Holy Fierce Salted Caramel Cheesecake, Batman!

This post is part of the Vocal Cooks Collaborate series. Click Here for an index of all the recipe posts. The latest recipes are Jessica Conaway's 'Cookies make Everything Better' and Oneg of the Artic's 'Northern Cooking Experience'.

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Fierce Salted Caramel Cheesecake? YES!

Like all-too-many dedicated carnivores (not all, mind you- but many) I have felt a certain smugness that I am enjoying all the variety that life affords. That includes meat. Milk. Cheese, for goodness sake- I mean really- cheese!!! Right?

Feeling bad for the self-punishing vegans I picture them as long-suffering albeit healthy. Missing out on life's joys and gifts due to a virtuous nobility towards animals.

Then I started following a friend's posts on Facebook, particularly her trip cross-country from Michigan to Texas. She shared photo after photo (as one does) of tasty roadside cuisine. How she found these vegan delights I have no idea- I guess it must have been a Vegan mind meld. Or maybe Google. Perhaps she asked Siri? I dunno- but she found them.

She and her husband are as far away from the deprived people I pre-supposed vegans to be as I am from the moon! They live a life of adventure, exploration, and most of all JOY!

And how they manage to be vegan so successfully in Texas of all places is beyond me. I see their photos from weekend jaunts-about-town:

They eat delicious yummies and don't look at all deprived! A short trip off the freeway one afternoon led them to Earth Burger and a Spicy ChIk-N :-) sandwich. Their entire menu is 100% plant based. Look at this!

Jason (aka Jakey Black IX of the band Kin Faux) needs energy as they play and promote their new album Honky Tonk in Heaven. You can't wimp through life and play like this!

No, there must be something about the vegan life-style that just agrees with them- there is no moping around for Megan Elise! She enjoys food and bases their diet solely on vegan cuisine. They even splurge with vegan frosty goodness!

So when I wanted the downlow on a delicious vegan dessert, one that blow the socks off the dyed-in-the-wool non-vegan reader, I had to turn to Megan Elise. What, I asked her, is a sure-fire vegan dessert that would wow anyone? Something that looks amazing, tastes incredible, isn't too hard to make, and doesn't call for 'weird ingredients'? In two minutes she sent me her go-to entertaining standby: the Fierce Salted Caramel Cheesecake. This slinky offering is both vegan and raw! That is hardcore!

I was both hooked and skeptical. I though vegans didn't eat cheese? Well, I had a lot to learn. The 'cheese cake' is made of a blended mix of cashews that have been soaked to make them soft, plus dates for sweetness and coconut oil to give a silky texture. It is layered with caramel (vegan- natch) and frozen.

Since it is raw there is no baking required (prefect for the Texas weather, and for us northern folks in the summer heat!). No fancy equipment, either: if you have a blender you can make this and get the same yummy results.

Megan Elise endorses all of the recipes from thisrawsomeveganlife.com , too. So put on some music from Kin Faux and whip yourself up a Fierce Salted Caramel Cheesecake while you listen to Jakey Black IX sing Last Call. Heck- invite your friends over to listen, too. Just save a slice for me.

FIERCE SALTED CARAMEL CHEESECAKE [ serves 10-12; inspired by Amy Lyons' recipe in Just Vegan Cakes ]

Crust:

• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup ground flax seeds
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup gooey dates

Caramel:

• 1 1/2 cups gooey dates
• 1/4 cup water, or more as needed
• Heaping 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Cheesecake batter:

• 2 cups cashews, preferably soaked for 4 hours
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 2/3 cup gooey dates
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut milk or water, or more as needed
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

To make the crust: grind the oats, flax, coconut and salt into flour in a blender or food processor. Add the dates and process into a thick dough that holds its shape when pressed between two fingers. Press into the bottom of a lined 6-inch springform cake pan. Leave in the fridge.

To make the caramel: blend everything until smooth and thick and delish. Set aside in a bowl.

To make the cheesecake batter: blend everything until smooth and thick and delish!

Assembly: scoop some caramel onto your crust, then pour over some cheesecake batter. Keep doing this until you've used everything up. Swirl it around with a chopstick and then leave to set in the freezer overnight. I decorated my cake with almonds, frozen berries, chia seeds and baobab drizzle. Enjoy!

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If this made you hungry and you aren't thinking vegan, check out my secret for the best fish sandwich in the world:

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