I really love raw cakes and berries – in my opinion it is a match made in heaven. Berries are sweet, sour and oh so pretty little things. They are packed with antioxidants and remind everyone of summer and good times.

I myself have childhood memories of plucking strawberries in my grandmother’s garden in Jutland and eating them with cream or the times I went with my dad to the large fields of Denmark offering the opportunity to pluck strawberries and buy them by the kilo.

Well, it is no secret that we in Denmark are proud of the sweet Danish strawberries we grow and when summer comes, we all eat lots and lots of strawberries.

When I fist made these mini cheesecakes it was not strawberry season – I guess I was missing summer! I actually used organic frozen strawberries and was a bit worried about using them as I thought of the amount of liquid there would be when the strawberries thawed. I decided not to strain them and used all the yummy red strawberry liquid together with the thawed strawberries.

The taste of these lovely mini cakes is creamy with a subtle taste of strawberries, you could use more strawberries for at more intense taste. The crunchy base is the perfect counter-part for the creamy top and the chocolate glaze is the extra little touch. You could also leave out the glaze and just decorate the cakes with slices of strawberry for an all through berry taste.

Well, what are you waiting for? Strawberry season or not, you better make these right away. I promise you; you will not regret it.

Much strawberry love to everyone…

Raw Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes:

Yields approximately 16 cupcake sized cakes or one large (20-22 cm springform).

Ingredients:

Base:

100 g almonds (roast in the oven)

100 g sunflower seeds (roast in the oven)

100 g dates (pitted)

2 table spoons agave nectar

2 table spoons melted coconut oil

Pinch of himalaya salt

Filling:

250 g cashew (soaked in water for some hours/overnight)

70 g coconut oil (melted but not hot)

250 g strawberries (I used frozen organic strawberries – remember thaw them before use)

1 organic lemon (both juice and zest)

5 table spoons agave nectar

1 tea spoon vanilla powder (or liquid)

Pinch of Himalaya salt

Chocolate glaze:

60 g coconut oil

25 g cocoa

60 g agave nectar

Making the base:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C and roast the almonds until you can smell the nuts – take care not to burn them. Do the same with the sunflower seeds. This really brings out the nutty taste and crunch but if you don’t have the time you can omit this part.
2. Place the nuts and seeds in a food processor and chop the nuts.
3. Add the dates, agave, coconut oil and salt. Now process until you have a cohesive mass.
4. Distribute the base into the tins and press down gently. Place in the fridge or freezer to set.

Making the filling:

1. Add cashews, coconut oil, lemon zest and juice, agave, vanilla powder and salt to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth – you might need to stop and scrape the sides down so all gets blended well.

Note. If you don’t have a high-speed blender you can use a food processor. My experience is that that texture is smoother in the blender, but the taste is just as wonderful.

2. Taste the batter and adjust amount of vanilla and lemon.
3. Add the strawberries and its juice to the batter and blend once again.
4. Take out the base and pour the batter over.
5. Return the cakes to the freezer and let set.

When the cakes are set you can glaze them or you can choose to decorate with berries.

Making the glaze:

1. Mix the coconut oil, cacao and agave to form a glaze.
2. Pour the glaze over the cakes while still in the tin.
3. Let set in the fridge or freezer.

Enjoy your healthy bite of summer.