Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

Organic strawberries have been on sale by me for two weeks now. What a blessing. However, I can't resist them so I keep buying more and more and with the other fruit we have in the house we were getting to have a few too many strawberries! I know, what a problem, huh?

I'm usually pretty stingy with using fruit for anything besides eating whole because the kids always seem to want more fruit. This strawberry overload was finally my time to make a dessert!

Since Paul has always loved cheesecake but cheesecake has not always loved him I decided to go for a vegan version for him. Enjoy!

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

Crust
1 c walnuts
1 c pitted dates
1/4 c dried unsweetened coconut
zest of a 1/2 lemon
1/2 t cinnamon

Cheesecake
2 cups cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
3/4 c coconut milk
1/4 c coconut oil
3 T agave nectar or raw honey
1 T vanilla extract
2 t lemon juice
1/2 t minced ginger
dash of salt

Topping
1 c strawberries
2 T agave nectar or raw honey
2 T coconut oil

Put all the crust ingredients in the food processor. It should turn into a gravel like substance. Press that down into your pan. I used a 9x7 pan but a normal cake pan will work too.

Next add all the cheesecake ingredients to the food processor. The cashews will breakdown to be a nice cream. Keep processing until they do. Layer that on top of your crust. Put it in the freezer to set for at least an hour.

Next, puree your topping ingredients. Once the cheesecake is more solid, layer your topping ingredient on the top.

I keep my cheesecake in the freezer until ready to serve. Take it out about a half hour before you're ready to eat it. If we are only having a piece or two, I will just cut out what I want and put the rest back in. The cheesecake cuts really nice when it is frozen!