Raw Lavender & Lemon Cheesecake

Mmmm...so delicious.

I had to start with a picture because from the description I'm sure you are a little taken aback. Don't worry I was too. Raw? Vegan? Cheesecake???? How is this possible. Well it is trust me. And it is amazing!

While I was with my sister in Portland earlier this summer in line for sorbet at Salt & Straw I discovered a few things I had never known before:
1) MJ loves lemon basil sorbet (whaaaat?)
2) Lavender is edible.

I'll be honest, these two discoveries were made on two different visits. Don't judge me! Now both of these discoveries were pretty surprising to me, but I took the discovery that lavender flavors as well as it smells to heart. I came home and have been on the hunt for a recipe to use lavender in that would be nearly as good as the sorbet MJ let me have half a bite of. Well, not only did I find the perfect recipe on Raw Food Love, but I also think that any vegans missing the creamy, deliciousness of cheesecake will find that this is a perfect substitute and non-vegans can indulge too knowing that the delicious fattiness comes from nuts rather than processed junk. This recipe was a little bit time consuming (including the wait time), but very simple and well worth the waiting.


Ingredients
Crust
1/2c dates
1 1/2c nuts (I used almonds)

Filling
3c cashwers
3/4c lemon juice
2/3c agave
3/4c melted coconut oil
1 tsp salt
3 tsp dried lavender
1 tsp vanilla extract

The crust

 Directions

• First things first, soak both the nuts in water (separately) for as long as you have. My blender is pretty janky so I soaked both the almonds and cashews overnight in the fridge to get them as soft as possible, but 3-4 hours is okay too.
• On to the crust! Combine soaked almonds (or your nut of choice) with dates in a food processor until you get a crumbly but sticky mixture. Pat down onto bottom of pan like so (see above, I used tin foil because that's all I had on hand but wax paper would probably be easier) and pop into the freezer while you work on the filling.
• For the filling simply combine all the ingredients and stick in blender until it reaches a smooth consistency. Taste it! Mmm delicious right? (It tasted a bit sweeter before I set it though so don't be too concerned if it tastes TOO sweet.)
• Pour filling into pan over the crust and freeze or refrigerate until it reaches the desired hardness.
• That's it! So simple. So good, so bad, but the good kind of bad!

The filling ready to be frozen

So rich & fulfilling.