Chocolate Honeycomb Cheesecake

YOU NEED

For the crust:

¼ cup of almonds

3 fresh, pitted dates

1 tablespoon of raw cacao

For the filling:

1 cup of raw cashews

½ cup Bonsoy organic soy milk

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons of cacao

2 pinches salt

For the garnish:

¾ cup of chopped vegan chocolate honeycomb

YOU DO

Line a spring form tin (10 cm diameter and 7 cm depth) with baking paper.

Blend the crust ingredients in a high powered blender until they are well combined and form dough like consistency. If the mixture is a little too dry, add a teaspoon of water to bring it together.

Press the crust into the base of the spring form pan. It can be quite sticky so just wet the tips of your fingers a little if you need to.

Place all the filling ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Spoon the mixture onto the crust. Top with the chocolate honeycomb.

Place the cheesecake into the freezer until it sets. This takes about 3 hours

Remove from the freezer and allow it to soften in the fridge or room temperature (if not too hot), for about an hour before serving.

Yields: 4 serves

Time: 20 minutes preparation. 3 hours freezing time.

Notes: You can double the base ingredients if your processor is going to struggle with such a small amount. Use half of the mixture for the base and with the remainder; roll the mixture into balls to eat as snack

You also can pre soak your cashews overnight, if you wish to (and discard the soaking water). But a good quality high powered blender or food processor should give you a smooth, velvety consistency for this recipe.

I chose Bonsoy soy milk because it doesn’t have a strong soy flavour and because it has a rich creamy texture.

Medjool Dates with Rosewater Cashew Cream

YOU NEED

12 medjool dates

Soaking water

1 cup of raw organic cashews

2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup

Pinch of salt

An extra ¼ cup of water

Rosewater to taste

A few drops of beetroot juice or natural red food colouring

YOU DO

Soak the cashews for a few hours, in enough water so that they are covered. Then drain and discard the soaking water.

Cut a thin slice lengthways, along each date and carefully remove the seed.

To make the cashew cream, blend all the remaining ingredients in a high powered blender until everything is smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender to ensure you blitz any lumps.

Pipe equal amounts of the cashew cream into the dates. For a firmer result, refrigerate the cream for an hour or so before piping it.

Serve as a dessert, along with coffee or mint tea.

Yields: 12

Time: 10 minutes

Notes: A high powered blender, built for processing nuts, is the key to this recipe and will provide the creamiest result with no lumps.

EASY (Vegan) Vanilla, Choc Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

I prefer to make my own meals and desserts most of the time but sometimes I just want something super quick and even easier. My EASY Vanilla, Choc Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches are just that and they are always a hit!

YOU NEED

1 packet of vegan friendly chocolate chip cookies

1 litre of dairy free ice cream

YOU DO

Lay the biscuits on your bench, smooth side facing up.

Using scissors cut the ice cream container away from the ice cream. Discard the container. Now cut the ice cream into large slices at whatever width you want your ice cream sandwiches to be.

Use a cookie cutter to cut rounds of ice cream from the slices. As you cut each ice cream round, immediately place it onto a cookie and top with a second cookie and pop onto a plate because they melt fast!

Once you have finished, place the sandwiches into the freezer to firm up. Then serve. It’s that easy!

VARIATIONS:

Use any vegan friendly sorbet or flavoured ice cream.

Use any kind of vegan cookie you want.

Roll your sandwich sides into sprinkles, coconut or nuts.

Dip half of each sandwich into vegan friendly chocolate.

Yields: 10 serves. I get 20 small cookies in my packet.

Time: 10 minutes.

Notes: I get my chocolate chip cookies in the health food aisle of the supermarket. They are not only dairy free, egg free and vegan but also wheat free and gluten free.

YOU NEED

1 cup of frozen raspberries

5 cups of self raising flour

An extra ½ cup or so of self raising flour

Pinch of salt

375ml of soda water

300ml of (full fat) coconut cream

2 teaspoons of cornflour

¼ cup of your favourite plant based milk

1 x 100 gram block of melted white Sweet William Chocolate

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 200c. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Roughly chop the raspberries. Put them in a small bowl and place them back into the freezer.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Gently tap each measuring cup once you have filled it with flour to eliminate air pockets.  Evenly sprinkle the salt over the top. I prefer to do this instead of stirring them together, because I want the flour to stay light from the sifting.

Add the soda water and coconut cream. Using a wooden spoon quickly and gently stir the ingredients, until they start to stick together.  If the mixture is too sticky at this point simply add some of the extra flour, until you have a consistency you can work with.

Turn the mixture out onto a well floured bench and gently work it into a ball. Only spend a minute or so doing this because you don’t want to overwork the dough. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. You just need it to be light, soft and not sticky. Wash and dry your hands.

Dust your bench top again with a little of the extra self raising flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 60cms by 30cms. Stir the cornflour through the frozen raspberries and sprinkle them evenly across the dough.

Now roll the dough from the long side onto itself, until you have a log. Cut the log into 10-12 scones. Place them onto the baking trays, leaving some space between each scone.

Brush each scone with a little milk. Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the oven. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool.

Drizzle each scone generously with the chocolate and serve. They are delicious served with whipped, maple sweetened coconut cream and a cup of earl grey.

Yields:  10-12 scones

Time:  20 minutes preparation.  20-25 minutes cooking. Cooking times will vary with ovens.

Notes: When you open the coconut cream make sure you stir it well before you measure out the 300mls.

For a sweeter scone you can replace the soda water with the same quantity of lemonade. I prefer this more savoury version though, because it lets the raspberries shine. Plus you have the sweetness from the white chocolate.

Don’t worry if your mixture is really sticky at first. Flour can have different “hardness” and can vary greatly. This is why I always have the “extra flour” on hand. Just in case the mixture is too sticky. Simply add a small amount of flour at a time, until you get the right texture.

It’s crucial that you do not overwork the scone mix. It’s not like bread dough and it relies on not being over worked.

YOU NEED

¼ cup of shaved dark palm sugar

½ cup of glutinous rice flour

100 ml of water

1 teaspoon of coconut essence to taste

Natural green food colouring

½ cup of shredded coconut

YOU DO

Place a ¼ – ½ teaspoon of the sugar into the palm of your hand. Make a fist to squeeze the sugar together until it starts to stick to itself. Work the sugar into a ball and put it on a small plate. Repeat until you have 10 balls and place them in the freezer while you make the dough. Reserve any remaining sugar for another recipe.

Put a small pot of water on your stove top and bring it to the boil.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Put the essence and a few drops of the food colouring into the water and whisk them till they are well combined.  Slowly add half of the water to the flour. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon and add a little more water. As the dough becomes wet, use your hands to bring it together. Only add enough water until you get soft, smooth dough like consistency. If the dough is too dry add more water. If it is too wet, add a little flour. Place the dough onto your bench and knead it for a minute until it feels right.

Divide the dough into 10 equal portions. Roll into balls. Using your thumb, press a large indentation into each dough ball. Place the sugar in the indentation, fold the sides of the dough around the sugar and roll it in your palms again to form a layered ball. Repeat this until you have made 10 balls.

Place the balls into the boiling water. When they float to the surface, gently remove them with a slotted spoon and roll them through the coconut.

Serve immediately.

Yields: 10 balls

Time: 10 minutes preparation. 3-5 minutes cooking time.

Notes: You can purchase palm sugar and glutinous rice flour at Asian grocers.

I use a brand of food colouring called Hopper made using fruits and vegetables. It can be purchased from select health food stores.