baked honey cheesecake
This delicious cheesecake can be prepared the day before a dinner party or birthday celebration so it’s chilled and ready when your guests arrive. The combination of oats, sunflower seeds and dates, without any refined sugar, makes this a much more nourishing cheesecake than conventional recipes. But I promise the deliciousness is still all there.
Ingredients
50g pitted fresh (medjool) dates
180g (2 cups) rolled oats
40g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds
1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
50g (2/3 cup) shredded coconut
100g butter, melted (see Nutrition Note)
500g light cream cheese, cubed
250g crème fraîche
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
105g (3 1/2 tbsp) honey
3 eggs
60g (1/4 cup) lemon juice
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease base and sides of a deep, round springform cake tin (22cm). Line base with baking paper and set aside.
2. Place dates into a food processor or high-powered blender (Thermomix) and process until coarsely chopped. Scrape down sides with a spatula.
3. Add oats, sunflower seeds and cinnamon, and process until finely chopped and combined. Add coconut and melted butter, and process until combined.
4. Transfer mixture into prepared cake tin and press firmly into base and sides of tin (approx. 3cm up the sides). Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 170°C (150°C fan). Clean and dry food processor/blender.
5. Place cream cheese, crème fraîche, vanilla and honey into the food processor or blender, and process until just combined. Scrape down sides with a spatula.
6. Add eggs and lemon juice, and process until just combined and smooth. Pause to scrape down sides with spatula if needed.
7. Pour mixture over crust. Bake for 55 minutes or until almost set (cheesecake should still have a slight wobble in the centre). Turn off oven and leave cheesecake to cool in oven with door slightly ajar (approx. 3 hours).
8. Carefully remove from tin. Transfer into refrigerator to chill completely, preferably overnight, before serving (see Tip).
Tips
- It’s important to chill this cake completely, preferably overnight, before serving, as the flavour and sweetness intensifies.
- I try to buy a local organic, grass-fed butter, both for its better nutrition credentials and its reduced environmental impact. But, when I can’t source it, I prefer to choose regular Australian butter over imported organic butter. Fortunately, much Australian butter comes from primarily grass-fed cows, even if it doesn’t say so on the label.
