A funny thing happened when my publisher sent me a copy of my latest book to proof. I really disliked one of the pictures. I took it a couple of years ago, when I was just learning how to shoot food. There was a lot of trial and error at that point and this photo was in the error category.
I made the decision. I needed to reshoot the “cheese” cake. Since I was reshooting, I decided to redo the recipe, too. The original raw “cheese” cake was good but I wanted to lighten up the texture a bit. I also wanted a little more orange flavor. I am pretty darn happy with the results.
You will want to make this cheese cake the night before for proper setting up. Think of it as a make a-head dessert. You can add the extra layer of crumbs either on top or in the middle. I kind of like the way it looks in the middle!
Orange Chocolate “Cheese” Cake
Serves 12
Crust:
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 4 dates, soaked until soft
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
1. Place almonds and pecans in food processor and process until finely chopped.
2. Add dates and cacao. Process until well blended. Mixture should stick together when you pinch it.
3. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of a 7-inch spring form pan
lined with parchment paper. Make sure you press it well.
4. Set the remaining 1/3 mixture aside to use for filling layer or to sprinkle on top.
Filling:
- 1/2 cup orange zest
- 2 cups cashews, soaked until soft (4+ hours), rinsed and drained well
- 1 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup fresh orange juice (approximately 3 oranges, depending how juicy they are)
- 2/3 cup raw agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1. Zest oranges and set aside.
2. In high-speed blender, combine cashews, coconut oil, orange juice and raw agave nectar. Blend until smooth.
3. Add zest and ginger. Pulse just to combine.
4. Pour over crust.
5. Refrigerate overnight.
6. Top with remaining crust.
Chef’s Note: If you want to use the crust as a layer (like photo), you will need to pour half the filling mixture into the pan and place it in the freezer for a bit (DO NOT LET FREEZE) to let it set up. Sprinkle crust over bottom layer then carefully pour in the remaining filling mixture.
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
love the recipe but not sure how much agave nectar…2/3 what?
I have NO problems revisiting something this delicious
I’ve always wondered how a vegan cheesecake could be made since cheesecake was always my favorite dessert growing up. I’ve always wanted to try but never really knew where to start so thanks for sharing the recipe!
mmmm….need to make this!
This definitely looks delicious, the photos are seriously gorgeous. I love the look of the crumbs in the middle too! Cheesecake is a definite top dessert or tea-time treat for me. Yum, pinning this for near-future reference
That sounds SO good! I can’t get enough chocolate and orange lately. I like the short list of ingredients, too. Easy peasy!
The jaffa (orange/choco) flavour combination is one of my very favorites — I can’t wait to try this out!
Looks delish! I’m totally going to have to try this
Would pure maple syrup work the same in place of agave?
It is not as sweet and has a much thinner consistency. You would have to use quite a bit more and adjust the coconut oil so the cake will still set up. You can find good raw, organic agave.
Susan, you are the Leonardo da Vinci of raw food.
Can’t wait to try this and share it with my friends.
This looks absolutely divine. I will be searching for a 7-inch springform pan on this little island of Bali just so this amazing cake can be made. Thank you for creating such magic here.
Do you soak & dehydrate the almonds for the crust prior to use ?
I always do but it is not necessary for the success of the recipe. Cheers!
Just made this and wanted to say thankyou for sharing the recipe! It was delicious and I was amazed how much the texture actually did resemble cheesecake!
Glad you liked it! Cheers!
Thanks for posting this!! I use your recipe for the chocolate cheezecake too and it’s a fool proof recipe that everyone begs me to make! This is for sure going to be my Thanksgiving day treat!
OK- I’m not gonna lie. I saw this post and I actually SAW exclamation points! I will make this for the next family get together! They love trying out the cheesecakes I make.
Just one question. WHAT are your tips for zesting? I always fail at it (I think I’m failing anyways?) so a tip or two would be really handy!
(Especially since 1/2 cup of zest is a lot! Would you recommend zesting, then juicing?)
Would I be able to reduce some of the coconut oil? I’m thinking something like 3/4 cup and then set it up in the freezer instead?
Hi! I´m super glad I found your website, I recently joined the raw food world and I´m loving it!.
I live in Peru – South America and we are in raw food heaven, but… no agave nectar here. We have raw sugar, “chancaca” honey which is made from raw sugar cane and we have honey or stevia but it comes in a package and I don´t eat anything that do not comes from the ground. Which one should I use?. Hope you can help me. Thanks a lot!
