Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

-        2 cups almonds

-        1 cup dried Medjool dates

Filling

-        3 1/2 cups raw cashews -soaked for at least one hour

-        3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

-        3/4 cup agave *

-        1 cup organic, unrefined coconut oil- liquefied (see below)

-        1/2 cup water

-        1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-        1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

Blackberry sauce

-        Handful of fresh blackberries

-        4 large dried Medjool dates

-        2 hefty squirts agave

Directions:

To melt coconut oil, if solid:

Measure out 1 cup of solid coconut oil and place in shallow bowl of warm water.  As it softens, stir.  Replace the water in the shallow bowl with fresh warm water and repeat until all is melted.  I needed to change the water about 4 times to make it reach a fully liquid state.

To make crust:

Blend almonds and dates in  a food processor until finely chopped.  Press mixture very compactly into the bottom of a spring-form pan.  I used the bottom of a glass to press the crust down, and it worked perfectly.

To make filling:

Take all filling ingredients and blend in food processor until smooth.  Just let it go for a few minutes…. the texture should be nice and creamy.

To assemble:

Pour filling on top of crust and spread out until smooth.  Cover with foil and freeze overnight. The freezing process will re-harden the coconut oil and  set up the cake.  After it is frozen you can refrigerate and it will be ready to serve after about one hour.  Even though you have to freeze this cake to set it up, it is not a frozen cake… once refrigerated, it takes on an extremely similar texture to a regular cheesecake.