mac, or a chocolate bar.
Also, let's say you were trying to get your hubby to somewhat convert to raw with you (this is just a hypothetical of course) and let's say that he has a really sweet tooth, and let's just say that the raw food diet isn't quite answering all his taste requirements, then let's just say that wouldn't it be clever to show him all the yummy sweet things you can create that are raw? I think I might think that, if of course I was ever in that situation.
If however, you prefer chocolate cheesecake, check out this recipe from Kristen's Raw http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2007/12/organic-double-chocolate-cherry.html I was going to make this then decided I wanted lemon more than chocolate, but doesn't it look amazing.
I'm in awe, and I'm learning new things every day.
(Photo - mine)
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