Mini Lemon and Blueberry cheezecakes

On our last night in Copenhagen with our friends Tina and Gunnar and I wanted to cook them something a bit special. We had eaten in a few raw food cafes during the week and I took my inspiration from
the fact that they both seemed to like lemon cheeze-cakey things.

During the week I noticed in their cupboard that they had little patty pans (for cup cakes) and thought they would make perfect little morsel for after dinner. After a day cycling around Copenhagen, I needed something small like a patty pan if dessert was going to have a chance to set in time. A large pie or cheezecake would take at least a couple of hours to set. So I made these little cakes while Caspar made the main dish of Roast vegetables with steamed broccoli on a bed of herby quinoa, topped with almond pesto (yum).

So after cycling home on our last adventures through Copenhagen and a quick stop at the health food shop, I came up with these mini cheezecakes. They set just in time for us to eat after dinner and were delicious the next day too.

I hope you like them.

Makes = 10x little cupcakes – 5.5cm in diameter

Filling

75gm cacao butter

1/3 coconut oil, soft or semi melted

1/3 light agave

1x lemon zest and juice

2/3 cup cashews (just under)

1x banana

1 tsp vanilla powder or ½ beans, de-seeded

pinch salt

Base:

100gm cashews (1/3 cup)

1/3 cup desiccated coconut

4 semi dried mejoul dates, (or 2 Californian fresh dates)

1 tbs coconut oil

The base

Blend the cashews in a food processor until they resembled a fine meal but before they turned into cashew butter! Then remove the cashews and place in a bowl while you chop the dates in the food processor. Then return the cashew meal back to the food processor along with the dessicated coconut and wizz for another minute. Stop and add the coconut oil and blitz for approximately 30 seconds or until the mixture looks a little crumbly and not soft and mushy!

 

Spoon a dessert spoon of mixture into each of the ten patty pans. Then gently press down the mixture to form a base. Place on a tray and into the fridge while you make the filling. They will set firm in the fridge with the coconut oil so don't worry if it looks a little soft.

The filling

First thing to do is to melt down the cacao butter. I roughly chop or shave the cacao butter into a little silver bowl, then pour boiling water into a larger silver bowl and float the smaller bowl with the cacao in it. I sometimes put a large saucepan lid over the large bowl to speed up the process (impatient me) but be sure to not let the condensation build up and drip into the melting cacao butter. Stir and check from time to time and if you need to change the now warm water and replace with new boiling water but with this little amount of cacao to melt, you should be fine with the first lot of water. You can also use glass or ceramic bowls but it may take longer to melt depending on the thickness of the bowls and you may need to change the water.

Then blend the cashew nuts into a very fine meal, in this recipe it's ok if it starts to form a little butter like consistency around the edges. Then add all the 'wet' ingredients. The melted cacao butter, coconut oil, agave syrup and the lemon juice and zest. Blitz for approximately 1 minute or until it is smooth. Then throw in the banana, vanilla paste and a pinch of salt, and blend for another 30 seconds.

Pour into patty pan molds and fill to the top. Be sure to spread them out evenly so they retain a nice and round shape. Allow to set for approximately one hour or until firm to touch. 

To garnish, scatter with a few blueberries and serve. I like to remove the paper pan (cupcake mold) if serving to guest but for an informal dessert, each person can do their own, if you like. They will melt and soften out of the fridge so serve straight from the fridge when you are ready to eat them.

They are so good, I hope you love them as much as me, Caspar and and our friends.