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Fragrant Vanilla Cake

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Raw Samoa Cheesecake


 
I was never a girl scout, but I did love girl scout cookies when I was a kid.  The thin mints and tag alongs were good, but what I really loved were the samoas.  If you live in another country and do not know what I am talking about they are delicious little vanilla short bread cookies, topped off with coconut laced caramel and drizzled with chocolate.
 
 
I thought about recreating a raw version, but a lot of other people have been doing that lately so I wanted to do something a little different.  A cheesecake…that sounded even better, as I am a cheesecake kind of girl over a cookie girl any day.
 

I made a crunchy vanilla nut crust, then topped it off with vanilla coconut cheesecake filling, then dark chocolate filling both layers swirled with caramel.  It had to be topped off with a layer of caramel and coconut as well, and drizzled it with chocolate as is traditional for the samoa.

 
It was way better than a samoa cookie!  The creamy fillings along with the gooey caramel and crunchy coconut were heavenly!  If you love samoa cookies, you may just have to try making this one for yourself.

Raw Samoa Cheesecake
Makes one 6 inch cake

Crust:
1/2  cup raw macadamia nuts, soaked and dried
1/2 cup sprouted buckwheat, dried in the dehydrator (or macadamia nuts)
1/2 cup dried finely shredded coconut
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
10-12 soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Filling:
1 1/2 cups raw cashews (preferably soaked overnight and drained)
1 1/2 cups young coconut meat (or additional soaked cashews if unavailable)
1/2 cup coconut water (or filtered water)
1/2 cup raw coconut nectar, or maple syrup
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp raw coconut oil (warmed to liquid)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract and seeds from half a vanilla bean (other half reserved for topping)
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup finely shredded coconut

Caramel:
15 medjool dates, pitted
3 Tbsp coconut butter
1/4 cup raw coconut nectar, or maple syrup
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4  cup water (or as needed)
1/4 cup finely shredded coconut

Raw Chocolate:
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup raw coconut oil
2 Tbsp raw coconut nectar or maple syrup
a pinch of sea salt

Lightly coat a 6 inch spring form removable bottom pans with coconut oil. To prepare the crust, process macadamias, buckwheat and sea salt in a food processor until the nuts are fine crumbs, then add the dates and vanilla and process until the mixture holds together when squeezed between your fingers (if not holding together, add more dates). Firmly press crust into the bottom of the prepared pan, and set aside.

To make the filling, drain the cashews and combine them with coconut water,  nectar, sea salt and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. With the processor running, add the coconut oil, and process for a minute until blended.  Remove half the filling from the food processor and place in a bowl stir in 1/4 cup shredded coconut, and add the cacao powder to the remaining half in the processor.  Process until well blended and place in another bowl. Set aside while you prepare caramel.

To make the caramel, combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth (adding more water by the Tbsp if too thick), then press through a fine meshed strainer to remove any date bits (optional, but makes for a smoother caramel).  Divide the caramel into 2 bowls, stirring 1/4 cup shredded coconut into one.

To assemble cheesecake, pour the vanilla coconut filling into the crust.  Drop half the caramel without the coconut onto the top of it in tspfuls, and swirl with a knife.  Pour the chocolate filling over and drop the remaining caramel without the coconut over in the same fashion you did with the rest of it.  Swirl with a knife.  Place the cheesecake in the freezer to firm up for about 4 hours.  Once it is firmed up, spread the caramel with the coconut over the top.

To make the chocolate, whisk together all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Drizzle over the cheesecake (it is easier if you put it in a plastic bag and cut the tip off to drizzle it). Place the cake in the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden the chocolate. Serve!

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68 Responses

  9. i was a girl scout, and let me tell you, i could easily eat an entire box of samoas in one sitting. they were my favorite. everyone else loved thin mints, but not me. chocolate+caramel+coconut is perfection. delicious raw cake take on it, lady. it looks phenomenal and i wish i could come over for a slice right now 😉

  14. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!! No, seriously…SHUT IT…because if it’s in your house…my super human premenstrual-craving nose will find it and I’ll be at your front door! hahaha…

    I am TOTALLY making this in the next two weeks. And I’ll definitely post on how fabulously I’m sure it’ll come out! Thanks so much for having the genius in you to create this! PHENOMENAL!!

