Ingredients

The following ingredients have 8 Servings
  • 12 dates, pitted and soaked in boiling water
  • two pinches of salt (optional)
  • about ¾ cup / 100 g almonds
  • 1 cup / 150 g raw cashews (soaked overnight)
  • ½ cup OR 120 ml coconut cream, chilled
  • 3½ level tsp agar agar flakes*
  • 1-1½ tsp finely grated ginger
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice, more to taste
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup, more to taste
  • ½ cup water OR aquafaba*
  • chocolate shavings
  • 30 g candied ginger, cut into a small dice

Instruction

  • Cut out 8 circles out of baking paper to cover the bottom of the mould you are going to use for the cheesecakes (I used a standard 12-hole muffin tin). Line the bottoms of the mould with paper circles. I recommend you also place a 1 inch / 2 cm wide paper strip under each cheesecake base as it will make removing these puppies much easier.
  • Grind your almonds in a food processor until you get a coarse crumb. Take them out of the food processor and set aside.
  • Drain your dates and chop them roughly. My food processor struggled to process an amount of dates this small so I actually turned them into a paste (doesn't have to be super smooth) in my pestle and mortar. If you prefer using a food processor, I would advise doubling the amount of dates and saving the other half for another use.
  • In a bowl, mix date paste with enough ground almonds to obtain a dough that isn't too sticky yet still holds together well. I prefer doing it by hand but you could also just dump your ground almonds back into the food processor if you've used it to blend your dates.
  • Mould cheesecake base mixture at the bottom of each muffin hole. Press it down well with your fingers so that there are no gaps / air-bubbles.
  • Just before you are ready to start blending the cheesecake, put agar flakes, ½ cup of water (or aquafaba for a slightly creamier end result) into a small pot. Let the mixture come to the boil and simmer on low-medium heat, stirring frequently, until flakes dissolve and the mixture becomes like a runny jelly. You'll need to work fast as agar sets as soon as it cools down.
  • Chuck rinsed cashews, coconut cream, lemon juice, maple syrup, grated ginger and warm agar mixture into a blender - you'll need to work fast as agar sets as soon as it cools down. Blend, scraping the sides of the blender from time to time as the set agar likes to stay on those. Blend until completely smooth.
  • As soon as the cheesecake mixture is super smooth, start dividing it between the moulds. You may need to smooth the tops with a silicone spatula to get an even finish. Decorate each cheesecake with candied ginger and chocolate shavings.
  • You don't need to put these cheesecakes into the freezer as they will set beautifully at room temperature. To remove cheesecakes from the moulds, grab both ends the paper strip and slowly ease the cheesecake out of the mould.