Vegan Cheesecake Extravaganza

Just to clarify - I am not a vegan, but I like to experiment. Changing recipes to accommodate more dietary requirements is not that easy! I was thinking about making vegan cheesecake for a while now. What can you do to make the filling creamy without the cheese? The answer is MILLET.

Don't get me wrong, this will not taste like your classic New York Cheesecake but I promise you, it will hit the spot! The added bonus is that you can actually eat it for breakfast. Or for lunch. Or dinner! It is full of nutritious stuff that will leave you full and happy:-)

So what you need:

spring form cake tin (22cm)

food processor or blender

For the base:

200 g oats

100 g almond butter (or other nut butter of your choice)

2 table spoons of date syrup (or handful of pitted dates)

2 table spoons of maple syrup

coconut milk - few table spoons - you will have to keep an eye on the consistency of the base and adjust accordingly

For the filling:

200 g millet 

tin of coconut milk

200 ml of water

2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut 

pinch of salt

1 tea spoon of vanilla extract

maple syrup to taste

strawberries or other seasonal fruit.

Place the oats in the food processor with all other ingredients for the base and blitz until you have a paste. You will need to adjust the amount of milk depending on the consistency of it. You need something that is easy to spread in the tin, but not too soft either. It should stick easily. Spread on the bottom of lined tin and refrigerate while you are preparing the filling.

Rinse millet couple of times in cold water. This will get rid of the bitter taste. Place in the saucepan and slowly boil with the coconut milk and water until all the liquid is absorbed. Then take of the heat and leave for 10 min. Blitz in the food processor with desiccated coconut, pinch of salt, vanilla and maple syrup. The filling should be smooth. Adjust the maple syrup amount to your liking. Spread over the cold base and decorate with strawberries. Admire your amazing work:-) Refrain from eating straight away! Cool it in the fridge for couple of hours.

Tip: Would be nice to pour jelly over the top:-)