Raw Vegan Lemon Cranberry Cheesecake

A delicious, raw cheesecake that my mom & I made for Thanksgiving dinner at a raw-foodie friend's house. I found the recipe on the Healthy Blender Recipes blog: http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/raw_vegan_lemon_cranberry_cheesecake/ and I have only made a couple of tweaks to the original. Mainly in the instructions, for clarity, and I added an hour to the cashew soaking time, as we felt the filling wasn't as smooth as it could be if the nuts were even softer to begin with. Note that cooking time is actually soaking and freezer time. :)

• Ready In: 8 hrs 20 mins
• Serves: 10-12
• Yields: 1 9

Ingredients

• Crust

• 2  cups  raw  almonds
• 2  cups pitted dates, chopped fine
• 1⁄2 cup  raw cacao powder

• Filling

• 3  cups raw cashews, soaked for 3 hours
• 1 1⁄2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1  cup  organic unrefined coconut oil
• 3⁄4 cup  raw  Agave
• 1⁄2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄2 cup  filtered water
• 1  tablespoon lemon zest
• 1  teaspoon  alcohol free vanilla extract
• 1  pinch  celtic sea salt

Directions

1. To make the crust:
2. Place the almonds, dates and cacao powder in your food processor until well combined.
3. Roll this mixture into a ball (you might need a few more dates).
4. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan with coconut oil.
5. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan and set aside.
6. To make the filling:
7. Place all of the filling ingredients into the blender and blend until rich and creamy. Feel free to taste-test now and add a little more sweetener or lemon zest, as this filling is quite tart.
8. Pour the filling into the spring form pan, cover with aluminum foil, and place in the freezer for at least 5 - 12 hours.
9. Before serving, allow the cake to defrost for an hour and then place in the fridge. To serve, remove cake from pan, cut into slices and serve with raw cashew cream and lemon zest or cranberry sauce.
10. **Note: because of the coconut oil this cheesecake will melt if left out in the heat. The coconut oil rises to the surface and will bead up like little pools of ice. I just picked them off when it happened.