Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake

Method

• Start by soaking your cashews. For your cashews, pour boiling hot water over and allow to soak for one hour (overnight, if you can!)
• In the meantime, make your puree. Top all of your strawberries, then put half into a food processor with your icing sugar. Blend until smooth, sieve into a bowl and chill. Slice the remaining strawberries and macerate in a bowl with balsamic vinegar.
• When your cashews are ready, drain and pat dry, then set aside. Soak your dates for 10 minutes in warm water, then drain and pat dry. To make your base, put your dates into a food processor and blend until they form a ball. Then add your crushed Indie Bay and nut mix, blitzing until you have a loose dough. Press your base into a lightly greased cupcake tin, or press down into the bottom of a greased spring form cake tin (note: sliding a layer of parchment paper under the m ix will make your cheesecake easier to remove!) Add a layer of strawberry puree over the base and put your tin in the fridge.
• Combine all of your filling ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth and silky. If your mix doesn’t come together, add a little more lemon juice, agave or coconut milk. Taste your finished filling and adjust for your personal preferences.
• Scoop your filling out into your tin and spread, forming neat layers of base, puree and filling.
• Tap a few times on the counter to get rid of any air pockets, wrap in cling film and freeze–this process should take about four hours. Top with your macerated strawberries, a few herb leaves and a scattering of crushed pretzel to finish.

Ingredients:

200g pitted dates

120g of crushed Indie Bay pretzels and raw walnuts, mixed

For the cheesecake

180g raw cashews

50ml lemon juice

80g coconut oil

150ml coconut milk

120ml agave (or honey, if you aren’t vegan)

For the strawberries

400g fresh strawberries

75g icing sugar

4tsp Balsalmic vinegar

To decorate

10g crushed pretzels

10g fresh basil or mint