Tag: frozen

Raw Avocado Lime Cheesecake Bites

When your dessert is made of avocados, you can eat as much as you’d like without feeling guilty #score.


Fair warning though: this dessert is not as sweet as my other vegan cheesecake recipes. If you’re looking for something on the sweeter side, look here for some golden caramel goodness and over here for a sweet passionfruit glaze. Everyone who’s up for a tangy dessert stay with me!


I finally found a use for the Weetbix biscuits that were taking up space in the pantry and that is ——–> the base for these lime cheesecake bars! At the end of last year, we ran a triathlon for women’s cancer and every team that competed won a box of Weetbix biscuits and a Snickers bar (you can guess which one I went for). Unfortunately that means the Weetbix has been at the back of the pantry, feeling lonely and ignored. To be honest with you, I hadn’t thought about it until I ran out of almonds to use for the crust and had to look to alternative methods. Needless to say, it worked out well! You can still go with almonds if you wish, it will still yield a delicious dessert!

 

Here’s to friends who come over to hand model food for you! 

Raw Avocado Lime Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

  • about 10 Weetbix biscuits, crushed (may substitute 2 cups sliced almonds)
  • 8 medjool dates, soaked in hot water and deseeded
  • 3 ripe medium avocados
  • 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup cold water (may need more)
  • 2 ounces chocolate, melted

Method

  1. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper. Combine the crushed Weetbix biscuits and dates in a food processor and blend until it forms a sticky dough. Press the dough into the bottom of the loaf pan in an even layer. Freeze whilst you prepare the filling.
  2. Rinse out the food processor and proceed to blend together the avocados, cashews, lime juice, syrup and water. If the mixture is too thick to pulse, add more water 2 tbsp at a time until the machine can smoothly process it. Pulse for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
  3. Spread the mixture in an even layer on top of the base. The mixture should be very thick. Freeze for 1 hour or until solid. Store in the fridge, do not freeze after it has set. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Drizzle with melted chocolate and enjoy!
Advertisements

Raw Vegan Passionfruit White Chocolate Cheesecake

Today is a monumental day. Why? Car aujourd’hui I bring you the first vegan dessert to be published on this blog.

To be frank, it was about time anyways. Through the many cheesecakes we’ve shared, the soups we’ve slurped and the burgers we’ve devoured, I decided that it was time to switch it up a bit.


As I’m sure you all know, I have decided to permanently cut meat out of my diet. With the full knowledge of the atrocities that are committed everyday in the animal farming industry coupled with the significant impact on the environment that meat consumption is responsible for; I decided that enough was enough and it was time for me to act. I couldn’t stand by and support/ignore what was happening, whilst being fully aware of what was happening. So I stopped eating meat. As the goal is to eventually cut animal products out of my diet and my closet, I decided to pay tribute to veganism today with this cheesecake.

If you’ve never made a vegan dessert before, then fear not! The process is ridiculously simple. Start by preparing your vegan chocolate and your passionfruits.

You’ll need 2 cups of soaked cashews for this recipe, they should be left for at least 8 hours, but if you don’t have time then you can soak them in boiling water for an hour.

The almonds, pecans and oats are then blended to create a coarse meal. Maple syrup is drizzled in and that forms your base! The base is then frozen for 15 minutes to firm it up.

All the cheesecake ingredients are then pulsed in the blender, poured on top of the base and this is frozen for 4 hours. You take the cheesecake out of the freezer, spread it with the passionfruit pulp/sauce, let it sit for 15 minutes at room temperature and you’re good to go! Happy cheesecaking friends!


Raw Vegan Passionfruit White Chocolate Cheesecake          

makes one 9 inch cake or 15 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the base:

  • 2 cups rolled oats (uncooked)
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ cup maple syrup

For the cheesecake:

  • 1 and ½ cups cashews, soaked overnight in cold water or for 1 hour in boiling water
  • 1×14 ounce tin of coconut cream or 1×14 ounce tin of coconut milk refrigerated overnight
  • 250g of vegan white chocolate, melted (may replace with an extra cup of soaked cashews if you’re not into white chocolate)
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • ½ tsp ginger

For the passionfruit topping:

