White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake
This recipe looks longer than what it is. There are a few components that you will need to make prior to the cheesecake, but it is well worth any and all effort. Read through the recipe below. This cheesecake would be amazing all by itself which is how it is made in Sweet Gratitude Dessert Book. I got a late night email last night from my dear friend Gina. She asked me if I would be interested in making a raw dessert for a gathering that was taking place the next day. I happily told her that I would love to. She had invited my husband and I to a documentary viewing of the film: The Dark Side of Chocolate. I highly recommend watching this film. It is a real eye opener. In honor of the subject, chocolate, I was inspired to make a White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake!
Crust Ingredients: Chocolate Almond Crust
- 1 3/4 cup dry almonds
- 5 Tbsp cacao powder
- 3 1/2 oz date paste (weight) = 1/4 cup
- 1 tsp liquid vanilla
- 1/8 tsp salt
Preparation:
- You will be using your food processor for the crust.
- Add to the FP, the nuts, salt, vanilla and 1/2 the amount of date paste.
- Process all ingredients until the crust starts to rise on the sides of the bowl. Be sure to stop and scrap the sides down.
- Repeat a few times until the nuts are broken down well.
- Add the remaining date paste and continue processing until the mixture is consistent. The final crust dough should hold together when you pinch it between your fingers.
- Assemble the Springform pan with the bottom facing up. Opposite way from how it comes assembled. This will help you when removing the cheesecake from the pan, not having to fight with the lip). Lightly grease the pan with coconut oil.
- Distribute the crust evenly on the bottom of the pan, using even and gentle pressure. If you press to hard it might stick, making it hard to remove slices. You can either just make the crust on the bottom of the pan or you can also bring it up the sides. It is up to you.
- Set aside while you make the cheesecake batter.
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Ingredients for White Chocolate Cheesecake batter:
- 3 cups of soaked cashews (for a min. of 2 hours)
- 2 cups almond milk
- 3/4 cup raw agave syrup
- 1 tsp liquid vanilla
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp lecithin *added at the very end*
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup raw cacao butter
Preparation:
- Add to the blender all of the ingredients except for the coconut oil and lecithin. These will be added towards the very end.
- Blend until nice a creamy. This can take 3-5 minutes.
- Stop the blending and add the coconut oil and lecithin . ** Lecithin – you can use sunflower liquid lecithin or the soy granules lecithin, but it will need to be ground to a fine powder. Buy non-GMO!*
- Resume blending until all is well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the Springform pan alternating with blobs of chocolate and caramel sauce. Fill to the top.
- Place your cheesecake in the freezer to set for 1-2 hours or until the middle of the cake is firm to the touch.
- Decorate to your liking! Best to keep cheesecake chilled up until serving and put left-overs back into the fridge.
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Chocolate Ganache Recipe
Yield: 1 cup
- 3/4 cup raw agave syrup or maple syrup
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
- 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1/8 tsp plus a pinch salt
Preparation:
- Place all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
- Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the blender jar with a rubber spatula.
- It works really nice to place the ganache in a squeeze bottle.
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Ingredients for caramel:
- 1/2 cup of raw almond butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or raw agave syrup (maple syrup isn’t raw)
- 1/2 cup date paste
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Preparation for caramel sauce:
- Place all ingredients in a high powdered blender and process until smooth.
- Stop occasionally to scrap the sides down.
- It works really nice to place the caramel sauce in a squeeze bottle.
- Store any extra in the fridge in a glass container for approx. 2 weeks. To soft, leave out at room temperature for a few hrs or pop in the microwave for 10 seconds.
(recipe modified a bit from Jennifer Cornbleet’s book “Raw for Dessert”)
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Storage
Store in a glass container in the fridge. It is great to not only use on cakes but also on cookies, as a dipping sauce for apples….oh come on, do I even have to offer ideas as to what to do with chocolate! lol
Tip:
- I used a skewer stick to swirl the chocolate and caramel sauce into the cheesecake batter.
- Storage and life shelf: This cheesecake will keep for at least 4 days. Store in fridge, covered.
Posted on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 at 11:59 am. Filed under: Cake / Pies Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, Vegan RSS 2.0 feed.
Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.
Hey Amie,
It’s Heather again. :) On this recipe is it liquid lecithin or granules? Does one taste/work better? Thanks again!! :)
Hi Heather!
You can use either. If you use the granules try to buy non GMO ones, you will also want to grind them to a powder. If you use the liquid, which I have switched to, I use sunflower lecithin. Regular lecithin is soy based and I am not suppose to consume soy. They work the same, and don’t effect the flavor in my opinion and experience. Have a great evening! amie sue
This look delicious! I have the Sweet Gratitude dessert book–is this their turtle cheesecake recipe? And one more thing–how did you make the chocolate garnish on the top that stands up by itself? The whole thing looks amazing! :)
Hi Megan, it may look delicious and I may assure you that it TASTES delicious. hehe This isn’t the Turtle Cheesecake from Sweet Gratitude but that recipe looks amazing as well! It is a mix and match of recipes and creations. I love ALL of their recipes. :)
As far as the chocolate garnish goes, I make them from a raw chocolate that hardens. You can find a recipe here: http://nouveauraw.com/frosting/hardening-chocolate/. I drizzle the chocolate on a parchment lined cookie sheet in any desired shape, then pop it in the freezer for at least 10-20 minutes so it can firm up. Gently pull the design off the pan and place on your dessert. Have a wonderful day!
