Lemon Cashew Cheesecake with Ginger Roasted Rhubarb
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Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Cheesecake in the loosest sense of course as there is no cheese in this cake. Soaked cashews do wonderful job along with tonnes of lemon juice to create a fresh take on a classic dish. I served this vegan lemon cashew cheesecake with ginger roasted rhubarb at my first 'Seasonal Suppers' event last week.
Ingredients
Base
  • 40g pistachio nuts
  • 160g ground almonds
  • pinch sea salt
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
Top
  • 230g cashews, soaked for 4-6 hours in water with a pinch of salt
  • 180mls lemon juice (roughly 6 lemons)
  • 180mls melted coconut oil
  • 145mls maple syrup
  • pinch salt
  • 3 lemons, zested
Ginger Roasted Rhubarb
  • 400g rhubarb, sliced on an angle into 1 cm pieces
  • 2 tbsp stem ginger syrup
  • 1 stem ginger sliced into thin slithers
To serve
  • hibiscus leaves, ground into a powder in a coffee grinder
  • a couple of edible flowers such as violas
Instructions
  1. First prepare your cake tin. I usually use a 22cm spring form cake tin. Line the base with clingfilm before popping it into the rim. Then add enough clingfilm to cover all the sides.
  2. Next make your base. Roughly chop the pistachios in a food processor, but leave some texture. Add in the ground almonds along with the salt, maple syrup and melted coconut oil, and blitz again until it the wet ingredients are well distributed. Transfer the crumbly mix to your cake tin and smooth over with the back of a spoon. Make it as flat as possible and make sure it goes well up to the lined edges. Freeze for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Now make your filling. Drain and rinse well the cashews, then add them into your high speed blender along with the lemon juice, oil, syrup and salt lemon zest and salt. Blend untll completely smooth and there is no trace of cashew pieces. Add the lemon zest and blitz again until just combined. I
  4. Remove the base from the freezer and pour over the filling (f blending your mix has caused it to heat up, wait a few minutes before adding it to your base, or else you might melt it). Using a spoon spread it over so that it is level. A quick tap to release any air bubbles and to gently shake it so that the top is as smooth as possible usually helps. Transfer to the freezer and leave to set. Depending on how good your freezer is, it should take 2 hours to set fully (or perhaps longer).
  5. Remove from the freezer and whilst still solid remove from the cake tin and peel off the clingfilm. The base should be solid enough to transfer the whole thing to a chopping board or suitably sized place. The clingfilm will have left ugly marks in the side of your cheesecake. The way to resolve this is to grab a mug of lukewarm water, wet a finger and run it around the edge smoothing it over. You can now return to the freezer or fridge till serving. I would leave it in the fridge only for 30 mins to an hour or it might get too soft. If not planning to serve imminently return to the freezer.
  6. Now to make your rhubarb. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan), and spread your rhubarb over a large baking tray. Drizzle over the syrup along with the ginger, then roast for 8-10 minutes till fork tender, but still holding its shape. Remove from the oven and cool until ready to eat.
  7. To serve the cheesecake slice the cheesecake into 12 (cut with a dampened serrated knife for ease, and wipe clean between each slice), plate up with around 5-7 pieces of the rhubarb. Sprinkle the hibiscus powder over the rhubarb and add the violas to the cheesecake.
Notes
180mls is a whole lot of lemons (your average lemon has around 30mls of juice, so approx 6). You can use the ones you have also zested and also have the option of adding in any lemon juice from a bottle for this becuase its easier and also more economic (especially when you have to make multiple cheesecakes in one setting)
Recipe by Ceri Jones Chef at https://cerijoneschef.com/lemon-cashew-cheesecake/