I used to be intimidated by the word “vegan”. In my mind, this term was used for those who had overly complicated diets and aggressively judged anybody who chose to eat any form of animals or animal products. I thought that vegan baked goods would lose their appeal, their luxury, their decadence, without eggs or butter. I was -very- mistaken. Allow me to introduce you to my favourite superfruit: avocados, reader. Reader, avocados. Avocados are the ultimate fruit. They are packed full of healthy fats, nutrients, and vitamins. Their subtle and versatile nature are what makes vegan baking (in this case, dessert because this was a no-bake cheesecake) absolutely amazing.
I think one of the best things about eating vegan is that I don’t feel guilty for consuming a meal that is heavy on cholesterol and saturated/trans fats. Vegan food is just an amazing way of appreciating ingredients the way you find them in nature. Raw, beautiful, full of colour, and packed with flavour. I used to think it was complicated, trying to find substitutions and whatnot to retain the same texture as non-vegan desserts. This cheesecake is the most luxurious yet light cheesecake you will ever have, because you aren’t eating a entire brick of cream cheese. Actually there’s no cheese. But I wouldn’t just say this is a tart. I would pick this over cheesecake almost any day. And I -LOVE- cheesecake. I was almost reluctant to say that actually, that’s how much I love cheesecake, but seriously, that’s how amazing this is.
It’s no bake, no cook, no refined sugar, no dairy, no gluten!
Unfortunately my nut-allergy friends should steer cleeear of this cake. Sorry friends.
But it is so creamy and the nutty crust provides just the right amount of texture to complement the filling. It took me about two hours from start to finish, but that’s just because I was taking pictures of all the ingredients (it was getting dark so those pictures aren’t any good). If you aren’t a shutterbug like I am, this will probably take you less than an hour from start to finish. The most time consuming part of that is shelling the pistachios. If you have a food processor, you could probably make this in about 30 minutes.
This recipe makes one 9-inch tart and 12 mini cheesecakes, so you can easily half this recipe if you only want to make one or the other.
Recipe adapted from Sally the Messy Baker.
- For the crust:
- 200 g roasted cashews
- 100 g roasted pistachios, unsalted
- 370 g dates, pitted
- ½ tsp salt (my cashews were salted so I omitted this)
- For the filling:
- 4 large avocados, ripe and mashed
- ½ cup cocoa powder (I used dutch-processed)
- ½ cup agave nectar (you can use raw honey or maple syrup)
- 150 g coconut oil
- about 100 g pistachios sliced for garnish
- For the crust, use a food processor to chop all the cashews and the pistachios. You’ll have most of it as kind of a flour, but bigger chunks are good too. Add the dates, and process until you have kind of a dough forming. My food processor was too small for this, so I did this all with my magic bullet and I chopped the dates by hand. I then squished together the dates and the nut flour so that they started to clump.
- Press the mixture into a tart pan or into a mini-cheesecake pan. Set aside.
- Mix together the mashed avocados, cocoa powder, agave nectar, and coconut oil. Make sure you mix until smooth and everything is incorporated.
- Pour into/over the crust, and sprinkle the remaining sliced pistachios for garnish and extra texture.
- Freeze for about 15 minutes to set, or stick in fridge for at least an hour before serving.
I linked up to the Pi Day Pie Party at Crazy for Crust on Pi Day! Come party with us!
This is so inventive! Never tried using pistachios in a pie crust before – combined with the chocolate filling I’d say it’s amazing!
Thanks Stephen! I can’t take all the credit, it was inspired by another recipe =) But it is amazing! You won’t even miss the butter, especially when the filling is stabilized with the coconut oil, which as you may know has amazing health benefits when consumed raw
This looks amazing! I don’t have a food scale though… could you give cup measurements?
Hi Lauren! Food scales will change your life! You should really look into getting one, I got mine at Walmart for $15 =P
The thing about weighted measurements is that they’re much more accurate than cup measurements. I’ll do my best to estimate, but I’d have to make the recipe again if I were to make sure they’re correct.
I’d estimate the crust would be about 2 cups cashews, 1 cup pistachios, 3 cups chopped dates. You can play around with the actual amounts until you get a crust that sticks together when you squish some into your hand.
Let me know how much you end up using! I’m sure other readers would like to know how much you ended up using with cup measurements.
Pistachios, chocolate, you are speaking my language! Love the little ones, so cute!
=) They were my favourite to eat!
Wow can’t wait to try this for my daughter’s birthday! I am going to use raw cashews in the crust to further the health benefits
)
Jul
Yay! It’s so exciting when people use recipes from my blog! Good luck and happy birthday to your daughter! =)
This recipe looks so good!
we tried it!!!! it was really amazing!! thanks so much for sharing it
Lovely! Thank you so much for letting me know =)
I used to feel the same way as you about vegan foods. But I have tried a few and I must admit, some of them are good! I love avocados so I bet I would like your recipe. Pinned and I will be using this in my no bake desserts post. Thanks for sharing this with me on the OBC FB page!
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