Delicious Vegan No-Bake Cheesecake For Shavuot
ACTIVE PREP TIME: 15 MIN TO PREPARE THE CRUST AND FILLING
PASSIVE PREP TIME: 1.5 HRS TO FREEZE THE CRUST AND THE 2 LAYERS OF FILLING
It’s late spring and Shavuot is nearly upon us. Shavuot is one of the three biblical pilgrimage holidays. It celebrates the Jews receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. As with nearly all Jewish holidays, there is both a spiritual and agricultural significance to this festival.
On the spiritual side, Shavuot honors perhaps the most crucial aspect of our religion: receiving the Torah, our book of laws.
On the agricultural side, it celebrates the completion of the 7-week period of counting the Omer. The Omer begins on Passover, with the barley harvest, and culminates on Shavuot, with the offering of the "first fruits" of the wheat harvest.
According to this source and this source at Chabad.org:
“In ancient times, two wheat loaves would be offered in the Holy Temple on Shavuot. It was to be brought from the choicest wheat, which would be husked, ground into flour and sifted twelve times to ensure that only the finest flour was used. It was also at this time that people would begin to bring bikkurim, their first and choicest fruits, to thank G‑d for Israel’s bounty.”
From what types of wheat were these offerings made? According to agriculture historians and food researchers, they were emmer and einkorn.
What Are The Customs Of Shavuot?
In terms of overt traditions, Shavuot is a strange holiday. Unlike Passover, Sukkot, Chanukah and Purim, there are no clear-cut activities for the kids, no colorful customs like preparing a seder or building a sukkah which to prepare, no Hollywood-style, antagonist vs. protagonist stories to narrate to the kids.
So practically speaking, how is this holiday celebrated? The most pervasive custom is to stay up all night and learn Torah.
Shavuot: The Dairy Holiday
There is also a very established custom of eating foods made with dairy. These often manifest as cheese crepes, blintzes, quiches, casseroles, pizza – and the ubiquitous cheesecake.
Why is dairy eaten on this holiday? The most common reason is that since the Torah was given to us on Shabbat, we did not have the opportunity to slaughter animals. Therefore, we ate dairy.
However, along with wheat, the dairy causes a lot of problems for some people today. What do you eat if you cannot digest dairy?
In the spirit of the dairy custom, here is a raw vegan cheesecake recipe that you and your family will absolutely devour. The combination of ingredients give the filling a very cheesecake-like flavor, and the crust feels very close to an authentic graham cracker texture and flavor.
The “cheesy” filling is made from organic raw cashews, full-fat coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lots of farm-fresh blueberries that we picked at Underwood Farms in Somis. The crust is made from pecans, cinnamon, dates, almond flour and coconut oil.
And , if you are looking for more non-dairy recipes for Shavuot, check out these delicious Cashew Ricotta Cheese crepes.
The Ingredients
The Crust:
3 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup organic pecans and/or walnuts
1/2 cup almond flour (not almond meal)
2 Tbsp of coconut oil
1 Tbsp cinnamon (we used Ceylon cinnamon)
Pinch of salt
The Filling:
2 cups of soaked cashew nuts
1 cup of coconut milk
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 Tbsp of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries (plus an extra cup of blueberries for the garnish)
The Instructions
The crust:
Throw all ingredients into a food processor and blend on high for about 30 seconds
Pour into a round 8-inch baking pan
Put in the freezer for a few minutes while you prepare the filling
The Filling:
Soak cashews (overnight if possible, or at least for 2 hours); drain and rinse
Add all filling ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high for 30-45 seconds
Remove crust from freezer
Pour 2/3 of the filling mixture onto the crust
Put back in the freezer for 30-45 minutes or until hardened
Add a cup of blueberries to the remaining 1/3 filling mixture and blend on high for 15-20 seconds
When the first layer hardens, remove from freezer and pour the second layer on top
Put back in the freezer for at least 30-45 minutes
Remove from freezer and garnish with fresh blueberries
Thaw for a few minutes before serving
This raw vegan cheesecake is a wonderfully tasty alternative to real dairy. If you can’t eat dairy – or just don’t want to – you will not feel left out of the cheese-fest!
On this Shavuot. be safe and healthy during the stay-at-home.
Chag Shavuot sameach!