With Cherries in season and a love of all things coconut and cheesecake it was only a matter of time before I attempted to bring everything together in one yummy dessert. I’ve opted for an American style baked version, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, don’t be put off by the choice of coconut sugar, you can use regular caster sugar if necessary. Likewise if cherries are not available then try raspberries, they work perfectly well.
Ingredients:
150g Digestive biscuits
30g Desiccated coconut
60g Butter, melted (Could also use Almond butter)
360g Soft cheese
250g Quark – cheese or Ricotta cheese
4 medium Free Range Eggs
25 g Coconut sugar or caster sugar
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
180 ml coconut milk/cream
200g fresh cherries, pitted
25g coconut shavings – readily available in baking isle
Cooking Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
- Place the biscuits in a food processor to make into fine crumbs. Mix well with the desiccated coconut and butter, and press into a 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin, 2 inches high.
- In a large bowl whisk the soft cheese, quark/ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and coconut cream, and pour over the crumb base.
- Roughly chop half the cherries and scatter over the top.
- Bake for1 to 1 ¼ hours until golden on top but still with a slight wobble.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin. Remove from the tin and place on a platter.
- Serve topped with whole cherries and shavings of toasted coconut, if you wish the top with the coconut slices.
- Serve with fresh cream.
Kumud Gandhi is a Nutritional Food Scientist bestselling Author, Broadcaster, and Keynote Speaker on the subject of nutritional health for productivity & performance in the workplace. In 2010 Kumud founded ‘The Cooking Academy’ a cookery school that focusses on cooking for nutritional health and wellbeing. Kumud regularly presents to international audiences on a variety of topics such as ‘Eating for Immunity and a Lifetime of Wellness’. She is an expert in the field of Wellness in the Workplace and works with organizations to create transformational change in employee health & well-being through nutrition and health coaching.
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