Nothing better than a healthy, easy, no bake, cold dessert for a hot day!   I have been wanting to make raw desserts ever since I discovered Minnesotan Susan Power's blog Rawamazing.  I was so intrigued by the quality of her ingredients and the beauty of the desserts she created.  I wanted to try them all!  How can you make mouth watering beautiful desserts out of fruits and nuts and stuff?   This was my first realization of the raw food world.  I went to the library and checked out a few books on raw food (Susan Powers has some great raw cookbooks herself too) and I was hooked.
Why go raw?  When we cook food it loses some of it's nutrition and enzymes.  I don't think I'll ever go 100% raw, but I would love to have my diet by at least half raw.  I think the raw recipes that looked the best to me is the desserts and crackers.   This is my first time making a raw dessert.  I did however make a raw pie crust with crumbs I made from dehydrating.  The crust on this pie was much easier! 

I've heard about the raw "cheesecake" before but never got around to making it.  Last night I was browsing through Blogilates you tube channel and saw that Cassey Ho had a video for making "cheese" cake (you can watch it below it's actually kind of funny).  I watched it and thought wow that looks even easier than I thought.  Why have I not made this yet?   I happen to have all the ingredients needed on hand and I just got a "new" food processor from an estate sale last week.  It turned out great and it was sooo easy!

I will caution you that this isn't exactly low calorie, but it does have a lot of nutrition per calorie unlike the real deal.  So what is really cool about that is you can actually have a piece of pie for breakfast or lunch and not feel bad about it!  I'm having a slice for breakfast today myself!

 I based my recipe off of Cassey Ho's but altered it slightly.  I used honey instead of agave just because there seems to be debate about weather or not agave is good for you.  My rule of thumb is anything there is debate over, I avoid it whenever possible.  I also used stevia to reduce the amount of honey needed.  I found the texture to be not smooth enough for me so I added 2 frozen yogurt ice cubes I had in the freezer for smoothies to it and it seemed to help.  I also changed the syrup from her recipe slightly.  I used strawberries and guessed on the amount since her 1/2 a bag is pretty vague.  I also used honey instead of agave and less of it and added stevia.  I also felt the dates didn't add anything and were just chunks in mine, so I left them out.  If you have a bullet like she used it might work, but I only had my food processor.  Next time I plan to try to use a little less coconut oil and a little more lemon juice to replace it, just to lighten it up a bit it might even add extra flavor too.  If you plan to try the same just make sure that you can store it in your freezer, since coconut oil is solid at cooler temps (like yo fridge) and helps keep the pies shape.

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake
(makes 1 whole pie)
Prep time: 15 m in
Total time: 2 1/2 to 3 hrs
Crust Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups of raw walnuts
• 1/4 cup dates (soaked for 10-15 min if dried)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

"Cheese" Cake Filling Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups of soaked (3-8 hrs) raw cashews
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)
• 1/4 cup of organic lemon juice
• 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons of raw honey (can sub with raw agave syrup)
• 2 tablespoon of stevia (can sub 1/4 cup of raw honey or agave syrup)
• 1-3 tablespoons of milk of choice (coconut, cashew, almond, etc)

 Directions

1.  Place 1 3/4 cups of walnuts into a 6 cup or larger food processor along with 1/4 cup of soaked dates and grind until thoroughly chopped and combined.
2. Press the crust into a 9 inch pie tin and place into the freezer while making filling (about 10 min).
3. Drain soaked cashews in a large colander (if it's slimy that's okay just rinse it well).  
4. If your need to melt your coconut oil you can do so now by creating a double boiler.  Place oil in a metal or glass bowl over  a pot with water that fits it and turn stove on low to medium heat stirring occasionally until melted (if this is confusing just watch the video below to see how they did it).
5. Place 2 3/4 cups of soaked and drained cashews into a 6 cup or larger food processor along with 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil, 3 tablespoons of raw honey, 2 tablespoon of stevia, and 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract.  Process until the texture is smooth.  If it is not smooth enough you can add some milk alternative of your choice a little at a time until smooth.
6. Spread your "Cheese" onto your crust and freeze for 2-3 hours until set.  Slice and serve with raw strawberry sauce (recipe below).  Store in freezer for best shelf life, but if not possible you can store in the refrigerator up to a few days.

Raw Strawberry Sauce Recipe 
(makes 1/2 a pint and fits into a wide mouth 1/2 pint canning jar perfectly!)
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen organic strawberries 
• 3 tablespoons of raw honey (can sub with raw agave syrup)
• 2 tsp of stevia (can sub 1/4 cup of raw honey or agave syrup)
• 1 tsp or organic lemon juice 

Directions

1.  Place 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries, 3 tablespoons of raw honey, 2 tsp of stevia, and 1/2 tsp of lemon juice in your food processor, blender, or bullet.  
2. Blend until it looks like syrup and all ingredients are blended well.  Taste and add more stevia or honey if not sweet enough for you.

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