Lately, I am amazed about what my mind is cooking. This time it baked a cheesecake with almond cheese and cashew yogurt, which my occasional tasters swore was cow’s cheese and made fun of them saying I’m not eating dairy. I carefully balanced the amount of sugar, white sugar had to be used here, until it got a pretty sweet taste, without exaggerating, and I made up for it with flavors and a pinch of salt. It is a viable and convenient option in terms of expences on ingredients for those who do not eat dairy, even for dairy cheese eaters who, as I told you, would swear it is cow’s cheese.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 170 grams of gluten-free flour (this time I used a universal mix, Belbake)
- One egg
- 50 grams of coconut oil
- A tablespoon of sugar
- A pinch of salt
For cream cheese:
- 200 grams of almonds soaked for 24 hours
- 100 grams of plant based yogurt
- 100 grams of white sugar
- 20 grams of coconut oil
- 50 grams of tapioca starch
- 200 grams of water
- An sachet of bourbon vanilla
- A tablespoon of lemon essence
- A pinch of salt
Method of preparation
To start, we make the crust, which is a kind of tart dough and it is very easy: we mix the egg, the melted coconut oil, the sugar and the salt, then we put in the flour until we obtain a solid consistency. This time I used the Belbake mix, because I found a good deal for it and I wanted to see how it works. You can also use rice flour or buckwheat flour mixed with tapioca starch, add it over the liquid component until you get the desired dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the cream cheese: peel the almonds, wash them well, then put them in a blender and mix them with water until you get a fine and soft cream. We take a break from the cream and return to the crust. We take it out of the fridge, put it directly in the tray (I used a small, round tray with a diameter of 18 cm and a removable edge) and slowly, with our hands, we spread it on the bottom and climb it a little on the wall of the tray, about 2 cm, because the cream will be very liquid and not to be surprised to leak if the tray with removable edges is not tight enough. Put the crust in the oven heated to 175 degrees and leave for 8 minutes, we do not need to bake completely, but just to become a little crusty. In these 8 minutes we move quickly and finish the cream. That is, we put the rest of the ingredients in the blender and mix well. As I said, it will be very liquid, like a frothy milk, nice smelling. Remove the crust from the oven, do not shut the stove, leave it at 175 degrees. Carefully pour the cream into the pan, cover as tightly as possible with aluminum foil, being careful not to touch the surface of the cake, and put in the oven. In 20 minutes, remove the foil, turn the heat to 150 degrees and leave for another 45 minutes. Now it should be well baked and browned on the surface. Remove the tray from the oven and let it cool covered with a cloth towel, then refrigerate for a few hours, preferably more than 4, before cutting the wonderful cheesecake. If we still have the patience to decorate it, it’s good, if not, it’s good as it is. And because I had 2 egg whites left, I quickly threw in the oven a tray of macaroons too, because I just wasn’t going to throw them away.
