(Cashew and Pumpkin / Sweet Potato Cheesecake)
Ingredients:
Base
• 50g oats
• 80g hazelnuts
• 4 pitted fresh medjool dates
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
Filling:
• 200g cashew nuts (soaked for 4 hours or overnight, if possible)
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 150ml coconut cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
Sweet Potato/Pumpkin layer :
200g pumpkin puree or 200g cooled, roasted sweet potatoes or pumpkin
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch nutmeg
Topping:
The Dark Side (75 or 85%) raw chocolate bar
A little raw cacao powder
Method:
If you’re not using pumpkin puree; pop a small pumpkin or a couple of sweet potatoes, skin on, to roast into the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. When they are soft enough to piece a knife easily through the skin, take them out and leave to cool on the side.
Next, make the base of the cheesecake. Blitz together the nuts and oats in a blender or food processor to form a crumb texture before adding in the remaining base ingredients and blend until combined.
Empty the base into the bottom of a cheesecake tin and press firmly into the bottom. Pop this into the freezer to set whilst making the fillings.
When cool, peel the skin off the cool roasted sweet potatoes or pumpkin and empty 200g worth into a bowl. Mash with a fork until completely smooth then stir in the maple syrup and the spices. If using pumpkin puree - skip the mashing step and simply stir in the extra ingredients. Spread over the base of the cheesecake and, again, put back into the freezer whilst making the top layer.
To make the vanilla cheesecake layer combine the cashews, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut cream and vanilla into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour this over the sweet potato/pumpkin layer and allow the whole cheesecake to set overnight before attempting to remove from the tin.
To finish: dust a little cacao powder over the top of the cake. Melt the Conscious chocolate and transfer into a piping bag (you could also make your own by folding up some baking paper). Carefully pipe on a cobweb pattern by drawing lines across the cake a little like a star, then joining these to create a spider web.
Pop the cake in the fridge to allow the chocolate to set for 20 minutes, then serve.