*Not a cheesecake at all*. This lime avocado cheesecake requires no cooking, just a blender, freezer and some ripe avocados! It’s gluten free, dairy free, vegan and raw too.
I’ve been making this avocado lime cheesecake for yonks, an elaboration of my matcha lime mousse, but I finally had my arm twisted to get it up on the blog after last weekend’s Stretching the City retreat. The dominant flavour is creamy lime, you honestly can’t taste the avocado as it really is just a flavour carrier, and of course brings that fabulous green colour to the table. Its not really a cheesecake at all, but not sure what else to call it.
I wanted to do the dessert justice by photographing as best as I could, rather than a quick shot grabbed whilst serving on retreat. Typical that I choose the hottest day of the year so far to shoot a dessert that is best served chilled, so I had to be super quick for fear of the cheesecake melting as quickly as I was. Well, at least I didn’t have to turn the oven on to make this – just the food processor and my blender.
I recommend a Froothie Blender* for this recipe. I have one and I couldn’t live without it, providing professional blending results in a home kitchen. The model I have is no longer available so I’ve been advised by Froothie to recommend the 9200 2nd generation which best priced model now. If you buy via this link, you will be rewarded with an extra 2 years warranty, and you will be able to use a 0% interest free deal to spread the cost.
With no heating or cooking this ‘cheesecake’ (in the loosest sense of the word) is therefore a raw dessert, and I like it for its simplicity in making as well as the short ingredients list. Many raw desserts rely on kilograms of raw cashews soaked for hours on end, which is not only expensive but I find personally a bit too dense. This version is full of good fat from the avocado, coconut oil, and nuts and sweetened only by brown rice syrup and maple syrup – a little goes a long way!
I’ve served this dish a variety of ways, the most decadent with homemade pistachio brittle and the simplest with a lone slice of kiwi. I think somewhere in between the two combining crushed pistachio and coconut with the kiwi is best.
Despite making this around 10 times now, I’ve still had a few disasters along the way. Once the avocado layer split in the blender when we added a touch of lime for extra tang. I can only imagine that extra bit of acid broke the emulsification of the fats, we nursed it back to health by whipping in some almond milk, but I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that panic of potentially having wasted all those ingredients. From now on I always add the lime at the start and tread carefully when adding more in!
Another disaster was not getting it out of the freezer in enough time, so we had to serve it partially frozen, no problem as the dessert takes on a fabulous ‘ice cream cake’ texture but the sound of teaspoons crashing into the plate as the guests ploughed their way into the dish will also haunt me forever!
Thankfully on both occasions my guests were very nice and barely even noticed. Hope you’re happy I’m making and sharing these mistakes so you don’t have to?
- 90g ground almonds
- 60g pistachios
- 3 tbs coconut sugar or rapadura
- 60g coconut oil
- 100g coconut oil
- 75g brown rice syrup
- 2 Tbs maple syrup (to taste)
- 2-3 limes, juiced
- 2 large avocados (approx 300g avocado flesh)
- 1 kiwi
- Desiccated coconut
- Pistachio nuts
- Lime zest
- First prepare your 8 inch cake tin, by lining it with clingfilm. This will make it easier to remove once set.
- Next make your base. Using your food processor grind your pistachios to the consistency of ground almonds, then combine the ground pistachios with the almonds in a bowl. Add the sugar and melted coconut oil to the bowl and stir well (don't be tempted to do this all in a food processor as the mixture will be too wet as the nuts release too much oil if ground for a long time - I know from experience!). Now press the mixture into the base of the tin, ensuring as even and level as possible. Place in the freezer to set for at least 20-30 minutes.
- Next move to your topping (I use my froothie, to make this but you can use an immersion blender in a jug). Place your liquids in the bottom of your blender jug - coconut oil, syrup and lime juice, then drop in your avocado flesh. Blend on high speed until smooth and no traces of avocado chunks. You will need to prod around with your tamper stick and possibly scrape down the sides. Taste and adjust lime or sweetener as necessary. Be careful when adding too much lime the mixture doesn't split. Add a little at a time and then re-blend.
- Take the base out of the freezer and pour the avocado mix over the base, smoothing over with a spatula or back of your spoon. Return to the freezer to set for at least 2 hours. If you freeze for much longer then you will need to make sure you bring the cheesecake to room temperature before serving or it will be too firm.
- Serve with sliced kiwi fruit, and a blend of chopped pistachio, desiccated coconut and lime zest.
Its not just me that likes avocado in dessert – you might also like to try;
- ice-cream by Kavey
- Black Forest Cherry Chocolate mousse by Kate
- Raw chocolate banana mousse by Choclette
- Vegan mojito cheesecake by Monika
- Avocado chocolates by Elizabeth
- Chocolate avocado smoothie by Sus
- and remember the classic avocado chocolate mousse I already blogged and love!
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Looks and sounds gorgeous, I love that silky smoothness of avocado in a dessert form. Thanks for sharing my ice cream, also a good one to make in a power blender.
Thanks Kavey, avocado is total magic – I don’t know where we’d be without it! Your welcome.
It sounds absolutely delicious. I agree that raw cheesecakes can be too heavy with loads of cashews – so I can’t wait to try this one.
Thank you Kate! Its got veg in it too (if avocado is veg and not a fruit???)! 🙂
Avocados are amazing and I love how they can be adapted and used in so many different ways. This looks delicious!
Thanks Jemma. So versatile right? Its a shame we can’t grow them in the UK though 🙁
Wow this looks delicious! You wouldn’t know it wasn’t a cheesecake unless someone pointed it out 🙂 very clever raw dessert!
Well, I saw cheesecake in the loosest sense of the word ;). Best description I can thing of though, maybe it could better be a torte. Either way I love it!
I love avocados in a dessert! It’s so easy to adapt it and the creaminess of the avocado is just amazing. Your cheesecake sounds delicious! It’s the perfect summer dessert. 🙂
Thanks Monika, I love how its simliar to your avocado dessert, yet also quite different! So much variety in cooking to be had 🙂
This sounds so light and tangy Ceri, I’ve bookmarked it to try for sure. After ten goes at it, it should be a failsafe. It looks so pretty too. I’ve not yet tried to make a raw “cheesecake”, so I don’t know how I’d get on with a cashew one, but yours looks more than well worth trying.
Thanks Choclette, Its one of my favourite raw desserts – up there with a chocolate version too 🙂 Hope you get a chance to try it soon and enjoy it too!
I can’t wait to try this! Sounds like a great refreshing summer dessert!
Thanks Melanie, hope you enjoy it too! 🙂
I have to admit that the title surprised me 🙂 Looks great, and I will definitely try it.
the avocado? No! Its gorgeous, try it for yourself!
It was worth all the trouble Ceri. This looks lovely 🙂
Thank you lovely 🙂
Sounds amazing and I love how many good, healthy fat sources are incorporated here. Looking forward to trying it out soon!
Thanks Stacey, love a bit of good fat!
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s always a hit – even with avocado haters and the fussiest eaters (small children!). It’s such a reliable recipe , thank you for sharing.
Oh wow Laura, that’s amazing to hear thanks for letting me know. Important for me to hear the recipe is reliable too – thanks!!