This raw cranberry orange cheesecake is a flavorful and festive dessert, full of warm spices and a delicious and refreshing cranberry orange flavor. Vegan, gluten-free, paleo.
Seeing fresh cranberries at the shops never ceases to make me excited. A clear sign of autumn, and of the delicious autumnal things to come…
In this simple raw cheesecake I paired the cranberries with orange (because they go so well together), warm spices (especially in the crust — reminiscent of gingerbread!), and a hint of pistachios. And it turned out incredibly flavorful. Sweet, tart, and warmly spiced. And such a pretty and speckled light coral color.
The list of ingredients might seem longer than usual on this one (compared to many of my other raw cakes), but they’re all simple ingredients to find and mostly spices you probably already have in your cupboard :)
The recipe makes a small 5″ cake, but it can easily be scaled up to a 6″ or 9″ or scaled down to a smaller 4″ cake as needed. To see how to size the cake up or down, see the downloadable raw cake multiplication helper section below the recipe.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Yield: 5" cake
Ingredients
Crust:
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 soft medjool date, pitted
- ½ tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tbsp coconut oil, softened or liquefied
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger (spice)
- ⅛ tsp allspice
Filling:
- ¾ cup raw cashews, pre-soaked and strained*
- ½ cup fresh cranberries, at room temp**
- 5 tbsp maple syrup
- zest of 1 small orange
- 4 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 4 tbsp coconut oil, softened or liquefied
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ginger (spice)
- ⅛ tsp salt
Optional Toppings:
- additional fresh cranberries (sliced in half), sliced pistachios
Instructions
- Process all crust ingredients into a fine sticky crumble in a food processor. Transfer to a 5″ springform pan and press down into an even crust along the base. Freeze while working on the next step.
- Blend all filling ingredients into a smooth creamy mixture in a power blender. Transfer the mixture into the pan over the prepared crust. Decorate with toppings of your choice.
- Freeze for 5-6 hours or overnight to allow the cake to set. Thaw out lightly (10 mins or so), slice and enjoy!***
Notes
* To pre-soak nuts: place in a glass bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak for 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Then strain and discard the water. For a quick pre-soak, cover with boiled water and soak for 15 mins, then strain and discard water. (Note: this technique doesn’t preserve the nutrition of the recipe as well as the traditional soaking technique above). Additional Note: the purpose of soaking the nuts is to re-hydrate them and plump them up for blending into a smooth, cheesecake-like consistency. Proper soaking techniques also maximize nutrition and digestibility.
** The cranberries need to be at room temp as otherwise they can make the mixture harden and seize up inside the blender, preventing it from blending into a creamy smooth consistency. All ingredients for the filling should be room temp for this reason, but I highlighted the cranberries especially since fresh cranberries tend to be refrigerated or frozen.
*** Storage notes: treat this cake like ice cream. Keep it cake frozen at all times until ready to eat, and freeze any leftovers. If left too long at room temperature it will begin to melt back into the consistency it was in the blender.
** The cranberries need to be at room temp as otherwise they can make the mixture harden and seize up inside the blender, preventing it from blending into a creamy smooth consistency. All ingredients for the filling should be room temp for this reason, but I highlighted the cranberries especially since fresh cranberries tend to be refrigerated or frozen.
*** Storage notes: treat this cake like ice cream. Keep it cake frozen at all times until ready to eat, and freeze any leftovers. If left too long at room temperature it will begin to melt back into the consistency it was in the blender.
