Tera Warner

Raw Food Cheesecake: Worth. Every. Nanosecond!!

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– by Stacey Terry

stacey-terry-strawberry-blueberry-raw-cheesecake
Have I ever told any of you how much I love my job!?  I tell ya… working for Tera Warner and The Green Smoothie Queen often feels like a dream come true.  Besides getting to read an abundance of raw food and nutritional information that continues to reinforce the lifestyle path I’m on, once in awhile, there’s something special, really special, that comes across my editing desk.

That was most definitely the case when I got a sneak peek at The Decadent Gourmet by Angela Elliott.  And even though I’m a fan of eating green food and always start my day with a good old fashioned glass of lawnmower pulp –  yes, my beloved green smoothies –  I have to admit, reading through all the raw food cheesecake, ice cream, cookies, and cobbler recipes took a bit of a toll on me.  But it was an educational read too.  Anyone like Angela who has found a way to make dessert guilt-free is a dear friend in my heart! 

Essentially, I looked for any excuse to try out one of Angela’s recipes.  I’d never made a raw food cheesecake or any other type of raw food dessert before, but I had a food processor, plenty of nuts in the freezer, and some yummy fruit in the fridge.  And by golly-lookee-at-the-coincidence… thankfully, Glen, a friend of mine was celebrating his 40th birthday.  JUST the excuse I needed to make mysel– I mean, him, a raw food cheesecake!

I selected one of Angela’s recipes and adapted it a little based on some of the ingredients that I had on hand (you learn pretty quick with many raw food recipes that you can really get away with doing your own thing!).   I elected to use a combination of blueberries and strawberries as those were two of my friend’s favourite fruits.  I also suspected they’d look pretty eye-appealing together.

stacey-terry-raw-food-cheesecake-baseThe recipe shows you how to make a base, then your “cheesecake” (it sure looks like dairy, but it isn’t!), and even a sauce to top the cake with.  There’s a little prep time involved ahead of time with soaking and setting, but in terms of effort, it really didn’t take me very long.

But here’s where the story took a tragic and unforeseen turn; one that left me practically shattered and grief-stricken.

I made Angela’s fantastic recipe.  I got the base looking all nice and ready to go, and then I had a happy time decorating it with fruits and the berry sauce.  I ensured a minimal amount of drool dripped into the ingredients.

All the while, I was envisioning the forthcoming evening: meeting my friend and his family for supper, presenting the cake, and in all likelihood of course, being invited to share a piece of this dazzling creation. I mean, of course I’d be invited to try some!  You just had to look at it.  It begged to be eaten!!

Alas, the cruel, cruel fates!  As it turned out, my friend had unintentially double-booked his 40th birthday activities, so unfortunately, he barely had time to meet us for supper before zipping off to his next engagement.  In other words… there wasn’t time for dessert.

Well… I mean… the cake was a gift, so I had to give it to him (even though the “inside voices” were telling me otherwise), but I think there was actually a lump in my throat as I presented my decadent raw delight and offered my most brave and cheerful smile as I bid Glen, and my first raw food cheesecake, good-bye.

(Does anyone else hear the violins??)

stacey-terry-strawberry-blueberry-raw-cheesecake-2But thankfully, this dramatic tale does have a happy ending, and we can all be relieved and thankful that my friend, being another year older, obviously gained more wisdom and called within a few days to tell me he’d put the cake in the freezer and would I like to come over to try some??

I’d waited four.  whole.  days.

And the wait was worth every bite!

Mmmmmmm…..cheesecake!!

p.s.  In case you’re wondering about the raw food cheesecake recipe that I used, you can find it in Angela’s book, The Decadent Gourmet.