If I had to choose my favourite flowers they would be forget-me-knot (they will always be my no 1), lilac, hyacinth, tulip, all wild flowers and my recent favourite sweet pea. I would love to hear yours?!
I was quite tempted to make a lilac cake as the petals are edible, but those delicate petals are just way too gorgeous to be blended into a cake, although I’m not saying I’m not going to try:) And so today it is a Raspberry Cheesecake, deep pink delicious adored with beautiful fragrant lilac.
It’s a simple cheesecake with sunflower seed tahini crust and creamy cashew coconut raspberry filling. It’s fairly closely adapted from my Raspberry White Chocolate Bars if you like to check them out.
Originally I wanted to make the cake completely nut free, but somehow I’ve ended up using cashews in the filling. However you can replace the cashews with another 100g (1/2 cup) of coconut butter to make it nut-free if you like. It will still be delicious.
Frozen raspberries give beautiful deep pink colour to this cake and I love the combination with lilac on top, true food for the soul. Enjoy!
Much Love Hxx
- Crust layer:
- 120g sunflower seeds (1 cup)
- 5 medjool dates, pitted
- 2tbsp tahini
- ½tsp cinnamon
- pinch Himalayan pink salt
- Raspberry layer:
- 120g cashews, soaked for 4 hours (1 cup)
- 60ml maple syrup (1/4 cup)
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 200g frozen raspberries, thawed (2 cups)
- 100g coconut butter (1/2 cup)
- 2tbsp coconut oil
- Prepare 6" round cake tin with removable base, no need to grease it.
- Place sunflower seeds into a food processor or high speed blender and pulse few times until coarsely ground. Add pitted dates, tahini, cinnamon and salt and blend until the mixture comes together. Add an extra date or tahini if needed.
- Spoon the mix into the tin, spread evenly onto the base and press tightly down. Place into a fridge.
- In a double boiler gently melt coconut butter with coconut oil and set aside.
- Rinse the soaked cashews under running water and place into blender. Add maple syrup, lemon juice and thawed raspberries and blend until smooth. Slowly add melted coconut butter and blend until incorporated. Make sure the mixture is at room temperature before adding the coconut butter.
- Spoon onto the crust layer and smooth out the top.
- Place into a freezer overnight or for at least few hours to set.
- Once set carefully remove from the tin.
- Place onto a cake stand and decorate with lilac or toppings of your choice.
- Store in a fridge or freezer.
- Enjoy!
Have all of the ingredients for the filling at room temperature before blending in the coconut butter.
Teresa says
May 7, 2017 at 5:42 pmBeautiful! I love raspberries so this cheesecake is definitely one for me! It looks delicious and it really does look like the ultimate healthy comfort food – true food for the soul indeed! My favourite flowers are bold, bright, cheerful sunflowers in response to your initial Q… I also love delicate fragrant sweet peas… From one extreme to the other hey?! ;-) Others I love: blue delphiniums, orange tulips and I also love wild flowers of all kinds… xxx
Hana says
May 12, 2017 at 9:22 pmThank you Dear Teresa for such gorgeous comment! Totally agree, this cake is food for the soul! And thank you for sharing your favourite flowers, I love your favourites!!! xxx
Violeta says
September 7, 2017 at 1:45 amHi, thank you for your awesome recipes :) I wanted to know if I can use agave nectar instead of maple syrup in this recipe (and the other recipes as well). I haven’t used any of those before, so I don’t know much about them… I use honey, what makes my cakes unvegan… Thanks again :)
Hana says
September 9, 2017 at 5:37 pmYou are so welcome Violeta! Yes, you can happily use agave instead of maple syrup in all of my recipes. If you prefer you can also use raw honey in the raw desserts, but you shouldn’t cook with it. :)
Sarah says
November 20, 2017 at 6:51 pmHi. I absolutely love your website after finding your cracker recipe. I’ll slowly make my way through it and am looking forward to something sweet next. Can I replace the coconut butter in this recipe with anything? I have almond butter and loads of desiccated coconut. I really wanted to make the Chickpea Almond Cake but will struggle to store it in the freezer so bought the raspberries for this but haven’t got the coconut butter.
Hana says
November 20, 2017 at 9:48 pmHi Sarah, I’m so happy to hear that! You could increase the cashews and coconut oil in this recipe which should work fine or make your own coconut butter with desiccated coconut if you have a food processor. It’s like making nut butter, all you need is to blend desiccated coconut until smooth creamy consistency. You could also look for creamed coconut block, lots of shops sell it in the UK, it’s the same as coconut butter.
Sarah says
November 21, 2017 at 7:44 pmExcellent! Thank you so much. I’ll be having a go tomorrow and will attempt my own coconut butter. Will let you know how I get on.
Sarah says
November 23, 2017 at 7:38 pmAmazing! Thank you so much. It was absolutely delicious and very simple to make, even with the homemade coconut butter. I’ve made something similar before but this was the best. I had it for dessert with a friend today but gave a little to my boys after school. One doesn’t like coconut, the other isn’t keen on nuts. They both asked for seconds. Can’t wait to try your chickpea almond cake as I know it’ll be a hit.
Hana says
November 25, 2017 at 5:34 pmHi Sarah, thank you so much for coming back and letting me know. I’m over the moon that you’ve enjoyed the cake so much, it’s one of my favourites :) Have an amazing weekend! xx
Ann says
January 13, 2018 at 1:04 amHello. Will it work if I don’t have a pan with a removable base?
Hana says
January 13, 2018 at 3:21 pmHi Ann, you will have to line it with some cling film or baking paper otherwise it will be difficult to take the cake out. That’s why I use tin with removable base, I just push it out. Alternatively silicon type moulds work well or you could also make it into bars. Just thinking maybe if you grease the tin well and then run a knife around the edges, it might come out.
Ana says
December 11, 2018 at 1:37 pmGorgeous photos – we love raw cakes in our household so I’ll definitely be trying your recipe this winter. Especially loved the crust idea – never thought of adding tahini in.
Love,
Ana
Hana says
December 13, 2018 at 9:28 pmHi Ana, thank you so much! It’s one of my favourite cakes, I hope you’ll all love it! Much Love, Hana