Vegan lemon cheesecake

 Interacting with circumstances can be quite fun, especially if friends offer us certain things that we like. The idea for this week's recipe came precisely from these circumstances and it resulted in a "cheesecake". 

  My friend Margarida gave me lemons, and my friend Paulo gave me strawberries, so nothing better than combining the two ingredients and preparing a dessert.

  I also decided to add ginger to get an exotic taste and chocolate for a warm texture.

  Ginger root has many exotic properties that favor our body. For this reason, it has been used by Eastern peolpe as home pharmacy for more than 5,000 years. It is a natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine, antibacterial, it strengthens the immune system and it is excellent for the treatment of sore throat.

  Consuming lemons brings many health benefits. Lemons help in weight loss and strengthen the immune system. They are rich in vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin and phosphorus. In times of warmth, a fresh lemonade is  always great ...

  Combining immunological benefits to good taste is so exciting!

For this recipe you need a removable bottom tart pan.

Ingredients:

For the base:

100g rolled oats

150 grams of biscuits

150 gr brown sugar

225 gr vegetable butter

For the filling:

300 ml vegetable cream

150 gr of sugar

1 cup of vegetable milk (I used almond)

20 g of agar-agar powder (seaweed jelly for sale in health food stores)

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tsp grated ginger (or more if you like the taste)

250 gr firm tofu

For the strawberry sauce:

300 gr of good strawberries

125 gr brown sugar

½ cup water

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp lemon juice

For the chocolate sauce:

1 cup of almond milk

4 dates soaked for at least 2 hours

1 small banana

1 tbsp of raw cacao powder

1 tbsp raw chocolate nuggets

1 tbsp of coconut sugar

1 pinch of salt

Start by preparing the sauce. If you prefer, you can choose only one of the sauces.

Wash the strawberries, put them in a blender and grind.

Put the strawberries in a pan, bring to the boil and add sugar. Wrap well and add the cinnamon stick. Wrap again and add the lemon. Bring to a boil and add the water.

Cook over low heat for 20 min.

When cool, set aside and put them in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile prepare the chocolate sauce:

Grind all ingredients in a blender and reserve the sauce in the fridge.

Prepare the cheesecake base:

Line the bottom of the removable tart pan with parchment paper.

Grind the oats and slightly toast them on slow flame.

Grind the biscuits.

In a bowl, mix the butter with the sugar and then add the oats and the cookies to make a firm paste.

Place the paste in the removable bottom tart pan, press well and refrigerate it for 15 minutes while preparing the filling.

Whip the cream with the sugar until firm but without reaching the point of whipped cream.

Press the tofu with a fork. Reserve.

Put the milk in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the lemon zest and the ginger and cook on low fire for 3 minutes.

Add the agar-agar and stir rapidly until the powder is well incorporated.

Add the cream and the tofu to the milk.

Mix well and pour over the cookie paste that you reserved in the fridge.

Place it in the freezer for 4 hours.

At the time of serving, remove from the freezer, cut the desired slices and place each slice on a plate with the sauce.

Note: the cheesecake should stay in the freezer to maintain its firm consistency.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, 2013