Strawberry and Vanilla "Cheesecake"

Strawberries are synonymous with this time of year thanks to Wimbledon and the fact that they're now in season. What's more, they contain the highest vitamin C content of all the berries. Whilst they're of course, delicious served on their own au natural, I also find them inspiring as an ingredient and enjoy creating recipes with the juicy red berries, perhaps because they're inevitably crowd pleasers. I've served this Strawberry and Vanilla "Cheesecake" at a couple of events and it always proves hugely popular and is a great way to show that you can enjoy indulgent desserts even when following this way of eating.

Three great health benefits: boosts immunity, beneficial for bone health, good source of antioxidants 

Serves 8-10 

Ingredients:
125g almonds
175g medjool dates, pitted
Pinch sea salt
300g cashews, soaked overnight and drained & rinsed
100ml coconut oil (liquid)
60ml maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
350g strawberries, hulled

Method: 
1) Grease an 8 inch springform cake tin with a little coconut oil.
2) Whizz the almonds in a food processor to finely chop. Add the medjool dates and salt and whizz again until the mixture starts to stick together. 
3) Press the almond & date mixture into the prepared cake tin and refrigerate to set for a couple of hours. 
4) Meanwhile, make the "cheese" layer. Place the cashews in a clean food processor and whizz to break up. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and whizz until smooth and creamy. 
5) Remove approximately half of the "cheese" mixture and dollop randomly onto the prepared base. 
6) Add the strawberries to the remaining half of the "cheese" mixture and whizz in the food processor to blend. Dollop onto the prepared base and swirl with the vanilla mixture. Don't over mix- you don't want to combine the two flavours, simply swirl lightly as this will create a pretty layered pattern when serving. 
7) Freeze overnight to set. Remove from the freezer approximately 20 minutes before serving. Decorate with strawberries or fresh mint leaves to serve. 

Let me know if you try out this recipe! Tag me on Twitter @HaloEats or Instagram @halo.eats