Tag Archives: cheesecake

Nov 01 2012
23 Comments
Desserts

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Guava Cheesecake!

Today is a special one because you’re visiting a page that’s part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck! This is the second one that Turning Veganese has been fortunate enough to participate in and it’s a great way to look at lots of vegan food blogs and even some non-vegan blogs that are participating by presenting a vegan dish. I definitely recommend exploring. Use the “go forward” and “go back” buttons at the bottom of the page to participate.

I wanted to be sure that Florida culture came out in my Virtual Vegan Potluck contribution so I decided to include some local flare. Guava pastries are a staple in our Cuban heritage, coconut and lime are ubiquitous in Caribbean cuisine so I wanted to include them in this recipe, and pecans are here to represent the Southern elements in South Florida culture. This is an incredibly easy recipe and shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes to prepare. All you need is a good spring form pan and the ingredients.

First prepare the crust by combining the following in a bowl:

1 cup of medjool dates, soaked overnight in water, drained and blended until smooth

1 cup of shredded coconut, preferably unsweetened

1 cup of crushed pecans

1 cup of almond meal

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

a pinch of cinnamon

Mix these until uniform, adding extra water if it’s dry. It should be crumbly and a little sticky.

Once you like the texture, moosh it into the bottom of your spring form pan.

Now that you’ve got your crust, we’ve got to make the ‘cheese’cake part. It’s simple too:

1 carton of silken tofu

1 tsp starch (we used arrowroot) dissolved in 1 tbsp of lime juice

7 ounces of guava paste

Put all of that into your blender and blend until smooth. Pour it over the crust and put it into your freezer.

I sprinkled mine with some additional coconut to make it extra pretty. It’ll be ready in 4 hours.

Remove the wall of your spring form pan and serve. It will get gooey as it melts so put your spring form base on a wide plate to catch anything that falls off the edge.

This concludes my part in the Virtual Vegan Potluck event and I hope you’ll visit all the other posts in the chain. If you’re new to Turning Veganese, I hope you’ll visit again. Click on the “go forward” or “go back” button below to see what else the Virtual Vegan Potluck has in store for you!

This is Christie and Brent, signing off to head to the Potluck!

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Nov 27 2011
4 Comments
Cooking Gallery

Vegan Cherry Vanilla Almond Cheesecake

I usually cook from scratch because I have Celiac’s disease. That means that I’m allergic to the protein in wheat called gluten. My kitchen is a gluten free zone so I’m inclined to work with whole ingredients that I can be fairly certain are not contaminated with the infernal substance! This culinary contribution might be a little daunting to the inexperienced but I’m pretty sure anyone with some motivation and a free afternoon can make this recipe. Otherwise, get yourself a pre-made graham cracker pie crust, a can of cherry pie filling and skip to secton 2 – just keep in mind that canned filling and pre-made crust are both loaded with preservatives and highly processed refined flours and sugars. (That’s code for: my recipe is probably better for your body and for the environment.)

Make the crust first. The ingredients necessary are as follows:

1.5 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp syrup, agave nectar or molasses
2 tbsp flax meal (optional)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
a dash of cinnamon
olive oil spray
In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda and mix well. Stir wet ingredients in until uniform and doughy. If you’re feeling adventurous, add a half teaspoon of cocoa powder. Moosh the dough into a oiled 9.5 inch glass pie dish. Moisten your hands with water if the dough sticks to your hands. Bake at 325F/160C for 10 to 15 minutes, until it starts to brown at the edges. Set it aside and prepare the filling.
 
1 12oz. box silken tofu
1 tbsp enerG egg replacer or tapioca, arrowroot, or corn starch
1/2 tsp. baking soda (add this last)
1/2 cup cashews
1 tbsp. syrup, agave nectar or molasses
juice of 1 small lemon (about 2 tbsp)
zest of 1 lemon (almost 1 tsp)
1/2 cup almond or soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
Pre-heat oven to 325F/160C degrees. Warm almond milk (microwave 20 seconds, stir, repeat until warm), dissolve the egg replacer or starch in the almond milk. Place the tofu and cashews in a blender along with the rest of the ingredients and blend, scraping down the sides as needed with a spatula, adding almond milk slowly, until a thick, smooth, creamy consistency results. Mix in the baking soda right before you pour it into pie crust. Bake 45-50 minutes or until just barely firm. Allowing it to cool and refrigerating or freezing lightly before serving will firm it to the proper texture. While it’s cooling, prepare the cherries.
 
10 oz frozen or fresh cherries, halved or whole (pitted)
1 tbsp syrup, agave nectar or molasses
1 tsp. lime zest
1 tbsp corn, tapioca, or arrowroot starch whisked into 1 tbsp cool water
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil, covered, on medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer, stirring once or twice, until the cherries have given off their juice and have softened. Add in starch slurry and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Reheat it, pour it over the top of the cheesecake and top with toasted almond slivers.
I also melted some semi-sweet chocolate with some coconut oil and drizzled it over the top to make you say, “oooh… that looks yummy!” and give it a try.This is the finished cheesecake before my other half and I devoured it. Some of our friends at Thankgsiving Dinner missed out. Oopsie!
this is Christie, signing off to go eat more ‘cheese’cake.
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