  • 1 cup passionfruit pulp (from about 12 passionfruits)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water

Method

  1. Start with the base. In a food processor, pulse the oats, almonds and pecans until you have a coarse meal. With the motor running, pour in the maple syrup and pulse until the meal starts to bind together. Switch off the machine and dump the base into a 9 inch springform pan or add a tablespoon of base to 15 cupcake holders (no need to grease it first). Pat the base down into an even layer and freeze for 15 minutes.
  2. Move on to the cheesecake filling. Add all the cheesecake ingredients to a food processor and pulse until creamy and no large chunks of cashews remain in the mixture. Scoop on top of the frozen base and use a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth into an even layer. Return to the freezer and freeze for 3 hours.
  3. Finally make the passionfruit topping. Add the pulp and the lemon juice to a medium saucepan on low heat and bring to a boil. Pour the dissolved cornflour into the mixture and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
  4. When ready to assemble, release the cheesecake from the springform pan to a cake stand. Use a spoon to smooth the passionfruit topping on top of the cheesecake. Let the cheesecake sit for 15 minutes to defrost aaaaaand you’re ready to cut and serve! Store leftovers in the freezer, but make sure to leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes before you slice and serve each time.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

You guysssss. Remember when I posted these Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies? Long story short, I felt like I could do so much more with this dough that didn’t involve eating half of it before it got to the oven. Then again, I also needed to be able to eat a ton of cookie dough without feeling guilty that only half the cookie dough actually made it to the oven. At the same time, I was feeling major FOMO for summer. Here in Zimbabwe, we’re putting the winter blankets away and dusting off the barbecue grills, getting ready for summer.

Making ice cream has never been easier. No ice cream maker needed! For the base, all you need is fresh cream and condensed milk and from there you can customise it any way you like. I decided to mix ¾ of a batch of (eggless) chocolate chip cookie dough into the base, and drop in pieces of the other quarter of the dough to get little nuggets of cookie dough goodness. Pure gold. This will only take you 30 minutes at the most, and for all the wonderful ice cream goodness you get out, it is so worth it. I repeat: NO ICE CREAM MAKER REQUIRED.


Shooting this was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. This is someone who’s also an A Level Maths student. I felt a stab in my heart every single time the ice cream began to slowly drip down the cup to form a puddle on the board. It took every bone in my body to resist the urge to stuff every last piece of cookie dough into my mouth. I have never been so relieved to finish a shoot before. And for anyone out there who’s wondering, it tastes even better than it looks.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Ingredients

Eggless chocolate chip cookie dough:

½ cup melted butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 ½ cups flour

2 tbsp milk

1 cup chocolate chips/chopped chocolate

Ice cream: 

2 cups fresh cream

14 oz can condensed milk

2 tbsp hot fudge sauce (optional)

Method 

Make the chocolate chip cookie dough: 

  1. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter and brown sugar. Add the vanilla essence and mix again. Sieve the flour into the butter mixture and stir until combined. At this point the dough will be quite dry and tough, add in the milk, one tablespoon at a time until loosened. Once you’re happy with the consistency of the dough, add the chocolate chips and use a rubber spatula to incorporate them evenly through the batter. It’s okay if some of the dough disappears right about now, I won’t tell.
  2. Take ¼ of the cookie dough, roll it into a bowl and wrap it tightly with cling wrap. Store in the freezer. To be used later in this recipe.

Make the ice cream: 

  1. In a large bowl, whip the fresh cream using an electric whisk until medium peaks form. This takes about 5 minutes. Pour in the condensed milk and stir together gently until incorporated. Take the ¾ portion of the cookie dough that you didn’t put in the freezer and gently break it up over the cream mixture. Gently fold it into the cream mixture, try to really blend it into the cream mixture, but it’s still totally okay if you’re left with bits of cookie dough.
  2. Pour the ice cream mixture into a loaf pan. Remove the other portion of cookie dough from the freezer, and chop it into bite sized pieces. Drop the cookie pieces into the ice cream and use a spoon to distribute them through the ice cream. If you like, you can drizzle the hot fudge sauce over the surface to create a pattern. Freeze for 5 hours, or overnight. Serve with crushed chocolate chip cookies and more hot fudge sauce.