Avocado & Ganache Cheesecake with Walnut Date Cacao Crust (Almost Raw & Paleo)
Fun fact about what runs Lori: I’m always up for a challenge.
Offer a plate to step up to, I’m in 110% and fully ready to dominate.
So, when my good friend, Alisa, teamed up with So Delicious to host the Snackable Recipe Contest, I knew I had to play the game.
Create dairy-free dishes using awesome So Delicious products and enter the contest?
Challenge accepted.
This recipe is one of my sweet entries for the So Delicious and Go Dairy Free Snackable Recipe Contest entry.
Enter the Avocado & Ganache Cheesecake with Walnut Date Cacao Crust.
Avocado.
Walnuts.
Dates.
Cultured Coconut Milk Greek Yogurt?!
GAH.
Drool.
I’m pretty proud of this recipe and photos. It’s incredibly delicious, oh-so-pretty, and super easy (even though there’s several steps involved, don’t let this stop you from making it!).
I’ve been playing around with shooting photos in RAW format and editing on the backend- something super time consuming but totally enjoyable and rewarding. The quality of the photos step up significantly, in my opinion. I just need a good lens now! (And I’ll take recommendations!)
I have to call out the chocolate ganache… it deserves the spotlight in today’s post. It’s silky, rich, completely mouth-watering. And by the spoonful, I had to swat the hand of my sou-chef from finishing off the bowl before I completed this dessert! Use this ganache to top any dessert you can think of. Or, like my kitchen-helper, eat it right from the bowl.
Made with cacao powder, maple syrup, coconut oil and So Delicious Coconut Creamer, you can feel totally guilt-free with every spoonful.
Aside from being an incredible recipe, it’s healthy. Those wonderfully nourishing fats are found from the avocados, walnuts, and coconut oil. Sweetness comes from the dates and small quantity, yet high quality, maple syrup. And this is completely dairy free, gluten and grain free, and of course, made with love.
Sprinkle with a bit of the leftover crust and cacao nibs for a truly decadent, guilt-less treat.
Avocado & Ganache Cheesecake with Walnut Date Cacao Crust (Almost Raw & Paleo)
Walnut Date Cacao Crust:
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup soft dates
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp cacao nibs, optional or 2 tbsp cacao powder (or cocoa powder, unsweetened)
- pinch sea salt
Directions:
In a food processor add walnuts and pulse a few times to slightly crush them. Do not process into a powder, you’re just crushing the walnuts slightly.
Add in dates, shredded coconut, cacao nibs and salt and process again until mixture becomes crumbly but starts to stick together. Ideally, you’re looking for the mixture to hold together when pinched.
Grease sides and bottom of a spring form cake pan with coconut oil. Pour out 3/4 of the walnut-date mixture into the pan and press firmly with back of a spoon or fingers until you have a uniform layer of crust – I had my crust come up the sides of the pan slightly. Thickness of crust is up to you.
Place the remaining walnut-date mixture into a bowl.
Set aside crust to prepare your cheesecake filling.
Avocado Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 container So Delicious Plain Greek Style Cultured Coconut Yogurt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Directions:
Rinse out your food processor and add all Avocado Cheesecake Filling ingredients except coconut oil. Pulse until filling ingredients are creamy and smooth then add in coconut oil quickly, processing a few times more to incorporate.
Taste and adjust as needed for sweetness, saltiness, etc.
Pour your filling onto the prepared walnut-date crust, evenly spreading and smoothing out the top.
Set this aside as you prepare your chocolate ganache.
Chocolate Ganache:
- 3 tbsp cacao powder, or cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer (I used plain but feel free to use ANY flavor! Hazelnut would be amazing!)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together the cacao powder, maple syrup and melted coconut oil. Add in the So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer quickly so that the coconut oil doesn’t harden without being thoroughly mixed. Stir until smooth. May add more coconut milk cream, if needed to thin mixture slightly.
Drop 1 tsp spoonfuls of ganache onto the top of your avocado cheesecake, as much as you’d like. With a knife or toothpick, swirl the ganache to create a pattern OR just created one solid ganache layer.
Top with some of the remaining walnut-date crumble and more cacao nibs.
Place entire cheesecake in the freezer for at least one hour to set. Two to three hours will make it easier to remove from spring form pan and cut but I couldn’t wait that long.
When ready to eat, remove frozen cheesecake from freezer, let sit for 10 minutes to slightly soften, remove from spring form pan, slice and EAT.
