Once you begin to experiment with fun toppings, a whole new colourful and fun world opens up.
Rose petals, dried lavender, different nuts, seeds and dried fruits as well as fresh fruits and sauces... all make exciting choices to play with.
Bringing lovely fragrances and colours to the end result.
Even big chunks and lumps of toffees, chocolates or protein balls can be included.
No 2 cakes need ever look the same again.
Today the caramel chocolate topping was inspired by an impressive Australian 21 year old student who also in her spare time makes amazing food and photos - she has a stunning Instagram account (@nourishingnicola) and fantastic blog too.
The caramel chocolate topping is thanks to an amazing Australian company that makes gorgeous organic raw vegan chocolates (as well as many other high quality products). The company is called "Loving Earth".
~And for this recipe, their 'Organic Raw Caramel Chocolate' bar, was simply melted (at a gentle temperature to maintain raw status) and then poured over a cooled and set cheesecake.
For those of you that don't have access to that chocolate or brand, I will include in today's recipe - my own recipe for a raw vegan caramel white chocolate topping - which is quite similar in taste.
It's a great recipe to have - to store in fridge and either eat as a chocolate treat or re-melt and use as a sauce on other recipes. It's posted down below at the end of today's post.
Also at the end is a link to an easy home-made macadamia nut butter recipe which is used in the caramel recipe.
Alternatively you could drizzle your own favourite chocolate sauce or another sauce on this cheesecake.
Raw lemon cheesecake with a luscious
caramel chocolate topping.
Base.
1 cup pecan nuts
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup walnuts
1 Tbl. goji berries
1 Tbl. chia seeds
1 cup pecan nuts
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup walnuts
1 Tbl. goji berries
1 Tbl. chia seeds
1 heaping Tbl. carob powder
2 Tbl. almond flakes
3 or 4 dates
add a few drops of water if more stickiness needed
3 or 4 dates
add a few drops of water if more stickiness needed
Filling.
soak 2 cup raw cashews for at least 2 hoursjuice of 1 medium sized lemon
2 or 3 Tbl. sweetener - I used Maple syrup (taste test to see if more/less needed)
1/4 cup water (more if blender needs it)
4 Tbl. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla pastesalt to taste (optional)
Topping.
3/4 Tbl. edible dried rose petals
1 tsp. dried lavender
1 Tbl. chopped raw pistachios
* I used an 18cm spring form pan. And I did line the bottom and then also the inside of the pan with cling wrap. I like to prepare this before I start making the pie.
Mix base ingredients and as stated above - the tiniest amount of water only needed to make the ingredients turn super stickier.
Then transfer and press into the bottom of a spring form pan. I know it's not ideal - but use cling wrap if you want a super easy tidy finish and pie that's easy to remove.
Let it sit in the freezer while you make the filling.
Discard the water the cashews were soaking in and blend well all the other ingredients - taste testing to suit your own preference for sweetness and saltiness.
If your blender is straining to mix- add a little water at a time.
Sometimes I will end up adding an extra 1/2 cup of water. Aim for a very smooth, yet quite thick consistency - but it should be runny enough to be able to move-on-it's-own reasonably well when the blender jar is tipped up side down to pour out ... ~ but with you helping it along a little with the spatula.
Pour 1/3 of the blended mixture onto base (or just enough to cover the base) and scatter some fresh berries though out the topping, I used about 7 fresh raspberries and 8 or 9 frozen blueberries.
and now carefully pour the rest of the mixture onto the berries and base - making sure berries are covered
Now place into the freezer.
It should take at least 2 hours to set - 3 or 4 even better.
When the cheesecake has cooled and you're ready to put the caramel topping onto the cake, if using the "Loving Earth" brand chocolate...
~gently melt 1/2 of one of their 100g bar. (Pictured above).
Now you can drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cold cake and then scatter rose petals, lavender and a small handful of chopped raw pistachios.
If you want the petals and nuts to stick to the chocolate - make sure to scatter them as soon as possible, but if you want them loose, just wait for the caramel chocolate to harden (it will only take minutes), and then scatter the dried flowers and nuts. I prefer it loose, as not everyone is a fan of rose or lavender taste, and it gives someone the option to scrape off / remove them.
The cake is finished... pop it back in freezer to store.
For those of you wanting to make your own chocolate caramel sauce...
Raw caramel white chocolate
1/3 cup cacao butter melted
1/6 cup macadamia nut butter (or cashew nut butter)
1 1/2 Tbl. light agave syrup (or maple syrup, I used light agave in an attempt to make this a lighter colour thats all)
2 large soft de-pitted dates
3/4 tsp. vanilla syrup
Melt cacao butter (gently at a low temperature if wanting to maintain raw status)
then pour it in with all other ingredients into a small mixer and blend very well until as smooth as possible. With such a small quantity I couldn't use my blender so this is why I'm using my smaller mixer instead.
It is now ready to pour onto any dessert recipe, or if making a nice chocolate or storing the left over sauce - pour into baking paper lined container, and store in fridge.
If pouring onto a cool surface or putting in fridge - it will cool and harden quite quickly.
For those of you that want an easy recipe to make your own macadamia nut butter .. the following is a link to that recipe.
. . . . .
Remember to always ... serve Love at your table.
ღ
© Magdika Cecilia Pérez
(for : serve Love at your table)
No comments:
Post a Comment