I find raw cheesecake one of the easiest cake styles to make. There’s no baking, just soaking of raw cashews and some processing of nuts and in this case, berries. You will need a food processor or high-speed blender to get a creamy consistency. After that, layer all the ingredients in a spring-form pan or pie dish and freeze for a few hours.
I used berries and raspberries for this cheesecake, but feel free to experiment with other berries. I try to avoid using berries with big or firm seeds. Blueberries are great for this cake, as well as strawberries. I used raspberries for one of the berry layers and the finishing layer, however you can swap out the raspberries for strawberries or use just blueberries to reduce the seeds in the top layer. The raspberry seeds do break down when you process them long enough.
And here are some other raw cheesecakes recipes I’ve shared in the past:
- Raw chocolate cheesecake
- Raw blackberry cheesecake
- Raw blueberry cheesecake bars
- Frozen strawberry cheesecake (and an interview)
Raw Berry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted (about 4 dates)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
White layer
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 5 hours
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
Red and blue berry layers
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
Top berry layer
- 1/2 cup berries
- 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
Instructions
- To make the crust layer, place the almonds, dates, and salt in a food processor (or high-speed blender) and process until the dough sticks together. For a finer crust, process the mixture longer.
- In a springform pan or other pan, press the crust evenly across the bottom using your fingers.
- Place the white layer ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth and creamy.
- Break the white layer into thirds. One 3rd is the white cheesecake layer.
- To create the raspberry layer, add the raspberries and a 3rd of white layer to the food processor and process until smooth.
- To create the blueberry layer, add the blueberries and another 3rd of white layer to the food processor and process until smooth.
- For the top berry layer, place the ingredients in the food process and process until smooth.
- Freeze for a few hours.
- If you've frozen it for longer than a few hours, thaw for 30 minutes at room temperature, or until you can cut a slice with a sharp knife. You can also thaw it for a few hours in the refrigerator.
Is there anyway to replace the lemon juice? I’m extremely allergic to citrus and am wondering if the lemon is necessary or if you have any recommendations for a replacement. Also this recipe looks amazing!!
Yes, I think you’ll be fine leaving out the lemon juice here. Usually I would say no because the lemon gives it the sour, cheesecake flavor, but there are other flavors to carry the cake here, mainly the berries.
Hi your recipe looks delicious. I am just curious of why there is no cheese I have chrohn’s disease, and I thing cheeses are allowed, I really think it’s totally fine I am just trying to make a recipe and was wondering if the cheese would be good and what your thoughts are.
This is a style of cheesecake that uses cashews instead of cheese to make it dairy free and plant based. Using cheese would make it a different recipe so the measurements and other ingredients would change. It’s not just an SCD recipe, if that makes sense. I would love to try it sometime 🙂
Hi- Can I use frozen berries for this, or do they need to be fresh? Thanks!
Yes! You can use frozen 🙂 Remove any excess ice.
I made this for Christmas and a couple of times since then. It’s so delicious! My husband and kids love this cheesecake.
Great to hear! Me too 🙂
I know the SCD sweeteners are honey, fruits, or saccharin , so my question is theoretical and ONLY if one does NOT have a serious intestinal disease like Chron’s, but instead a milder case of irritable bowel syndrome.
Erythritol and other alcohol related sweeteners are illegal, but if one wants to use one of these 2 natural sweeteners:
1. stevia: a leaf, that in it’s pure form is too expensive but in a good price range has 3g per tsp of erythritol.
2. monk fruit: a fruit but also has 4g per tsp of erythritol.
Buying erythritol itself to use as an artificial sweetener has 4g per tsp of erythritol.
The equivalent to 1 Tbsp sugar of the above is:
1. stevia: 1/4 – 1/8 tsp
2. monk fruit: 1 Tbsp
3. erythritol: 1 Tbsp
So, the quantity of erythritol in stevia one would use in a recipie is much less than if one uses monk fruit or straight erythritol.
Question:
If stevia is a natural leaf and the quantity of erythritol is so small, why couldn’t one use stevia (plus a bulk filler like bananna, pumpkin, etc) in conjunction with honey in a recepie?
I’m not the expert on why things are or are not allowed on SCD, but I understand your thoughts. It is a great question and if you’re not following SCD, Stevia is a great sweetener to use. So, yes, you can use low-carb sweeteners to fill out the sweetness in recipes. It’s mostly a matter of preference. Erythritol is known to cause digestive issues, so that is a consideration.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. I’ve loved every single recipe of yours that I’ve tried so far. Thankyou so much for all the delicious SCD recipes!
Thank you!
I can not have nuts, is there a way to leave them out or replace them with something else?
You can use pumpkin seeds, or yes, just use another kind of crust or seed that you like.
The base of the “cheesecake” is cashews which are nuts of I’m not mistaken.
Thanks, Annie, took off the nut-free tag, it’s an almond base. Feel free to swap the crust with something that’s nut free.