Vegan blueberry & cashew cheesecake (gluten-free too)

Since we’re about to leave New Zealand, I thought I should spend all my fly buys points. So I bought a cookbook I’ve been wanting for some time: The Revive Café Cookbook. It’s written by the owner/founder of the Revive Cafés in central Auckland. The book has exceeded all my expectations. It’s wonderful. I thought I’d share this recipe for a cheeseless cheesecake.

Base ingredients:

1 cup almonds
1 cup cashew nuts
1 cup dates
1/2 cup boiling water

Filling ingredients:

2 cups cashew nuts
10 pitted dates
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water

Topping ingredients:

2 cups frozen blueberries
2 teaspoons arrowroot (or cornflour)
1/2 cup cold water
juice of half a lemon

Put the dates for the base ingredients in boiling water for 2 minutes to soften. If you have a food processor, then combine the dates with the other base ingredients until you have a clumpy texture. I don’t have a food processor so I use the coffee bean grinder (we have two, one for coffee beans and one for nuts) to grind up the almonds and cashews separately. Then I use my stick blender to mash up the dates and water until it’s a smooth paste. You don’t want to grind them up finely though. Make sure the nuts are a sort of mealy texture with crunchy bits. Once the nuts and the date mixture have been combined, press it firmly into a tart tin with a rubber spatula. I use a cake tin with a removable base.

Now for the filling. Soak the filling dates in boiling water for two minutes and combine with all the other ingredients in a food processor if you have one. Or in my case, use a coffee grinder to grind up the nuts finely, the stick blender to mash up the date mixture, then combine the lot to form a delicious cashew cream. Pour this over the base.

For the topping, mix the arrowroot or cornflour, lemon juice, and water in a small pot. Add the blueberries and turn on the heat, stirring regularly. Once a gel has formed, pour it over the cashew cream.

Pop it in the fridge for several hours to firm up a bit. If you don’t have much time, stick it in the freezer. Just don’t forget about it!