Matcha vanilla cheesecake bites |

The other day I saw pictures of myself from 12 years ago pop up on Facebook. I was young (19 years young to be precise), a bit too slim and very tanned. I was mid way through a ‘good’ degree, working towards getting a ‘good’ job. I thought I was on the right path, but when I look at these pictures there was something missing, a little sparkle in my eye that just needed to be ignited.

If you’d have told 19 year old me that 12 years later I’d be doing something completely unrelated to the ‘good’ degree I was working so hard for and making desserts made out of powdered green tea leaves I’d probably have laughed in your face and told you to reread said tea leaves because that couldn’t possibly be true.

But life has a funny way of happening, doesn’t it?

Back to the present, and in 2019 I’m embracing this matcha trend that shows no sign of going away by bringing you the most delicious cheesecake recipe you could have possibly dreamt of. Forget Neapolitan, it’s all about matchapolitan this year…that’s chocolate, vanilla and matcha…for the ultimate flavour combo. I’m obsessed with vegan cream cheese at the moment and it just makes these cheesecakes taste like the real deal, without the dairy. So give these a try, I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Makes 8-10 mini cheesecakes

Ingredients

For the base

1/2 cup medjool dates
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup oats
2 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp water

For the middle

1/2 cup cashews

1/3 cup non dairy yogurt

1/4 cup cacao butter, melted

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the top

1/2 tub of non dairy cream cheese

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp matcha powder

For the base, combine the ingredients in a food processor and whizz until they form a sticky mixture. Press this into the bottom of mini cheesecake tins or a silicone mini muffin mould (or use fairy cake cases if you don’t have these) so that the mixture is about 1cm thick.

To make the vanilla middle, add the ingredients to a food processor or high speed blender and whizz for a couple of minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. If your food processor isn’t super powerful, soak the cashews in warm water for an hour beforehand and then drain them to make them a little softer so that they blend easier. Spoon this mixture on top of the bases, then place these in the freezer for an hour.

For the matcha cheesecake topping, combine the ingredients in a bowl and stir well until all combined and there are no lumps of matcha left. Use a piping nozzle (I used an open star one) with a piping bag to pipe the mixture on top of the cheesecakes, or just dollop it on with a spoon instead. Serve straight away or place back in the freezer and remove an hour before serving.

Love, Mrs H xx