Happy Spring Equinox to all of my beautiful readers. My colour for March is Yellow and I have created a couple of lovely new recipes for you, a Lemon Layer Cake coming in the next post and this little Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake with some gorgeous yellow edible flowers to warm your hearts.
We seem to be having an early Spring in London, daffodils are long out and many trees are blossoming, now all is needed is a little sunshine and blue skies. What is your favourite thing about Spring?
This blueberry lemon cheesecake was a completely spontaneous recipe and I’ve created it only because of these lovely edible flowers. I wanted to know how they would behave if pressed into a cheesecake and then frozen. Wow did I get a lovely surprise, look at this beauty.
It’s a very simple raw cheesecake recipe with lovely blueberry lemon flavour combination, visually really beautiful with the different layers. I used wild blueberries for their beautiful purple pigment, but if you can’t find any you can happily use blueberries. The edible flowers on top are completely optional, it’s just that extra little magical touch. Enjoy the recipe and let me know how you like it :)
“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.” -John Burroughs
Happy First Day of Spring!
Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake (raw, vegan & grain-free)
Ingredients
Crust layer:
- 90g almonds (3/4 cup)
- 35g sunflower seeds (1/4 cup)
- 50g desiccated coconut (1/2 cup)
- ½tsp cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
- 1tsp maple syrup
Blueberry layer:
- 100g frozen wild blueberries, slightly thawed (1 cup)
- 120g cashews, soaked for 4 hours (1 cup)
- 60ml maple syrup (1/4 cup)
- 2tbsp almond milk
- ½ lemon, zest
- ½ lemon, juice
- 1tsp vanilla
- 100g coconut butter, melted (1/2 cup)
Lemon layer:
- 120g cashews, soaked for 4 hours (1 cup)
- 60ml maple syrup (1/4 cup)
- 60ml almond milk (1/4 cup)
- 1 lemon, zest
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1tsp vanilla
- 100g coconut butter, melted (1/2 cup)
Topping:
- edible flowers (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare 7" square cake tin with removable base.
- Place almonds and sunflower seeds into a food processor and pulse few times until ground. Add desiccated coconut, pitted dates, cinnamon and salt and blend until the mixture comes together. Add maple syrup and blend again. You should have a sticky mix when pressed together.
- Spoon the crust mix into the tin, spread evenly onto the base and press tightly down. Place into a fridge.
- Rinse the soaked cashews for the blueberry layer under running water and place into high speed blender. Add blueberries, maple syrup, almond milk, lemon zest and juice and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add melted coconut butter and blend until incorporated.
- Spoon the mixture onto the crust layer and smooth out the top. Cover the cake with a layer of baking paper and cling film on top and place into a freezer until set enough for lemon layer.
- Rinse the soaked cashews for the lemon layer under running water and place into high speed blender. Add maple syrup, almond milk, lemon zest and juice and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add melted coconut butter and blend until incorporated.
- Spoon the mixture onto the blueberry layer and smooth out the top. Gently press few edible flowers (petal part only) onto the top. Cover the cake with a layer of baking paper and cling film on top to prevent frostbite and place into a freezer until completely set.
- Once set carefully remove from the tin and with a sharp knife cut into 8 bars.
- Leave to thaw before serving.
- Store in a fridge or freezer.
Your creations are always divine. I can’t stop admiring your creativity and talent. Congratulation!
Thank you so much dear Adriana for such beautiful comment. It’s my absolute bliss :) xx
These slices look simply magical, Hana!
Thank you dear Natalia! xx
Can I use coconut oil instead of coconut butter?
Hi Batia, yes, you can set it with coconut oil too, it might be nicer to swap the almond milk with coconut cream in that case. Hope you like it :)
Hi, what changes would you suggest if I wanted to swap the coconut butter for coconut milk? I cannot find coconut butter anywhere…
Hi Ma, coconut butter is sometimes called creamed coconut, they sell it in international food shops and you can also make your own with some desiccated coconut. But if you can’t find it I suggest that you replace the almond milk with 120ml (1/2 cup) coconut cream (the solid part from a can of coconut milk) and replace the coconut butter with 80ml (1/3 cup) of coconut oil. That should work well :)
Hi, love this receipe!! But unfortunaley I am allergic to cocunut, I was wondering if it’s possible to substitute the coconut butter for almond yoghurt?
Hi Floor, you will need something to set it, you could use some melted cacao butter, about 80ml (1/3 cup). Or Irish moss could work too.
Where can I purchase these flowers at?
Hi, I buy edible flowers from either Maddocks Farm Organics or Greens of Devon in the UK. In summer I can get them at the Farmers market too.
Hi Hana,
What an amazing recipe! As a novice baker I really enjoyed every aspect of this, especially the decorative part!
I’ve got a bit of the blueberry mix leftover, any recommendations on how to use it in something else? I accidentally mixed the lemon juice for the top layer in the middle layer so it’s quite flavourful, I’ve added some extra maple syrup to bring the flavour down a bit.
😊