Forget friends with benefits… dessert with benefits way more fun. And yes, this raw vegan matcha charcoal swirl cheese cake does taste as good as it looks.
This luscious dessert is a crowd-pleases and SO easy!! It only takes 15 minutes of actual time in the kitchen for you. The rest of the time is for soaking the nuts and freezing the cake so it’s a cheese cake-like texture.
Matcha + Activated Charcoal.
Mixing these two wonders together creates a black and green galaxy of antioxidants and intense detoxifying powers your body will thank you for. Matcha does wonders as an antioxidant powerhouse, and activated charcoal actually binds to toxins and heavy metals in your body (great for hangovers).
This crust is just 3 main superfood ingredients with some lemon zest and sea salt. Easy as pie (crust).
Who knew dessert could be so powerful?
Matcha is one of the most powerful antioxidants in the world. I’ve been loving the ceremonial grade DoMatcha. They’re all about quality and transparency with their matcha (check out where they source it from and how it’s made here).
- Antioxidant powerhouse! Matcha helps slow aging process by fighting free radicals and protecting your cells from damage and minimizing your risk for disease
- Sustained energy release compared to coffee (no jitters)
- High in the antioxidant EGCG, which is shown to boost metabolism, increase fat loss, and help prevent disease
- 137 times more antioxidants that your typical green tea
- L-theanine in matcha improves memory and boosts your mood by helping produce dopamine and serotonin
- High levels of chlorophyll in matcha detoxifies your body by helping remove heavy metals and chemical toxins
- Increases your immunity with it’s antibiotic properties and good levels of vitamin A, C and potassium
- Crust:
- ½ cup oats (gluten-free if needed)
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ⅛ tsp salt
Filling:- 2 cups cashews, soaked at least 3 hours (or 1 hour in hot water)
- 1 cup full fat coconut cream (scrape the solid white stuff out of the can, leave the liquid)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- juice of 1 large lemon
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp matcha powder (I used ceremonial grade matcha fromDo Matcha)
- 1 tsp activated charcoal (sub cacao powder)
- Make crust: in your food processor, blend dates until they've become small chunks or a ball. Remove from food processor and blend walnuts and oats until their a fine meal. Add the dates back in. Blend until well combined. Texture? It should stick together when squeezed.
- Press crust into a parchment lined spring form pan (up the sides too).
- Place the crusted pan into the freezer.
- Make filling: in your blender, blend cashews, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla and lemon until smooth and silky. This will give you 2½ cups of white filling.
- Pour ¾ of the filling (1¾ cups) out into a jar, keeping half of the filling in the blender.
- Add matcha to the blender and blend until combined.
- Pour matcha filling in the pie crust.
- Blend the rest of the white filling with the activated charcoal (or cacao).
- Drizzle the activated charcoal filling in a swirl over the matcha filling. Use a butter knife or chop stick to create art! (zig zag motion)
- Place the pie in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- When you're ready to eat it, take it out of the freezer and let sit 10 minutes.
- Store it in the freezer!
The longer the cashews are soaked, the creamier the pie.
You can freeze it for less time, but it just won't be as solid.
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