Could I use coconut palm sugar in place of the agave? I’ve read that agave is actually packed full of fructose and can be worse than regular sugar. Thanks.
Not all agave is bad. I write about it in quite a few places here. As far as the coconut sugar, you can not replace a liquid with a solid and have it work out. You could try another liquid sweetener. Cheers!
Ooops – just started one with the previous recipe – loved it then – gift for a friend. Now I will have to follow “new rules” for X-Mas dessert : )
You can always make the old one!!
I am sooo keen to make this – I love orange-ginger as a flavour combo and would LOVE it topped with dried cranberries for some festive cheer! But I ‘m interested why you swapped coconut butter (old recipe) for coconut oil (new recipe) – is that what lightens it? Thanks!
If you don’t like the coconut oil (I hardly notice it) you can buy coconut oil that is flavorless. Cheers!
Hi – I was really excited to make this as my first “raw food” recipe as dessert for our Xmas dinner. It was delicious and very easy to make. Only thing is that I ended up zesting about 9 or 10 oranges to get the 1/2 cup required which was a lot.
This dessert is definitely one to make for a special occasion
I have never had to use more than 2 oranges to get 1/2 cup zest. You might want to try a micro-plane zester/grater. Cheers
Susan, thank you so much for such wonderful recipe, we already enjoyed it twice! All our family AND gusts liked this delicious cake! I did pass your website link to some of my friends, hope they will enjoy other recipes too.
thank you!
Happy New Year!
Thank you, and you are welcome!
Orange Chocolate Cheese Cake What is the caloires of this riche cheese cake?????
You will have to find a nutritional calculator on-line for this information. You can enter the ingredients and then divide by number of servings to get the total calories. It is pretty important to understand that many factors come into play when assessing the nutritional value of a food, not just calories.
THank you for your answer this very delicious cheese cake
My hubby is allergic to almond, do you suggest an alternative?
Hello! I made this last night and it turned out amazing! Thank you for sharing it with the world! I had figs instead of dates and it was perfect.
In crusts, almost any nuts can be used. Just take into consideration the flavors. IE, you would not put walnuts (bitter) with pecans (sweet). Cheers!
HELP!! Not sure what I did wrong, but mines didn’t set over night in the refrigerator….. I’m not sure if I bought the right coconut oil. Mines is in a bottle like cooking oil, which didn’t need to be melted???
I use raw, organic virgin coconut oil, cold pressed. The coconut oil for these recipes is solid at room temperature. That is how the desserts set up. Cheers!
Thanks for that, I’m going to try again today.. Wish me luck…
I have two questions.
1. Could I soak the cashews overnight? Say, much longer than four hours? I want to make the pie tomorrow for Saturday, but it would be convenient if the cashews are ready for use.
2. If I melt the coconut oil, I heat it up over the stove? Is the basic principle of raw cooking not that you don’t heat anything over body temperature?
Yes, you can soak your cashews overnight. You can melt the coconut oil over hot water or in a dehydrator. Cheers!
Thanks!
I just made this yesterday. It worked perfectly and will certainly impress my guests tonight!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I do have one question though. I am finding I am not very found of the flavor of coconut oil. Maybe I made it wrong but it seemed to overpower the orange flavor. Is there anything I can do to tone it down a bit? Would coconut butter be the same?
You can get a coconut oil that is unscented and doesn’t taste like coconut. It isn’t raw, though. I haven’t tried coconut butter.
I made this recipe over the weekend, and am largely pleased. Really easy and delicious. I used blood oranges, and highly recommend doing so when they are in season.
However, although 3 oranges did, indeed, yield 1 cup of juice, it took an additional 4 oranges to get 1/3 cup of zest. I opted to go with what I had instead of making an additional shopping trip, and am glad that I did. Even with less than the called for amount, I found it to be just a touch too tart. I believe that a full 1/2 cup of zest would be too bitter. Going forward, I will just use the 3 oranges to source the juice and zest.
If you zest with a microplane, you will easily get 1/3 cup of zest from two oranges. If your oranges have thin skins, it may take a little more. Be careful not to get the white and it won’t be bitter.
Making this for my next book club! The girls will love it! How did you make the pretty orange peel swirls on top?
Made this with pomegranate juice and your ganache as a topping with bittersweet marmalade in it. My co-workers loved it! Thank you!!!!
Can I or do I soak the pecans and almonds before hand, without hydration them? Or neither? Thanks!