If you haven’t yet made a dairy-free cheesecake then this is a great place to start. It uses cashews and coconut milk to create a delicious texture and flavour. This delicious recipe is from Buffy begoodorganics.

As with all my recipes, this beauty is full of healthy plant-based whole food goodness. Which means it’s vegan, dairy free, with no refined sugars, as well as gluten free too.

MANGO AND TURMERIC CHEESECAKE

Serves 12-16

Takes 30 minutes (overnight to set)

MAKE WITH

Always use certified organic, local and fairly traded ingredients wherever possible

Base
1¼ cups almonds*
½ cup shredded coconut
¾ cup dates
Zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp vanilla powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp coconut oil (melted)

Filling
2 ½ cups cashews (soaked 2 hours, drained and rinsed)
1 cup coconut milk
¾ cup coconut oil (melted)
Juice and flesh of ½ lemon
¼ cup coconut nectar
2 Tbsp cacao butter (melted, or just use another 1/4c coconut oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp sea salt
2 cups mango flesh (fresh if possible, chopped)
2 tsp turmeric

c = 250ml cup, tbsp = 15ml tablespoon, tsp = 5ml teaspoon*Dried and activated if you have them, otherwise just use raw.

HOW TO

1. To make the base, blend almonds and shredded coconut in a food processor until well chopped but still with some chunky texture.
2. Add dates one by one while motor is still running. Then add remaining base ingredients and blend until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a 20cm spring form cake tin with the base of the tin lined with baking paper. Press the mixture down with a spatula until firm and flat. Place in the freezer to firm.
4. Blend all the filling ingredients, except mango and turmeric, in a food processor or blender until completely smooth, scraping down the inside of the food processor a few times to remove lumps. The mixture should be completely smooth like a thick cream.
5. Pour half of the cream mixture into a bowl, and set aside. Then, add the mango and turmeric to the remaining cream mixture in the blender, and process until well combined.
6. Remove base from freezer and, using one quarter of the plain cream mixture, dollop generous spoonfuls on top of the base.
7. Repeat this with dollops of one quarter of the mango mixture, then continue layering in this way until both mixtures have been used up.
8. Using a chopstick, swirl figure-eight patterns through the mixture to create a swirling effect between the two creams. Don’t over-swirl or you will end up with a completely light orange cheesecake.
9. Place in the freezer overnight. An hour before you want to serve it, remove from the tin and place in the fridge. This helps to maintain its lovely firm texture, similar to an Italian semifreddo. You can also slice the cake and return to the freezer in individual slices to remove from the freezer as you need.
   
   Note: If you have a springform cake tin like me you only need to line the base for this cake. If you have a silicon tin you don’t need to line it at all. If however you have a regular tin that’s not springform, you’ll need to line the base and sides so you can remove the cake - lining with cling form wrap in this instance works best. Please though if you do choose to use cling wrap, source a biodegradable version - it’s not my favourite kitchen product and I try to minimise wherever possible!

Author

BUFFY ELLEN

Buffy is the founder of Be Good Organics, and loves creating delicious yet simple plant-based whole foods recipes. Buffy also oversees our Be Good Organics online store, full of plant based goodies that she personally uses and loves. Sign up for our newsletter below to be the first to receive her weekly recipes.