Improvised Cheesecake

TH has been begging for a "decadent" dessert of late.  I decided to indulge him (life is so hard) with a recipe from Sweet Gratitude.  The Pear-Ginger cheesecake sounded intriguing, and I had almost all the ingredients.

The crust I copied straight from the cookbook, so I can't share that recipe with you.  However, the filling I changed up quite a bit, so I'm going to tell you what I did.

Pear-Ginger Cheesecake Filling

adapted from Sweet Gratitude

3 cups macadamia nuts

1 pear

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup raw honey

1 cup Gingerade Kombucha

juice of one squeezed lemon

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

small knob of ginger (if you so desire)

Blend the above ingredients.  Then blend in:

3 tbsp sunflower lecithin

1 cup melted coconut oil

Pour all but 1 cup of the mixture on top of crust into springform pan.* To the remaining 1 cup of mixture add 2 teaspoons cinnamon and the scraped seeds of 5 vanilla beans.  Blend and then pour on top of the previous layer.  Decorate with sliced pears tossed in cinnamon.

*This mixture was too much for my 7" springform, so I used the remaining crust and filling in three small tart pans.  

TH was quite pleased with the result; a rich, creamy, decadent cheesecake. I can't get over the phenomenal texture. Melt in your mouth loveliness.    

Question:  What movie is at the top of your Netflix queue?  

If My Cabin was on Fire...

....I would grab this lemon meringue pie.

It may come to no surprise to some of you rawnjas that this recipe is from Sweet Gratitude.  This pie has me licking up every last crumb and dreaming of more.  The sweet/tartness of the center pairs perfectly with the coconut macadamia nut crust.  The texture of the lemony layer is remarkable; identical to a cooked lemon meringue pie, I might venture.  This is achieved through Irish Moss manipulation, which used to intimidate me.  Now I brag about how awesome I am and wonder what life was like B.I.M.  (Click here for helpful Irish Moss prep instructions.)  I think this might be one of my all time favorite desserts.  TH says he likes richer, more chocolatey pies better, but that's crazy talk.  

A sunset shot of our slick, icy, windblown, bum-busting land.  The icy sheen produces awesome dusk shadows.  

Question:  What's the yummiest thing you ate today?  

Bananas Done Right

Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day!  We are so romantic around these parts.  My gift to TH was splitting and stacking a load of wood.  He did the dishes without whining about how hard it was.  What a lovely evening.  :)

I had a hankering for some curry the other day, and threw together a little curry pate.  It was really easy to make, and was quite nice in lettuce wraps with sliced veggies.

Curry Pate

2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked overnight

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons raw honey or agave

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

cayenne to taste 

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.

The Banana Cream Pie from Sweet Gratitude I mentioned the other night is incredible.  It was pretty easy to put together, and is nut and cacao free (aside from the extra chocolate sauce I swirled on top of the coconut cream).  

crust + layer of sliced bananas

bubbly banana filling

chocolate and caramel swirls

Two pieces of advice: 

1.  Read the entire pie recipe before getting started.  I didn't notice the second page warned against using brownish bananas.  Ripe bananas taste fine (probably better), but the color is not very appetizing.

2.  Use a lot of coconut oil to grease the pie pan.  I used a little and the lovely crust refused to unstick itself from the pan.  

Question:  Did you celebrate Valentine's Day?