Raw Lemon Cheesecake with Berries
Desserts, Paleo, Vegan
In my own personal ‘Brexit’ I seem to be making a habit of leaving America for July 4th. Its completely unintentional, other than avoiding the three digit July heat, but last year…
If you’ve never tried making nut milk, you should! We always have a batch of it in a jar in the fridge waiting for coffee, granola, smoothies, baking and even savory sauces. It’s quick and easy to make, delicious, customisable, and doesn’t have any of the unwanted nasties that you find in a lot (most) store bought versions. You’ll just need whatever ingredients you want, and a good nut milk bag.
Our favourite is cashew coconut. The cashews are nice and neutral and as a combination I find this one holds up in coffee better than other nut milks. It will even froth up and give a nice foam for your coffee. For sweeter uses like coffee and granola I include cinnamon, vanilla, and dates but you can omit those if you want to use it in place of milk in a savoury sauce. I make white sauces with it a lot and you’d never know! Note: This can be done without the coconut, just leave it out.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2 hours) **Or almonds/hazelnuts/macadamia (See this instagram post about sourcing)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I use small flakes, or 1 cup large ones)
1 large medjool date (or two smaller ones)
1/4 tsp vanilla
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch good salt (an unrefined pink salt like this one is my taste preference)
DIRECTIONS
Add all the ingredients to a blender with 3-4 cups filtered water. Blend on a medium speed until the mixture is smooth and then increase to a higher speed for 30 seconds. Depending on your blender you’ll need more or less time, I use a Vitamix and I blend it for 1-2 minutes.
When it’s completely smooth and creamy pour the milk into a nut milk bag set in a bowl. Pull the drawstring of the bag tight and then gently squeeze the milk through the bag. When it’s all through, transfer it into a jar, seal and place in the fridge. I find it lasts 2-3 days in the fridge.
You can also experiment with using less water for a more creamy milk, or different nut combos. What I make changes a little based on what we have on hand. Play around and see what you love!
Here are our go to granola recipes if you need one to pour your fresh milk over!
Grawnola – a paleo, raw, crunchy and chewy bowl of yumminess!
Honey Nut Oat Granola – Our day to day go to, hearty and full of oats for an energy kick to start the day!
A note on dairy: I’m not anti dairy, I’m also not a professional but… I think that in its most organic, raw, unadulterated form it can probably be great in moderation. (Years back I actually worked on a dairy farm.) I’ve never been a fan of dairy milk though and as a child I would water it down for my cereal. While I’m grateful for my very tolerant stomach, dairy is the one thing I can feel making my stomach heavy. So for taste and for my stomach we don’t eat a lot and limit our intake to a small amount of raw cheese.
