Raw Pumpkin & Vanilla Chai cheesecake with marbled dark chocolate ganache

Raw pumpkin & vanilla chai cheesecake with marbled dark chocolate ganache: the perfect addition to your fall dessert lineup

What you will need:

• high speed blender
• 20 cm springform pan
• a chopper or food processor
• a chopstick

Ingredients:

Vanilla Chai Layer

• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cashews soaked in water for at least 1 hour- overnight
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp honey (or sweetener of your choice, you can also use less and sweeten to your liking)
• 2 tsp chai spice (or mix together ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) Here is a link on how to make your own chai spice mix

Pumpkin Layer

• 2 cups cashews (soaked and drained)
• 1/2 a 15 oz can of pumpkin
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cups coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1-2 drops of stevia or 2 tbsp honey

Base

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts (or more walnuts if you don’t have hazelnuts)
•  1/2 cup of dates
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Dark chocolate ganache

• ½ cup super dark chocolate (80 % or higher is best)
• ¼ cup raw cacao powder
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil

Directions:

In your chopper or food processor, combine all of the base ingredients except for the dates. Once the nuts are chopped and crumb-like, add in the dates and combine. The chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, dates, coconut oil, and sea salt should create a semi-sticky malleable crust. Press this into the springform pan and put into the freezer while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Next, in a high speed blender, I used my nutribullet, combine all of the vanilla chai layer ingredients until creamy and uniform. Add this layer into the springform pan and place into freezer while you prepare the pumpkin layer.

Finally, clean out your blender and blend together all of the pumpkin layer ingredients. Add this layer on top of the vanilla chai layer.

Next, fill a pot or deep sauce pan with a few inches of water. Put on medium high heat. In a shallow pan add the chocolate ganache ingredients and place pan into the deeper pan/pot. Stir ingredients until you have a melted chocolate mixture. Pour a small amount of the ganache on top of the cheesecake and using a chopstick, create a marbled pattern. I watched a video on how to do this here

*Note: you won’t use all of the chocolate mixture but you can save it for other recipes in a sealed container in the refrigerator, simply heat up when you want to use it again.

Finally, put the cake in the freezer and let the freeze until solid, probably 4-6 hours to be safe. When you are about to eat, take the cake out of the freezer for about 10 minutes so it has time to soften to the optimal texture. Enjoy!