I made this recipe for my husband’s birthday yesterday. And it turned out fantastic. First time I had a raw cheesecake turn out with such a cheesecake texture. Awesome recipe!
Awesome Mikaela! How did you decorate it? I love this recipe as well. Thank you sharing. :) amie sue
I am not much of a decorator… so I spooned some rows of caramel and chocolate on there. Not a piece of art, but the cake in itself sure is! :)
Sounds delicious! :)
Your cheesecakes look so amazingly rich, like the traditional dairy ones. I’ve made nut-based cheesecakes before, but the texture is not very similar to the real deal. So I’m anxious to try yours since the ingredient list looks to include more “creamier” resulting items.
Do you know if I could substitute agar agar powder for the lecithin? And substitute ghee for the cacao butter?
I am new to your site and loving it!
Greetings Desiree,
These cheesecakes are amazingly smooth! My husband and I are all about mouth feel and texture if very high on our priority list. To be honest, I haven’t used agar agar in my cheesecake or ghee, so I can’t comment for sure how they would work. It would be an experiment for sure. But then, that is how we learn. :) I will say though that I don’t think, no would I suggest using ghee instead of cacao butter. Let me explain why… cacao butter lends a chocolate flavor profile (ghee doesn’t), cacao butter help to make the cheesecake a nice firm texture (I don’t think ghee would). I can maybe see your wheels turning, soften the ghee, add cacao powder and then using agar agar as the firm agent… all I can say is try it if you really want to test things out. Keep me posted! amie sue
JUST made this! Doesn’t look as pretty as yours but not bad for my first time making it. Haven’t tasted yet, but will later:)
Do keep me posted Yiannab…I bet it looks and tastes wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
Ok, maybe I am a dummy but I did read where it said to freeze this for 2 hours to set. I did, but I didn;t know it was supposed to be kept frozen after:(
But all is good…..although it looks nothing like it did at first since it melted lol.
Good news is that it tastes wonderful!!!!!
I posted a picture of it on Facebook when I first made it and got so many likes and comments:)
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
OH dear, it melted? I haven’t experienced that before, but then when I make these, they get eaten up so quick. I made a note in the recipe to keep it chilled at all times. I am sorry that you experienced that. Have a great weekend, amie sue
Amie,
No worries….it is still delicous!
Hi,
just wanted to ask, can I use something instead of lecithin?i I tried to find it on ebay and found softgels only… (would prefer liquid lecithin then granules).
Many Thanks!
Ruta,
You can order liquid lecithin which is now what I use because it is soy free coming from sunflowers. I have a small post written about this…
http://nouveauraw.com/special-raw-ingredients/raw-lecithin-thickener/
I have been following you for a while now Amie Sue and honestly your recipes and your presentation is one of the absolute BEST out there. I can’t tell you how much you inspire me. I just made this recipe for a friend and I took photos along the way. I will send you a photo of the final version on FB if you like.
Always a fan. Karen
Thank you Karen. :) You are so sweet. I would love to see the photo! Thanks for sharing with me. Have a wonderful day, amie sue
Hello Amie-Sue.
This cheesecake is absolute goodness, I made it on the Christmas eve and it was gone right away.
Thank you for this website I use it everytime since I started to eat raw food.
My boyfriend was kind of scared when we turned out to raw food but when I made him this cheesecake he is not afraid any more. :-)
That is wonderful Mickey! So happy that everyone enjoyed the cheesecake and that your boyfriend isn’t too scared anymore with the idea of eating more raw foods. You choose well to win his heart. hehe Happy New Year! amie sue
I just made 2 of these-1 for us and 1 to take to the church social
these are not only beautiful but outstanding in presentation and taste
I did have to make the gnache 2 times however since i ate half of the first batch with a spoon LOL
I love your sight and creativity
thankyou so much for your generous sharing of your talent
lol Constance… it made me giggle that you indulged and enjoyed the ganache. hehe Thank you so much for sharing the experience with me! Have a wonderful evening, amie sue
well that was yesterday LOL
today i made another batch of the ganache and was dipping everything I could find in it
oh by the way turkish apricots are awesome dipped in this stuff LOL
Honey, we could dip a flipflop on that chocolate sauce and it would taste good. lol
[...] recipe is inspired by this post http://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/desserts/white-chocolate-caramel-cheesecake/. I’ve tweaked around with it and put my own take on it, so here goes [...]