Raw Matcha Cheesecake

I have been forever a Matcha lover. I first started drinking it mixed with non dairy milk. Oat or coconut milk work well with Matcha tea. However, despite its bitter taste, you can also drink it alone.

Few years ago, I saw on Instagram people starting to use Matcha also for dessert. My concern at that time was: how could I create a Matcha cheesecake with only natural ingredients and no bitter taste?

Through browsing in the Internet I found Becomingness‘s raw Matcha cheesecake. This recipe is refined sugar-, dairy- and gluten-free, and still tastes amazing! Ness’s instructions were also easy to follow, and the quantities matched with the final result.

I believe food affects our emotional status. Through eating wholesome, we become happier and transmit this happiness to those around us. And a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean at all "oh I can't eat desserts", "oh I am going to be hungry" etc. Nourishing food is fulfilling and my favorite way to treat myself is through raw desserts.

I have been testing for few years different raw desserts. I can now say that I found the trick to make them consistent and sweet! ("clapping the hands" in the background ;-) )

For this raw Matcha cheesecake, you will need the following ingredients:

Cookie base:

• 1 cup raw almonds

• 1 cup desiccated coconut

• 8 dried pitted Iranian dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes

Filling:

• 3/4 cup coconut cream (I use Soja cream available in Migros)

• 1/2 cup Agave syrup

• 2 cups raw cashews (approx. 370gr), soaked for 2-3 hours in water and then drained

• 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, liquid

• 1 tbsp Matcha powder (I don't have a preferred brand, I dare to say that any powder can work)

Top layer:

• 100gr Matcha chocolate (I use the Zenbu Matcha chocolate available in Coop)

• 60gr cacao butter

• 1tsp Agave syrup

• Walnuts to taste

• 1tsp honey

Firstly, for an excellent result you will need good kitchen essentials. I tried blending the ingredients on my Vitamix once, and it totally failed! Lessons learnt: You definitely need a dry container for the cookie base. Hence, for mixing dry ingredients, I use Braun’s Multiquick 5 hand blender S-shape blender. Braun's set is great for people like me, who enjoy cooking but do not need professional equipment. The set brings the traditional blender and, our much needed the S-shaped blender.

First, set aside the cashews, soaking in water for 2-3 hours.

For the cookie base: Set aside in water for 10mins the dates. Don't forget to remove their stone!! I once forgot about it and it almost broke my blender.

In the meantime, add the almonds and the desiccated coconut to the S-shape container / dry container and process till it reaches a crumb-like consistency.

Add afterwards the dates. Once the three ingredients are blended together, move them to a bowl and, if the mix isn't sticky enough, add a bit of hot water and start kneading.

Spread first at the bottom surface of the mold some coconut oil and then add the mixture. Press the mixture against the bottom till it covers all the surface, and set it aside in the fridge.

For the filling: Blend in a high-speed together the honey, cashews, coconut cream and liquid virgin coconut oil. Once the mixture is smooth, add the Matcha powder and again, blend it in a high-speed till it is silky smooth. Then take out from the fridge the mold and spread the mixture on top of it. Leave it resting for at least 2-4 hours in the fridge. I prefer leaving it overnight to get a solid consistency.

Super important: if you have too less cashews, mixture will be too liquid. If you have too many cashews, it won't get silky smooth. You need to play a bit with the ingredients and find the right amount for you. Overall, the amounts I share in this post should work to get a smooth and solid filling.

For the top layer: add the matcha chocolate and the cacao butter to a saucepan. In low fire, let them start melt and consistently stir the mixture. Otherwise the chocolate will start to burn!

Once both ingredients are mixed, add the agave syrup and mix all ingredients again, still in the same saucepan. If you see that the mixture is becoming too solid, add more butter! having the top layer rather liquid than solid, it will allow you achieving more fancy results; like seeing the dark green layer dripping around the corners.

Set it aside on the fridge for additional 2 hours before serving.

When serving, you can caramelized in a pan some walnuts with honey. They add a super nice taste to the cheesecake.

Perfect for desserts or even for breakfast. I also like it as snack before exercising! it will fuel you with the needed energies for intense and long sport trainings.

If you try it out, do not hesitate to share with me your experience and feel free to tag me on your social media. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!! :-)

xx

Zohar