Recipe: Raspberry and Lemon Ripple Cheesecake From Niomi Smart’s Cookbook

Niomi Smart’s popular YouTube videos inspire millions of viewers to try healthy vegan eating, and now, in her new book, Eat Smart: What to Eat in a Day – Every Day, she’s put together a collection of her favourite meat- and dairy-free recipes.

The book offers simple, nutritious, and tasty dishes made from everyday ingredients. It covers breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as snacks, smoothies, and baked treats. Today, we’re sharing one beautiful recipe from the book: a raspberry and lemon cheesecake that’s sure to taste as good as it looks!

If you’d like to get your hands on a copy of Eat Smart, we have one to give away. Simply fill out the form below for a chance to win.

Raspberry and Lemon Ripple Cheesecake

Ingredients

180g (1 cup) medjool dates, pitted

40g (¼ cup) unsalted raw pistachios

115g (¾ cup) unsalted raw almonds

1 lemon

1 x 400g tin coconut milk, refrigerated

310g (2 cups) unsalted raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight

60ml (¼ cup) coconut nectar or agave nectar

60ml (¼ cup) coconut oil

seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp organic vanilla extract

185g (1¼ cups) raspberries

2 tbsp pistachios, chopped, to serve

2 tbsp edible rose petals (optional), to serve

Method

1. Blend all the base ingredients together in a food processor until combined. Tip the mixture into a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and press down firmly with the back of a wooden spoon. Place in the freezer while you make the filling.
2. Zest the lemon and keep to one side, then squeeze the juice into a food processor or blender. Scoop out the solid coconut cream that has risen to the top of the tin of coconut milk (this should be around 150g) and add to the blender with a couple of tablespoons of the milk. Drain the cashews and add with the remaining filling ingredients, except the raspberries, and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Set aside 60ml (¼ cup) of the mixture. Stir 90g (¾ cup) of the raspberries and half the lemon zest into the remaining cheesecake mixture. Remove the base from the freezer and pour over half the cheesecake mixture.
4. Blend the reserved 60ml (¼ cup) of the cheesecake mixture with the remaining raspberries until totally smooth. Add half this mixture, a tablespoon at a time, to the top of the cheesecake, gently swirling with a chopstick or the end of a spoon to create a ripple effect.
5. Pour over the remaining plain cheesecake mixture and smooth down. Again, add a tablespoon at a time of the remaining raspberry cheesecake mixture and create ripple effects. Gently shake the tin to smooth the top.
6. Mix the chopped pistachios with the rose petals, if using, and scatter on top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle the remaining lemon zest over the top and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
7. Take the cheesecake out of the freezer 30 minutes before serving, to thaw, or transfer to the fridge for about an hour and a half.

Makes 10 servings

Recipe from Eat Smart by Niomi Smart, published by HarperCollins. Photograph by Nassima Rothacker.

Enter for a Chance to Win

Competition now closed.