This recipe was inspired by the famous Terry’s Chocolate Orange, which we used to enjoy as children. A combination that works so well, that I had to base my next vegan cheesecake around it !
INGREDIENTS FOR BASE
1 cup pecan nuts (you may slightly toast these if you wish)
½ cup toasted sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (natural cacao powder can be purchased from here in the US, or from here in the UK)
50 ml refined coconut oil
¼ tsp Himalyan salt, or sea salt
4 Digestive biscuits (or Graham crackers in the US)
2 Tbsp muscovado dark sugar
the zest of an orange
orange marmalade (optional)
METHOD FOR BASE
Process the nuts and biscuits in your food processor until they are crumbs.
Add the remaining ingredients, and process for a minute. The mixture is ready when you press it in your fingers and it sticks.
Now transfer the mix to a round cake tin (approx 7” diameter), pressing it into the base of the tin, and evening out as best you can. Then refrigerate for an hour or so.
Remove from fridge, and, if you wish, spread a layer of orange marmalade.
INGREDIENTS FOR CHEESECAKE FILLING
1 cup cashew nuts, soaked and drained
the juice of 3 large oranges
the juice of half a lemon (see above)
375ml (12½ fl oz) dairy free milk
1½ Tbsp agar powder (this can be found here in the US, or from here in the UK)
75ml (2½ fl oz) agave syrup, or maple syrup
½ tsp cardamom seeds (crushed)
the flesh of an orange without the pith or skin – cut into ½” pieces, and set aside for ducking into the cheesecake
METHOD FOR FILLING
Process the nuts until smooth in your food processor, adding the orange and lemon juice a little at a time, and then add the agave nectar or maple syrup. Process until totally smooth.
Next, heat up your milk, and add the agar powder to it. Mix until smooth (I use a hand whisk for this) – a minute or so should do the job once the milk has heated up. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
Now spoon the milk agar into the mixture in the food processor, and process for a minute until well blended.
Next, spoon this thick mixture onto the biscuit and nut base, and level with a spatula. Leave to sit for 10 minutes before the next step.
Now carefully sink the orange flesh pieces about ½” into the cheesecake mixture. Using clean hands, make sure that the surface is as smooth as possible.
INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE TOPPING
230g firm silken tofu
1 heaped Tbsp cocoa powder (see links for where to purchase above)
100g dairy-free dark chocolate
a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp molasses, or other dark sugar
1 tsp orange zest
METHOD FOR CHOCOLATE TOPPING
First break the chocolate down into a glass bowl. Then melt it either in the microwave, or by bain marie method by placing the bowl in a small saucepan half filled with hot water, and placing on a low heat, mixing with a small spoon until totally melted.
Meanwhile, place the tofu and cocoa powder in the processor, and process until smooth. Then add the melted chocolate, the sugar and the rest of the ingredients, and process for a further minute. You will be left with a thick cream mixture. Do not over-process.
Next, spoon onto the surface of the orange cheesecake filling, smoothing out with your spatula in circles, and finally adding as much orange zest as you fancy.
Place in the fridge for a few hours – overnight is preferable. Cut up and Enjoy !
All recipes and content © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
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Double Devilled Choc N Orange Mousse Cheesecake
Course: DessertCuisine: International6
servings30
minutesA delicious decadent chocolate and orange mousse cheesecake
INGREDIENTS
- BASE
1 cup pecan nuts (you may slightly toast these if you wish)
½ cup toasted sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
50 ml refined coconut oil
¼ tsp Himalyan salt, or sea salt
4 Digestive biscuits
2 Tbsp muscovado dark sugar
the zest of an orange
orange marmalade (optional)
- CHEESECAKE FILLING
1 cup cashew nuts, soaked and drained
the juice of 3 large oranges
the juice of half a lemon (see above)
375ml (12½ fl oz) dairy free milk
1½ Tbsp agar powder
75ml (2½ fl oz) agave syrup, or maple syrup
½ tsp cardamom seeds (crushed)
the flesh of an orange without the pith or skin – cut into ½” pieces, and set aside for ducking into the cheesecake
- CHOCOLATE TOPPING
230g firm silken tofu
1 heaped Tbsp cocoa powder
100g dairy-free dark chocolate
a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp molasses, or other dark sugar
1 tsp orange zest
METHOD
- BASE
- Process the nuts and biscuits in your food processor until they are crumbs.
- Add the remaining ingredients, and process for a minute. The mixture is ready when you press it in your fingers and it sticks.
- Now transfer the mix to a round cake tin (approx 7” diameter), pressing it into the base of the tin, and evening out as best you can. Then refrigerate for an hour or so.
- Remove from fridge, and, if you wish, spread a layer of orange marmalade.
- FILLING
- Process the nuts until smooth in your food processor, adding the orange and lemon juice a little at a time, and then add the agave nectar or maple syrup. Process until totally smooth.
- Next, heat up your milk, and add the agar powder to it. Mix until smooth (I use a hand whisk for this) – a minute or so should do the job once the milk has heated up. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Now spoon the milk agar into the mixture in the food processor, and process for a minute until well blended.
