Orange, Lemon, and Blueberry Mini Vegan Cheesecakes

It's New Year's Eve. We celebrate with our little one and another family that also has a young boy. ithas been our tradition to celebrate with them for the past decade before either of us had children. We used to even stay up until midnight. Now we go home mid evening to put our kids to bed. Ain't it grant getting old. Tonight we're going to their place, and bringing dessert. I decided to makes something fruity and fancy.  Historically when I've made mini vegan cheesecakes they involved cashew cream instead of cream cheese or ricotta, and blueberry topping. This year, they've been elevated up a notch or two.  The gorgeous organic navel oranges on the counter inspired me to make a layered concoction. The bottom layer of course is the faux-graham wafer crust, followed by a dreamy orange cheese cake layer, a bright lemon cheese cake layer, and finally an abundance of blueberries layer. The fruity flavour combinations are pleasing, although perhaps the colour contrast between the layers is a little inadequate to see it very well.


Please note, they are best after being refrigerated for 24 hours. Don't know why. Which is great because they can be made ahead.

filling:

Lemon Cheesecake Layer:
filling ingredients:

3/4 cups raw cashews soaked in water and sea salt for 2 hours, then rinsed
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp agave
4 tbsp lemon juice
20 drops lemon essential oil
2 tbsp coconut oil



1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp finely ground white chia seeds



Orange Cheesecake Layer:

filling ingredients:

3/4  cups raw cashews soaked in water and sea salt for 2 hours, then rinsed
2 small navel oranges, zested, peeled, and pureed. reserve 1 tsp of zest  (dispose of peel and any stray seeds) (use 3 small navel oranges next time)
2  tbsp agave

1 tsp orange zest if you have used organic oranges
2 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp finely ground white chia seeds



filling directions:

1. in a food processor, process the ingredients until creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides as needed



crust:

ingredients for the crust:

1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut (I gave it a quick pulse in my grinder to make the shreds small)

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/2 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

2 tbsp water

directions for crust:

1. combine the above ingredients in the order listed, mixing well with a fork before adding the water



Blueberry topping:


topping ingredients:


2 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 pinch sea salt
4 tbsp coconut sugar
splash of vanilla extract
a pinch of ground vanilla bean

topping directions:

1. combine ingredients and let defrost
2. mix well




Making the cakes:

preheat the oven to 345

1. once all three parts have been made, you are ready to start

2. scoop the crust mixture evenly into 18 silicone muffin cups  and flatten with your fingers
3. spoon each flavour of cheese cake filling evenly over the crust, and bake for 10 minutes at 345
4. after 10 minutes of baking, spoon the blueberry mixture evenly over the partially baked cakes, then bake for 25 more minutes. 

cool thoroughly before removing from the silicone cups.
I store them in the silicone cups in the fridge, and just remove them prior to serving.

notes:
1. bake at 345 for 30-25 minutes
2. if using the blueberry topping, add after 10 minutes of baking, then bake for 20-25 minutes more
3. cool before removing from the silicone muffin cups
4. makes 18 baby cheesecakes
5. make the day before, and serve chilled