Thanks to the wonderful Creative Nature crew, I had some goodies sent to me just in time for Christmas, including cacao powder and cacao nibs. Known as ‘the food of the Gods’, cacao is the raw ingredient all chocolate is made from and is packed with flavonoids, so what better way than to add it to healthy recipes!
You may have seen the recipe for my Chocolate, Chestnut & Cranberry Slice, a moist, chocolatey sponge spiked with festive flavours. With just a week remaining, I’ve created a cheesecake with a gluten-free biscuit base, smooth and indulgent chocolate and chestnut filling and to top it off, an orange and cranberry sauce with a rich cacao drizzle. The ideal dessert for family and friends, this is totally guilt-free and tastes delicious!
Chocolate & Chestnut Cheesecake with Orange & Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Biscuit base:
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup ground almonds
- ½ cup vanilla protein powder (I used PhD Nutrition)
- ¼ cup natural sweetener
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate & Chestnut filling:
- 1 x pack silken tofu
- 200g cooked, unsweetened chestnuts
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Creative Nature cacao powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used PhD Nutrition)
- ¼ cup natural sweetener
Cranberry & Orange sauce:
- 100g fresh cranberries
- Juice and zest of one orange
- ¼ – ½ cup natural sweetener
Chocolate Drizzle:
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup Creative Nature cacao powder
- ¼ cup agave syrup
Get baking!
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease and line a loose-bottomed cake tin.
- First of all, make the base: Place the dry ingredients in a bowl, melt the coconut oil and stir into the bowl, mixing well to form a dough. Press into the tin so it covers the base and is spread evenly, then bake for about 8-10 minutes.
- Put all of the filling ingredients into a blender and blitz until you have a smooth consistency. Remove the tin from the oven (the base should just be starting to go golden), pour in the filling, return to the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes (keep an eye on it, you may need to cover it with tin foil to stop it burning). Remove from oven and leave to cool before chilling in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- Put the cranberries in a small pan with the orange zest, juice and sweetener. Bring to the boil then simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, until slightly softened and the juice has evaporated. Leave to cool.
- When you’re ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and spoon over the cranberries in the middle. Mix together the melted coconut oil with the other topping ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. Drizzle over the cheesecake, slice up and enjoy!
Creative Nature products are available to buy from selected Tesco Stores in the Free From aisle, as well as being found in Ocado stores. Check them out online too to find out more about their wonderful range of superfood products!