In the past, vegan pastry chefs used silky tofu to get a creamy texture, but the current trend is cashew nuts. Soaked for 8 hours or overnight, raw nuts become very soft, and it is very easy to make velvety soups or thick sauces from them in a blender. Due to their sweet taste and high fat content, cashews have become an excellent substitute for dairy products in recipes for puddings, pies, and, above all, cheesecakes. “Cashews take on the flavor of whatever you mix them with, so they are very easy to work with,” says Dana Schultz, a well-known vegan blogger. Vegan cashew cheesecakes are a frozen raw dessert. It is dairy-free and the binder that eggs play in the classic cheesecake is vegetable coconut oil. Coconut milk allows for a more creamy texture, while cocoa butter gives chocolate cheesecakes “endurance” – they do not melt at room temperature. If you want to sweeten a raw cheesecake and avoid the grainy white sugar so hated in vegan circles, use liquid sweeteners like agave syrup, honey, or maple syrup. Ashley Alexandra, another famous vegan blogger, notes that it takes about 10 minutes to mix cashews with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. She recommends using a high speed blender to speed up the process. Well, what is a cheesecake without a crispy crust? You must be pleasantly surprised to learn that cashew cheesecakes are grain-free and gluten-free. The crust is created by ground sunflower or pumpkin seeds and nuts (walnuts and almonds are most often used in recipes), as well as ground oatmeal or buckwheat. Since vegan desserts do not contain butter, these ingredients are mixed with mashed dates and a little coconut oil to create a crust. (By the way, it is dates that add sweetness to desserts). Raw cheesecakes can be made using muffin tins or tiny tins (nowadays they are a hit in the vegan environment), but don’t ditch the classic cake tin either. Place the finished cheesecake in the freezer for at least an hour. And then – can I have two pieces, please? : bonappetit.com : Lakshmi
2022-11-11