  20. Hi Amy, Loving your recipes and have made a few now (the lavender / raspberry chocolates went down a storm on mother’s day last weekend. But I’m still a bit (very) confused about sprouted buckwheat. I bought some, I put it in a jar covered with water (changed once or twice a day) for about a week in the end. The buckwheat looked the same at the end as at the start (maybe a bit softer) – and then I dehydrated it (can’t even remember for how long, maybe 6 hours) – and by then it looked exactly the same as at the start! I’ve put it in a plastic container and was going to use it for this recipe – but am not sure if what I did was right! Can you maybe explain sprouted buckwheat on a blog post for those of us who clearly haven’t a clue… PS No idea what samoa cookies are (in the UK) but am soaking cashews for this right now!

    1. Awesome Donna :)! The buckwheat should sprout, so there may be something wrong with your buckwheat. Otherwise, you can do the quick method which is soak it 2 hours, rinse and drain well, then dehydrate.

  21. OMG This is definitely my favorite dessert of yours so far!! Everyone that has tried it has marveled at it. I was about to make another one when I realized I needed more buckwheat. Then I realized I have been using Bob’s Red Mill “Creamy Buckwheat” – I was wondering what kind/brand of buckwheat are you using? Are they groats? The kind that I have been using so far makes a great crunch and is part of what I love about your crusts.

  23. OMG!!! I made your Cheesecake this weekend for a brunch today. Almost everyone at the brunch needed to eat Gluten and Dairy free (including me). I was sceptical. Your cheesecake was the talk of the brunch :). It was fantastic!!!!!!! Even people who don’t like sweets tried a little piece and took seconds… I LOVE IT!!! and will make your other flavors soon.
    Lindsey

  24. My cake is setting in the freezer. It’s not beautiful like yours. I used a 9″ since it seems difficult to find a 6″ spring pan. The caramel is perfect! I will prob use it in future recipes. Thanks. The flavors alone are nice. I can’t wait to try everything together. Only 3 hrs to go. 🙂

  26. This was delicious! Instead of using the springform, I used about 12 ramekins so everyone could have a single serving. It was loved even by those who are leery of anything that is not a “normal” food to them. Going to try it as more of a brick shape for easier slicing rather than the 6″ round. Totally amazing recipe!

  27. This was so wonderfully delicious but I do not know how you got it to fit in a 6 inch springform. I may be a little heavy-handed when I measure out the ingredients but when I saw how much crust I had, I quickly substituted the 8 inch springform. The layers may not be as tall and pretty as in your picture but it tastes great!
    Thank you for these wonderful recipes – every one of them is a keeper.

    2. Thanks! At the rate we’ve been enjoying it I’m not sure we’ll have leftovers this time. Good to know for the future and for planning ahead! 🙂

  30. Made it this weekend and was floored by how delicious it was. The “caramel” almost didn’t make it on the cheesecake because my children immediately thought “German Chocolate Cake icing.” This was the third RAW Cheesecake that I’ve made and I’d have to say it was also the best! Thanks Amy.

  31. hello! this looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. when you refer to coconut water in your recipes, do you mean the water inside a young coconut? or something else? forgive me, I think I asked this on another recipe but didn’t bookmark it, so I cannot go back to see if you have answered me. I have this one bookmarked. 🙂 thank you in advance for your help.

  32. I made this last night, with just a few adjustments. I decided to do my favorite chocolate mousse instead of adding cocoa to the cashew filling, but I still had some cashew filling leftover so I added a bit of cocoa powder anyway to see how it was and WOW it was absolutely incredible! The chocolate mousse I do is avocado, cocoa powder, and sweetener, and I wished I had had more cashews soaked and ready. THIS WAS CRAZY GOOD. Thanks for sharing!

    1. I would use a chocolate avocado mousse for half if I were to make this again (since I prefer avocadoes to cashews any day) that is what I use now for chocolate layers in cheesecakes ;). So you and I must think alike ;). So happy you enjoyed the cake :)!

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