Recipe basics

• raw vegan cheesecake,
• low carb pancakes,
• cooking ingredient notes

How to make a raw vegan cheesecake

Crust
nuts, dried coconut, take the place of biscuits and

fleshy fruit eg dates, raisins/currants/sultanas, take the place of the butter

Flavouring

fruit usually berries but can be bananas, figs or anything, lime/lemon/orange juice

spices and herbs, lavender, vanilla, cocoa, salt,

sweetener eg agave, maple, honey, 

coconut milk/water, tea, coffee.

Body

earthy veg eg pumpkin, beetroot, carrot, parsnip, spinach, avocado,

more nuts, coconut cream/flesh

flavouring ingredients take the place of the cream cheese.

coconut oil is usually used as the emulsifier in place of gelatin but that’s expensive, try another oil or butter.

Low carb Pancake ingredients

Thickeners

Arrowroot, xanthan gum, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda,

Body
flaxseed, dried coconut, ground nuts eg almond,

Dairy filling
cream cheese, ricotta, yoghurt, creamed coconut, sour cream, cottage cheese,

Vegan Filling
tofu, cauliflower,

Cooking agent
Butter, hazelnut/walnut/sesame/peanut/groundnut oil,

Combining
Eggs

Topping
Fruit, lemon and lime juice, spices, herbs, cheese, vegetables,

When replacing the sugar and flour it doesn’t seem to need milk.
Special flours eg rye, spelt, rice, coconut, cost too much and are still fairly high in carbohydrate.
Coconut oil is nutritious but expensive and all oils are low carb.

Sugar replacement can be a bit pricey like xylitol, Splenda, stevia, Canderel.

Eggs

Medium egg is 2 oz. You can use different sizes but may need to adjust recipes for the difference in volume. I’m assuming chicken eggs although you could use duck eggs which are richer and require more beating. Egg helps baked goods to rise.

Flour

Sieve all flour to add air as well as getting out lumps to assist with the combination of ingredients. Use plain flour and a raising agent if you don’t have any self-raising flour. I’m assuming wheat flour here but I don’t know about other flours as I haven’t used them.  Cornflour thickens but is not recommended for baking.

If using cocoa reduce flour so that you still have the same amount.

Bread making and rising

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda help to leaven food if not using yeast. Marmite and beer also work in bread, however, Lager doesn’t. Malt is not important in bread. You can use a bread maker to make bread/dough or do it by hand. I have an old bread machine that is through but takes a long time. It is good if your ingredients are leftovers that need using up or a bread mix. Fresh ingredients will be better and quicker by hand I think. Xanthum gum thickens but needs specific recipes and I haven’t got it to work yet.

Sugar

The type of sugar e.g. caster, granulated is not that important but a finer sugar will blend easier and give better results. However, do not use icing sugar unless you are icing a cake. Brown will give a richer flavour but careful of using sticky sugar as it will change the properties by adding more moisture.

Fat

Always add your food to greased containers to ease removal when cooked. Butter and again I’m assuming cows but you could use goats, is better than margarine in cooking but you can use it although you may need to use less flour to compensate. Lard is good in pastry but not essential and the best for getting fully risen Yorkshire’s. You can use dripping if available.

Milk I’m assuming is cows milk but others will work to various degrees I think. Non dairy milks tend to have little or no fat so don’t work if heated. You will probably need specific recipes if using them.

Chocolate

Plain chocolate is best for cooking with and choose one with a high percentage of cocoa in about 70%. Milk chocolate is fine but white chocolate actually has no cocoa hence it is white.

Cocoa is naturally bitter so often has sugar added but without is preferable. However, this will not last as long.

Seasoning

Salt is usually added to enhance flavour here so ground rock salt is best but any kind will do.

Pepper is normally ground black peppercorns but you can use others if you fancy.

Oats are the normal breakfast kind but something like ready brek could possibly work but your finished product will not be as good.

Liquid sweetener is something like honey, maple or golden syrup.

Cooking advice

Resisting the temptation to constantly open the oven door to marvel at your creations is a good idea as the environment will be kept heated and your final product will taste and look better. Preheating the oven also speeds up the cooking process. Most food is cooked at 180c for 30 mins unless specified.

Everything needs cooling on a rack after cooking because you will burn yourself otherwise.