Some days just calls for cake, I am sure we can all agree.
Birthdays. Anniversaries. Tuesdays. Cake just makes everything better and can make even the most mundane of gatherings feel like a party.
But the things is, the average cake is really not all that healthy. As in, they consist, for the most part, pretty much of just sugar and butter. And cream. And white flour. In other words, not something you should be scoffing every day.
But; guys. Roz Purcell of Natural Born Feeder (did you run out and buy the book yet?!) has sorted all this. And actually made a cake you can eat without even having to feel the teeniest, tiniest bit guilty. And the best bit? It tastes amazing.
STRAWBERRY AND HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
Filling
8 ripe bananas, peeled
750g Greek yoghurt
100g fresh strawberries,
hulled, plus extra to serve
1 scoop (30g) strawberry or
vanilla whey protein powder
1 tsp vanilla essence or
powder
Base
350g raw almonds
300g raw hazelnuts
35g cacao nibs
18 Medjool dates, pitted
2 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the almonds on one baking tray and the hazelnuts on a separate tray. Place them in the oven and toast them for about 10 minutes, stirring them halfway through. The hazelnuts may need a few minutes more, until the skins have started to loosen.
Remove the hazelnut skins using the roast-and-rub method: tip the warm nuts into a slightly dampened clean kitchen towel, fold up the sides and rub the skins off using the towel.
Set the nuts aside to let them cool, and reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
Line the base of a 25cm springform tin with non-stick baking paper.
Put all the base ingredients in a food processor and pulse until they are fully combined and have formed a thick dough that sticks together easily. This may take 5–8 minutes depending on how powerful your food processor is.
Scrape into the lined tin and press down firmly using the back of a spoon to create an even layer over the bottom (you don’t need to press it up the sides of the tin).
Put all the filling ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Pour on top of the base, smoothing the top.
Bake for 45–50 minutes. The top should be set and the cake should be cooked all the way through. Do the wobble test: when you give it a little jiggle, it should be fairly sturdy and firm.
Great Tip: A tiny crack will form in the middle when the cheesecake cools, so if you want it picture perfect for your Instagram feed, snap it straight from the oven!
To serve this cheesecake at the perfect temperature, let it cool on a wire rack before chilling it in the fridge for 1 hour. Cut into slices and serve with fresh strawberries.
Natural Born Feeder is out now and available from all good bookstores nationwide.
