No Bake Cherry Cheesecake

Step 1

Grease a 6” springform pan with coconut oil, or line an 6” cake pan with strips of parchment paper for easy removal, and grease well with coconut oil. Set aside.

Step 2

Add the coconut, pecans, pitted dates and salt to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize until it comes together into a sort of sticky dough, with small pecan bits remaining. Press the coconut-pecan-date dough evenly along the bottom of the prepared pan.

Step 3

In a high-powered blender (I used my Vitamix, but most powerful blenders should do the job), combine all of the filling ingredients except for the freeze dried cherries and blend for about 2-4 minutes, or until the mixture is silky smooth and super creamy! You may need to add a bit more coconut milk or lemon juice to get it to blend smoothly if your blender isn’t super high-powered.

Step 4

Once it’s smooth, taste the mixture and adjust the sweetness/tartness levels, if desired.

Step 5

Pour half of the smooth filling into the prepared pan over the pecan crust. Smooth out the top and tap the pan hard against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Place in the freezer.

Step 6

Meanwhile, blend the freeze dried cherries into the remaining half of the mixture until it’s smooth and dark red in color.

Step 7

Let the bottom half freeze for about 30 minutes or until the top is hardened enough that the next layer won’t sink down into it. If you don’t care, you can do the second layer right on top without freezing between.

Step 8

When the bottom is frozen, blend the mixture again quickly to resoften it (add a little extra coconut milk if it seems to have firmed up too much) and then pour on top of the vanilla layer. Once again, smooth out the top and tap the pan hard against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Step 9

Return to the freezer to set for at least 3 hours or until completely firm.

Step 10

For the chocolate ganache, place your chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the coconut cream in a saucepan or microwave until simmering and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 3 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Spread over the top of the cheesecake, letting it drip down the sides as desired. I actually did my drips with a piping bag because I wanted them to look really nice, but this is unnecessary – solely for aesthetics. Garnish with fresh cherries!

Step 11

Store in the refrigerator or freezer. I recommend running your knife under hot water to warm it up before cutting the cheesecake with the still-hot (dried) knife.

Step 12

If serving from frozen, let thaw at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months or in the fridge for up to 5 days.