Single Serving Raw Berry Cheesecakes

I found the recipe for this on POST PUNK KITCHEN. I like it. People have said they are good…I will continue to improve the outcome and try new flavors…Chocolate Peanut butter comes to mind…

Please note I do not own a food processor. If you have one this will work much better and faster for you…I have a small food chopper and a Ninja brand blender…So yeah, my process is extra “special.”



Soaking Cashews...



Other equipment you will need is 2 muffin tins. Muffin papers are optional. It would probably work really well. I try to be fancy so I just grease the tins.

FIRST and FOREMOST : SOAK THE CASHEWS!!! At least 3 hours. I need to try for more than 3 to see if I can get a slightly better texture.

When your Cashews are 10-15 minutes away from total soaked-ness Prep the Crust

Crust
1 cup pecans
1 cup almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 medjool dates, pitted and chopped (the original recipe called for 4…I found it didn’t come together quickly enough or sticky enough.

Pulse nuts and salt in the blender. I like to do medium chop…not fine, not coarse…Rustic…? Add the chopped dates. Pulse until the mixture sticks together when pressed.

Not too fine...RUSTIC. Chopped Dates Added.



Really dark photo of crumbly date/nut mixture...who took these shitty pictu...Damn, it was me.



Grease your muffin tins with coconut oil. Or put the papers in. Evenly spoon the mixture into the tins. I found it was 1-2 heaping teaspoons each.

Evenly distributed...



Squished Down...



Press the mixture down. Up the sides a bit if you can. I have not tried but would recommend increasing the crust recipe so each cake has a thicker base and sidewall.



Filling
3 cups raw cashew pieces, soaked at least 3 hours (I read no more than 7)
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup water
3 limes (small)
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol free...unless that's what you have)
4-ish cups fresh or frozen berries
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Pulse 1 cup of cashews in food chopper until crumbly.



Crumbly



Add some agave (I just did one turn of my small processor), water: a tablespoon or so, juice of one lime (they were super small limes and not very juicy…a couple tsps) and .5 tsp vanilla.

PUREE. Scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is fully incorporated.



Smooth



When it was as smooth as I could get it (had the patience for) I added half the strawberries to my blender, glopped in the cashew mixture, and put the other half of the berries on top. I feel like layering makes things mix faster and better…in reality it probably makes no significant difference.



About a 1 1/3 Cups of Each Berry Type...For Three Types...DO MATH



Layered in the blender...

Blend. It should look extremely smooth like a delicious drink. (Don’t drink it…you are making cheesecakes, not a smoothie!)

Since my blender doesn’t have a feed hole I just added the melted coconut oil all at once…The original recipe says to stream it through the stream hole…I wasn’t trying to explode pink goop all over my kitchen.

Mix well...



Ka-Blow! Mid Blend...



Pour the filling into 8 of the muffin cups. They should come within millimeters of the top edge of the cup. Just make sure they are even. It may seem as though they will never set up but they do…

I like to put a berry (slice) in the middle of each cake so people know what is in them, plus it looks bad ass.

 Set aside. REPEAT with the other types of berries.



Ready to be covered and frozen...Looks Freaking SAWEEEEET!!!



Cover with plastic and let set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Make sure they are flat…Otherwise they will look stupid. I put them in the freezer…b/c I was in a hurry. They turned out, but probably didn’t set as well as they could have, but they are kind of delicious as a frozen treat. Sometime in the near future I will do it correctly and report back…Maybe I’ll stop being such a loser and buy a food processor.

If you do put them in the freeeeezer, take them out 10-15 minutes before you are ready for dessert. Let them sit on the counter for a few minutes and use a super skinny knife to pop them out of the tray. Let them defrost a bit so they are easily edible.

Don't leave them out too long or they will get smooshy. Smooshiness does not decrease tastiness--but you may need a spoon.



Ready to be shared...



 Check back for updates as I improve this recipe and add new flavors. These are a hit with all people. Most often fielded question is,  "How can they be cheesecakes without cheese?" To which you get to reply, "Nut Cheese," which always makes me laugh. Nut Cheese...Try to say it with a straight face!