As cheesecakes go this is a pretty healthy one, though my taste-buds are a bit dubious about that after a little sample! The richness comes from the cream and this sure tastes too good to be considered 'healthy', though if you look at the ingredients it arguably is healthy! Everything organic and fresh, sweetened with dates and the oh-so-delicious and medicinal Manuka honey from the New Zealand Manuka tree.
Many people don't give enough thought to the versatility of nuts and seeds... they are usually eaten as snacks on their own or sprinkled over salads etc. But have you ever thought to grind them up and use as an excellent alternative to flours? As they are very oily they're really good for dessert bases and sweet/savoury pie or quiche crusts etc as you really don't need to add much additional coconut/avocado oil or butter to help them bind.
Back in my unknowing and unhealthy days I would make the base with crushed digestive biscuits (sugar, preservative, non-organic wheat flour containing pesticide residues, etc) and in the topping I'd use icing sugar with the cheese and double 'cream' which was in fact a mixture of buttermilk and vegetable oils. But using natural sweeteners means you can relax and enjoy your desserts way more, and as long as you're not eating a whole cheesecake in one sitting, a little treat is perfectly fine. In fact, as long as the ingredients are high quality, organic, non-GMO etc etc, then it's actually a very nutritional treat! Just make sure you check the ingredients on the cream to make sure it's actually real cream, and check the cottage cheese and choose one without those harmful preservatives (or better still - make your own). Hooray for nature... we really don't need man's crappy sweet things do we?!
Ingredients:
25g coconut oil
25g butter
100g ground hazelnuts
100g golden linseed
100g dates
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
250ml whipping cream
225g cottage cheese
3tsp Manuka honey
(And a little bit of 70-85% cocoa dark chocolate to grate on top)
Method:
Grind up the hazelnuts and HALF the amount of golden linseed (I used the grinder attachment on my blender). Put into a bowl and add the remaining linseed.
Finely chop the dates and add to the bowl, along with the coconut oil, butter and cinnamon.
Using your hands squeeze the mixture together to blend all the ingredients properly. Nice and sticky (and tasty!) You may think 'hmm it still feels a bit crumbly' but trust me, once it's pressed down as the base and chilled it will be perfectly firm and not at all crumbly.
Line a tin (approx 8") with foil or baking parchment, and press the mixture firmly into the base of the tin using the back of a spoon. Pop into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes before adding the topping.
Whip the cream until thick enough to form peaks. Careful not to over-whip and curdle!
Drain the cottage cheese of excess liquid then press the cheese through a sieve using a spoon.
Stir the Manuka honey into the now-smooth cottage cheese, then pour into the bowl with the whipped cream and mix carefully.
Pour the topping onto the chilled base. Swirl extra honey on top and grate a little dark chocolate, and return to the fridge overnight to set.
Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and slice into portions. Enjoy!
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Many thanks.
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All photos in this post are my own original.
