I’ve always loved cheesecake and this is an amazing recipe that I actually prefer to your typical dairy-based cheesecake. It’s just as thick and decadent, but has a lightness about it that makes it really easy to enjoy leftover for breakfast the next day!
Many people that I love don’t share my taste for cheesecake and yet this recipe has been thoroughly enjoyed by every single one of them – in most cases, surprisingly and reluctantly so!
You can also change up the topping with pretty much anything you like – lemon curd, blueberry sauce, candied nuts, or even this incredible Maple Apple Caramel Syrup (from one of my very first blogs)!
Ingredients:
Crust
- 1 ½ cups almonds
- 1 cup walnuts
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
Filling
- ¾ cup millet (soaked in 2 ½ cups water, overnight)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup raw cashews (covered with water to soak, overnight)
- juice of 1 lemon
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean *
- ½ cup maple syrup
Raspberry Layer
- 2 pints of raspberries
- ½ cup maple syrup
- pinch of salt
or Fast Raspberry Layer
- 1 jar (about 1 cup) raspberry fruit spread/jam
- 4 tbsp water (to thin it out)
Remember to soak the millet and cashews overnight.
1. Toast the nuts for the crust in a stainless-steel pan over medium heat, stirring once and a while. Remove from heat as soon as they begin to brown and smell very fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set them aside to cool.
2. Process the nuts in a food processor until you have a coarse meal. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt, and continue processing until a sticky dough forms.
3. Press the dough into a greased 9-inch spring form pan evenly, taking the crust up the sides about 1 – 2 inches.4
4. Cook the millet in the soaking water with a pinch of salt in a large, stainless-steel dutch oven – bring the millet to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer, covered, for 30-40 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed. Remove the millet from the heat and let it cool slightly.
5. Drain the cashews and transfer to a food processor. While the millet cools, blend the cashews, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, and maple syrup in a food processor – blend until very smooth and creamy.
6. Before the millet cools too much, add it to the food processor and process again until very smooth and creamy. If you wait too long and the millet is too cool, it will not blend as finely.
7. Pour the millet filling into the crust and smooth the top. Let it sit aside as you make the raspberry topping.
8. Bring the raspberries, maple syrup, and salt to a boil in a small pot on the stove. Reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer until a thick fruity sauce remains. Add a table spoon of water at a time to thin it out if it gets too thick.
Alternatively you can make a quick raspberry layer by diluting a delicious raspberry fruit spread or jam with some water. Heat it over medium in a pot, stirring until well-mixed.
9. Pour the raspberry sauce over the millet filling layer and smooth it out evenly.
10. Let the cheesecake set in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. It’s perfect to make the day ahead.
xo
