Coffee, Chocolate & Walnut Cheezecakes. Vegan chef Anthea Amore shares one of her sweet treats from her new book HUNGRY.
Makes: 4 serves
(You’ll need 4 x 7.5cm-diameter x 4.5cm-high ring moulds)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Setting time: 5-6 hours or until set
Ingredients
Base
1 cup walnuts
½ cup desiccated coconut
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cacao nibs*
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon agave (or maple) syrup*
Coffee filling
30g shaved raw cacao butter (or buttons)*
2 tablespoons ground coffee beans
1 cup cashews
¼ cup agave (or maple) syrup*
¾ cup pitted fresh medjool dates (approx. 7-8 dates)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder*
Quality salt
Vanilla cream
½ cup raw cashews
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste*
1 tablespoon agave syrup*
20g shaved raw cacao butter (or buttons)*
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
Quality salt
Chocolate topping
30g shaved raw cacao butter (or buttons)*
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder*
1 tablespoon agave (or maple) syrup*
* You’ll find these ingredients at your local health-food store or online.
Directions
Base
Process the walnuts to a coarse meal in a food processor for 5-10 seconds. Add the desiccated coconut and cinnamon and pulse for 5 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until just combined.
Divide mixture evenly into 4 ring moulds, pressing down and smoothing to form the base. Arrange rings on a tray and chill in the fridge while you make the coffee filling.
Coffee filling
Melt the cacao butter.
Make strong plunger coffee with the ground beans and ½ cup of boiling water, brewing for 10 minutes. Pour ¼ cup of coffee and allow to cool.
Process the cashews in a food processor until the texture resembles nut butter, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the ¼ cup coffee, melted cacao butter and remaining filling ingredients, and blend until smooth. Spoon filling evenly into the ring moulds, smoothing top with the back of a spoon. Return tray to the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Vanilla cream
Melt the cacao butter. Process the cashews in a food processor until the texture resembles nut butter, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Spoon filling evenly into the ring moulds, smoothing top with the back of a spoon. Return tray to the fridge to chill for 3-4 hours or until cream is firm and set.
Chocolate topping
Melt the cacao butter . Add remaining topping ingredients and whisk until mixture is smooth. Place a few tablespoons of the chocolate topping onto a piece of marble or a clean plate to make chocolate curls later. Place in the fridge to set.
Place rest of chocolate topping in fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes. You want the chocolate to be thick so it won’t run too quickly over the side.
To assemble
Take cheezecakes from the fridge and carefully remove from the moulds. Place on serving plates. Gently spoon a little chocolate topping onto the centre of each cake, guiding a little of the topping over the edges. Return to the fridge to set while you make chocolate curls for decorating the cakes.
To serve
Remove cakes from the fridge and allow them to soften slightly before serving. Using a sharp knife, shave chocolate curls from set chocolate topping and arrange on the cheezecakes. Serve.
Tip To melt cacao butter, place shavings in a stainless steel bowl that is sitting over a little boiling water in a saucepan. Take care, it’s hot. Stir frequently until melted. (Don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water or it will spoil the cacao butter.) Set aside.
HUNGRY (self published) is available for pre-order on organicpassioncatering.com for RRP$39.95 (flexi cover) and RRP$49.95 (hard cover).
