I was at a Middle Eastern shop the other day. I was just looking for red pepper paste, which is commonly used in Turkish cooking however as usual I walked out with more things than I could carry. They had all sorts of stuff I couldn't easily find elsewhere including chocolate extract, vanilla bean powder that didn't cost an arm and a leg, and edible rosewater. Rosewater isn't necessarily hard to find but most of the commonly available options have preservatives or are only meant for skincare use. This one I found was %100 Rosewater which I was pretty happy about, so I grabbed one.
I discovered I love the taste of Rosewater first when Macarons were all the rage back in Turkey, and back then I made it a mission to try every single flavour I could find. Chief among my favourites was a white chocolate rose flavoured macaron. So I've been trying to incorporate that flavour into my own desserts ever since.
That brings us to this wonderful vegan Raspberry Rose Cheesecake. When I made the Twix bars the other day, I loved the cream filling so much that I decided to do something similar, but make a whole cake out of it. I used the same biscuit layer of those bars as a crust for this dessert. On top of that I added a vanilla layer, then a rose layer and topped it up with raspberry sorbet swirls.
This was a pretty spontaneous recipe, but it turned out even better than I expected. The raspberry layer was a last minute decision, I basically wanted it to look less flat. So I mixed up some raspberries, coconut water and chia seeds in the blender and the result was ah-mazing. So much so that I used a little bit to make the swirlds on the cheesecake, then ate all the rest with some coconut yogurt. I reckon I'll make this sorbet into something else soon... maybe a smoothie bowl or something similar. It was too good to just use it as swirls.
If you've made some of my other recipes, you'll notice that most of the ingredients look familiar. For example, the almond crust I used for this recipe was also the biscuit layer in the Twix bars recipe that I posted the other day. I switch things up when I feel necessary, but I also want the recipes to be accessible to as many people as possible. I know a lot of people get scared off by complicated recipe lists, so I keep things pretty simple. Basically, If anyone wants to make my dessert recipes, the main things they need are cashews, dates, almond meal, vanilla extract, coconut cream or yogurt. I believe these are fairly easy to find, and a lot of vegans would already have them in their cupboard.
But I digress. Scroll down for the recipe for this delicious vegan Raspberry Rose Cheesecake. And if you make this recipe, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Preheat oven to 180C and line a square baking pan with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a dough.
Press onto the square pan and prick all over with a fork (this prevents rising).
Bake for 15 minutes, rotating it halfway. Let cool on the counter and place in the freezer, uncovered, while you prepare the filling.
In a high-speed blender, blend together the cashews, dates, lemon zest and juice, coconut yogurt and vanilla extract.
Pour half of this filling onto the crust and place back in the freezer while you prepare the next layer of filling.
Into the remaining filling mixture, mix in the dragonfruit powder and rosewater.
Gently pour over and spread on top of the previous layer, making sure not to mix up the two layers. Place back in the freezer while you prepare the raspberry swirl.
In the same blender jug (no need to wash), blend all the raspberry swirl ingredients.
Evenly pour teaspoonfuls of sauce onto the filling. Swirl with a knife. (Make sure not to go to deep with the knife as we don't wanna mix the fillings too much or damage the crust).
Cover with cling film and place back in the freezer. Allow it to set at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight. Slice into squares and serve. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 180C and line a square baking pan with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a dough.
Press onto the square pan and prick all over with a fork (this prevents rising).
Bake for 15 minutes, rotating it halfway. Let cool on the counter and place in the freezer, uncovered, while you prepare the filling.
In a high-speed blender, blend together the cashews, dates, lemon zest and juice, coconut yogurt and vanilla extract.
Pour half of this filling onto the crust and place back in the freezer while you prepare the next layer of filling.
Into the remaining filling mixture, mix in the dragonfruit powder and rosewater.
Gently pour over and spread on top of the previous layer, making sure not to mix up the two layers. Place back in the freezer while you prepare the raspberry swirl.
In the same blender jug (no need to wash), blend all the raspberry swirl ingredients.
Evenly pour teaspoonfuls of sauce onto the filling. Swirl with a knife. (Make sure not to go to deep with the knife as we don't wanna mix the fillings too much or damage the crust).
Cover with cling film and place back in the freezer. Allow it to set at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight. Slice into squares and serve. Enjoy!
