In Poland, plum jam is quite a big thing, especially for Christmas. It’s always added to gingerbread and all sorts of spiced cakes but not only to cakes. We add it to roasts and stews and pretty much anything you can imagine, so just think of a dish and I’m sure someone has added plum jam to it.

The idea for cinnamon and plum cheesecake is something I’ve done before, long time ago, way before going vegan and it’s always been one of my favourite cakes for this festive season and just as with many other recipes I didn’t think that making it vegan would work. But plants are just so amazing and I honestly believe that you can make anything vegan if you’re open and resourceful so I tried it with this cake and it worked wonders!

This cheesecake is very smooth and creamy, the sweetness of cinnamon is beautifully contrasted by the sourness of the jam, finished with slightly bitter chocolate it all just melts in your mouth. Make sure you try this recipe guys, you won’t regret it!

 

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 140g oat flour *
• 100g ground almonds
• 3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp. maple syrup
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the ‘cheese’ layer

• 600g cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
• 100ml maple syrup
• 50ml almond milk
• 3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• juice squeezed from ½ lemon
• a pinch of salt
• 3-4 tbsp. plum jam

For the topping:

• 5-6 prunes in light syrup, halved and pitted
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 50g dark chocolate

* You can simply make oat flour by blending oat flakes in a food processor or high-speed blender.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lay a bottom of round 22-cm cake tin with greaseproof paper and set aside.
2. To make the base put all ingredients in a bowl and mix until dough forms; it should have the consistency of wet sand.
3. Transfer the dough to the prepared cake tin and using your hands form the base, then spike it with a fork and put in the oven. Bake for 10 min, then take out of the oven and set aside.
4. To make the ‘cheese’ layer, put the cashews, maple syrup, almond milk and coconut oil in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy; this should take a good few minutes. Add lemon juice and cinnamon and blend for a few more minutes.
5. Spread the plum jam on top of the baked base, then transfer the ‘cheese’ on top, cover with cling film and place in the freezer for an hour.
6. Just before you take the cheesecake out of the freezer, prepare the topping; melt 1 tbsp. coconut oil with dark chocolate on low heat, be careful not to burn the chocolate.
7. Take the cake out the freezer, decorate with halved and pitted prunes and drizzle with melted chocolate. Serve right away or store in the fridge for up to 4 days, ideally covered with foil a deep dish.

Enjoy!

Julia xx