🍰 Say What?
I continue my quest for more healthy desserts with this entry into the no cheese, cheesecake world. If you’re a dessert lover as I am, you’re looking for better options. I mean, what is a world without dessert? Here’s one to add to your to-do list. Make a delicious Blueberry Cheesecake Vegan and Gluten Free! The crust is sweet and delicious, you won’t miss a thing, no butter or flour in this luscious beauty. The cake is creamy and addicting and the naturally sweet blueberry topping is the perfect fruity kiss on top. It’s delightful if every way and much lighter than traditional cheesecake.
MasterChef 👩🏻🍳
About 6 years ago, I decided to audition to become a contestant on Masterchef. What on earth 🌎 did I know? Nothing, I knew nothing. Knowing absolutely nothing before jumping in is my superpower 🦸🏻♀️ and, as usual, I made a number of assumptions. First, I assumed I would sail through the initial round, then find that I would be eliminated, probably by the second round (I don’t know if that means I think I’m all that or I lack the proper confidence to be a winner). That was my completely uninformed summation gained simply from watching MasterChef on television 📺 .
I was wrong! 🤦🏻♀️ As I could tell, many of the contestants are actually pre-selected. As the show continued to be successful, it was more and more (and rightfully so) filled with amazingly great cooks who were already well-known food bloggers. This of course was well before I had started to get to know anything about the world of food blogging. I say that like I’ve got it down. It’s a work in progress!
How It Works
You go to the location the day of the cattle call 🐄 interview. You line up and wait to get into a judging room. They take you in groups of about 15. There were about 150-200 people, so it took a little bit of time. Hopefuls are asked to bring a fully cooked dish. The interview consists of you plating the dish and explaining it over about a minute or so. There are two interviews. One is with the a few of the bravest chefs on the planet 🌎. They have to taste the food.
The chefs who may or may not be paid for their time, go around and ask you what you’ve made and why you made it. They apparently are not forced to actually taste the food, but that is certainly the point, so from what I could see, they mostly do take tastes. The fear factor being that most of us have been keeping our dishes warm in very unusual ways, for the better part of a long morning.
What Did You Make?
“What have you made today?” he asked. “I made a homemade pumpkin ravioli in (some kind of a) creamy sage sauce with fried sage leaves on top”. I don’t actually remember, but I did work on the sauce for some time ahead. The greatest challenge was to be able to make a sauce that was going to be served at room temperature as I decided best to make something that would hold up at rather than turn to something unrecognizable.
To my great relief, he took a bite. He asked a bit the dish and seemed to like it. By that I mean, he was still smiling and didn’t bolt for the door or anything like that. But still, hmmm, nothin’ I could read nothin’.
The chefs make notes on cards that are upside down right in front of you. We are warned not to look at the cards and that doing so is grounds for immediate disqualification. (I wish I’d looked at the card.) 😐
Personality Test 🤩
The Next audition is from the casting people. Yes, casting people. I didn’t see that one coming. However, I learned afterwards if I’d done even the slightest research ahead of time, I would have known and could have prepared.
She asked, “what made you choose this particular recipe”? I replied, “I love to cook with pumpkin and I actually grow pumpkins in my garden. Once I grew a 700 lb pumpkin!” Surely, that would show her how much personality I had. I actually cooked with something I grow in my garden and it was something awesome. Not just a regular garden pumpkin. I thought I was so clever.
Nope, she didn’t even pretend to be impressed with me. I could see my dreams of cooking contestant crashing fast. No false hope. Drats, stardom dream dashed in a dash.
My Gordon Moment
I did get to meet and have a brief conversation with Gordon Ramsey. I have to say he was very nice, very charming. It was one of those awkward things, when you start to speak to someone and you’re interrupted. He made sure to come back to me and resume where we had left off. I was pretty impressed.
Mostly however, I was impressed with my sweet husband who stayed with me throughout the long day. Encouraging me in yet another crazy endeavor.
No matter the outcome it was a super fun day and I met a lot of nice people and a few incredible cooks/chefs. Some that most impressed me were the ones making gorgeous and delicious vegan desserts. Vegan cooking was a completely unknown concept to me at that time. Fortunately for me, I got to taste a few and they were incredible. Vegan desserts are pretty delicious and definitely very creative.
Blueberry Cheesecake Vegan and Gluten Free Recipe
Soak 2 cups of raw cashews over night in water or at minimal 2 hours in very hot/boiling water. Line a 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
For the Crust for Blueberry Cheesecake Vegan and Gluten Free
Into the bowl of your food processor add 3/4 cup of oats and 1/4 cup of walnuts or almonds. Pulse until it becomes a fine flour. Next, add 1 cup of pitted dates, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon or two of water. Turn on the processor and let it run until the mixture becomes a thick, sticky dough.
Put the dough into the bottom of the pan and using your fingers, spread evenly along the bottom of the pan, then up about 1/4 inch. Refrigerate to set while you make the filling.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
For the Creamy Cheesecake Like Filling – Blueberry Cheesecake Vegan and Gluten Free
Drain the soaked cashews.
Into the bowl of your food processor or blender, add the soaked cashews, 1 can of coconut milk, 1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla powder. Add 2 tablespoons nut butter or tahini. Add the zest and juice of 2 lemons, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/3 cup maple syrup. Turn on the blender of food processor and let it go until the mixture is very smooth.
Poor the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until the center is set. Let the cake cook completely. Refrigerate to set for 12 to 24 hours.
Blueberry Topping
Rinse and sort through 2 cups of fresh blueberries. Add 1 1/2 cups to a sauce pan with 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Cook the berries until they begin to pop, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Let the topping cool completely.
Top the cake with the cooled topping. Remove the sides of the springform pan and if you can, remove the bottom by lifting at the parchment paper.
Enjoy!
Blueberry Cheese Cake, Vegan and Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1/4 cup walnuts (or almonds)
- 3/4 cup oats
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons water
For the Filling
- 2 cups raw cashews (soaked in very hot water, minimum 2 hours up to overnight)
- 1 can (14 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
- zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For the Blueberry Topping
- 1 1/2 cups (2 cartons) fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
For the Crust
- Add all the ingredient to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until it forms a thick, sticky dough. Line a 8 inch springform pan with parment paper. Put the dough into the bottom of the pan and spread evenly along the bottom of the pan, then up about 1/4 inch. Refrigerate to set.
For the Filling
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth. Poor into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes until set on top.
- Let the cake cool completely then cover with plastic and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
For the Blueberry Topping
- Into a small saucepan add the blueberries, cornstarch and honey. Cook over medium heat about 10 minutes, pressing on the blueberries. Let the mixture cool completely before topping the cake.
To serve
- Add the topping to the cake, then unlock the sides of the pan and slip it off. Remove the bottom of the pan by lifting the parchment paper and carefully separating the cake and paper from the bottom of the pan.