- Next, spoon this thick mixture onto the biscuit and nut base, and level with a spatula. Leave to sit for 10 minutes before the next step.
- Now carefully sink the orange flesh pieces about ½” into the cheesecake mixture. Using clean hands, make sure that the surface is as smooth as possible.
- CHOCOLATE TOPPING
- First break the chocolate down into a glass bowl. Then melt it either in the microwave, or by bain marie method by placing the bowl in a small saucepan half filled with hot water, and placing on a low heat, mixing with a small spoon until totally melted.
- Meanwhile, place the tofu and cocoa powder in the processor, and process until smooth. Then add the melted chocolate, the sugar and the rest of the ingredients, and process for a further minute. You will be left with a thick cream mixture. Do not over-process.
- Next, spoon onto the surface of the orange cheesecake filling, smoothing out with your spatula in circles, and finally adding as much orange zest as you fancy.
- Place in the fridge for a few hours – overnight is preferable. Cut up and Enjoy !
OH WOW! look at that! YUM! Chocolate and Orange – yes, please!!
This sure looks inviting to make! Have to try it! I’d never have thought to use tofu for a ‘frosting’…
OMG that looks good!
Looks so good! Thks Miriam, think I will try it for Christmas desert
Please do Wendy and let me know how it goes as and when.
Hope you make and enjoy it Mia 🙂
Hi Susan, I do hope you make and enjoy it as and when (let me know what you think).
Thanks there Jennifer ! 🙂
One of the ingredients is ½ tsp cardamom seeds. When is this added?
Janet Hi, add it with the other dried ingredients.
Hi, I just made this recipe for the second time. This time it looks as if it will not firm up as well as the first one that I made. I’d be most appreciative if you could give me the weight in grams of the cashews and also how much lemon juice. As I’m using flakes I tripled the amount and used 4 1/2 tbl. of agar which worked great the first time I made it. The only thing that was changed was that I added the flakes after heating the milk (the first time I heated everything together). Could that be the reason that it is not as firm as the first time I made it.
Janet Hi, I am not 100% clear on how things worked at the time you made this from the 1st time to the 2nd, but it sounds like the 1st time it worked out well – so the best common sense advice would be to repeat what you did the 1st time round, even if it takes a few minutes more to do so. Grams weight chart converters are available on google – keep one handy for the future, at least they’re free ! 🙂
Hi Miriam,
Do you think I could use carob instead of agar powder?
Thank you :))
Christine Hi, did you mean could you use carob powder instead of cocoa/chocolate powder ? If so, yes you can ! 🙂
Hi Miriam,
Thanks for your reply 😉
No I meant: Can I use carob gum instead of agar powder 😉 I`m sorry, my English is just not good enough.
Anyway. Miriam…Finally I`m thinking about purchasing one of these expensive blenders. I am so addicted to raw cooking and I´m a bit fed up with buying the pre-blended nuts in glasses (as we can by here in Germany) They taste just marvelous and contain nothing but pure nuts but now I just feel that the time has come to buy a Vitamix!! 🙂
Please let me know one thing: Do I have to use soaked and drained Cashews? Doesn`t the blender become too hot when I use dry nuts? As is it still “RAW” then? Sorry, if this question is already answered anywhere on your site. Please give me a link. Thank you so much! Your dishes are made from heaven.
Hi Christine, a vitamix is great, food remains raw (most raw chefs use high speed blenders), soaking nuts beforehand for use in a high speed blender is still recommended to remove debris etc, but for a shorter period – I soak mine for half an hour only sometimes, other times I just rinse them very well and soak for 5 minutes if I am in a rush. I will be adding more raw food recipes on my blog, so do revisit my page, or better still get notifications from my FB page, just click notifications next to the ‘like’ button. Cheers ! Here is a link for you http://www.amazon.com/Vitamix-5200-Series-Blender-Black/dp/B008H4SLV6/ref=sr_1_1?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1422966803&sr=1-1&keywords=vitamix
Thank you Miriam!
Hi, I made this cheesecake yesterday and while the topping and base were delicious, the filling was tasteless and the texture quite unpleasant. Where the recipe states ‘the juice of 3 large oranges (you need around 175ml of liquid to match the lemon)’does that mean 175ml total? I’m wondering where I went wrong.
Hi Shelby thanks for your comment. You don’t explain anything about the filling texture. As for the flavour, it could be that the oranges were not sufficiently flavourful ? Or that it was not as sweet as you hoped ? Either way these two things could make a difference.
Hi Miriam. The texture was quite rubbery that’s why I’m wondering if I added enough juice. The orange juice was sweet and lovely and I’m not keen on overly sweet desserts. Did I use the correct amount of juice at 175ml? Thank you in advance!
Hi Shelby, if that’s what the recipe says then yes. I made this dessert only once since I posted it up and my memory of it is not as sharp as I’d like it to be, but it should work, again, if you felt it was too dense then by all means add more liquid/juice.
Hi Miriam: what did you have in mind when you wrote “to match the lemon”? the juice of 3 large oranges (you need around 175ml of liquid to match the lemon)
Raewyn Hi there – have re-adjusted the recipe, thanks.