I have not kept my love for figs a secret and if you follow me on my Instagram page then you will notice that I declare my love for them quite often. Well, as it happens, my love for figs often results in a kitchen littered with plump figs, so many that I don’t even know what to do with them.
So naturally I made a fig cheesecake.
A fruit like the fig is so fun to work with. It is the ultimate test in patience, for me, because they are often unripe at the grocery store and are more like hard little stones when I bring them home. I must wait patiently for them to slowly ripen until they are squishy to the touch and a beautiful and magnificent red on the inside. The more you let them ripen the more you are rewarded for your patience as the flavor only becomes creamier and sweeter. (as a side note, unripened figs are awful).
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I know that in traditional dishes almonds and figs go together very well. I use almonds regularly and I knew this would be such an easy experiment for me: an almond fig cheesecake can only turn out good!
I shared it with my colleagues and they seemed to enjoy the flavor, admitting that the figs gave it such a distinctly unique and earthy flavor. The figs actually tone down the sweetness of the cheesecake and make it more like an adult treat to be had with coffee on a stormy afternoon.
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Basic Crust:
a recipe
1/2 cup almonds, soaked
3 medjool dates, soaked
2 T coconut oil
1/8 t sea salt
Pit and peel the dates and then combine everything in a food processor. Pulse until chunky and sticky. Dump out into a 6″ springform pan or two 4″ pans. Press down until even. Set aside.
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Almond Fig Cheesecake:
a recipe
1/2 cup cashews, soaked
1/4 cup coconut oil
4-5 ripe** black mission figs, stems removed
1/8 t almond extract
2-4 T water as needed for blending
Place everything in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Use a tamper to help facilitate blending. If you are not using figs for garnish, then pour over the crust and spread until even. Place in the freezer to set for a couple hours, and then move to the fridge. If using garnish, see below.
Garnish (optional)
1-2 ripe** black mission figs, thinly sliced
After pressing down the crust, line the pan with the sliced figs. Then pour the cheesecake filling over the crust. Place in the freezer to set for a couple hours, then move to the fridge.
**it is very important to use fully ripened figs for this recipe. If it is not squishy to the touch then it may not provide the depth of flavor that is best in ripe figs.
It also makes for a beautiful presentation, which obviously I dig. What do you think?? Let me know if you make it!
xo
**disclosure: if you purchase anything I link to you via Amazon I make a small percentage out of it at no cost to you! So cool for me, so cool for you!
Oh my gosh….this looks….FANTABULOUS!!!!! I'm drooling all over my computer, my god!!!!
I am most certainly going to try this and when I do, I'll come back to post my impression (I have no doubt though; I WILL be pretty impressed! :D)
Thank you!!!
I am not 100% raw (although many days I am), but I do follow a vegetarian/vegan diet and I have to just disagree with you on "unripe figs being awful". I'm Greek and naturally i grew up enjoying our traditional dessert; spoon sweets. My two personal favourites (I rarely eat them nowadays, but I don't think I'll ever remove them from my diet) are Fig Spoon Sweet and Quince Spoon Sweet! My dad, who's become an expert on making these traditional desserts (he learned from my grandmothers), uses way less sugar than what most recipes require (half -or less of- the sugar) and he makes the most delicious, light and delicate Spoon Sweets ever!
Whenever I badly crave something sweet and decadent, I just love eating one or two of those candied figs (if I don't want the syrup, I just run the candied fig under water and scrape the excess syrup away!). Healthy and delicious!
I made this cheesecake last night and was sorely disappointed by the crust. It was CRAZY SALTY!!! As in, totally inedible. We had to just scrape the yummy figgy filling off the top and waste the entire crust, which was quite a shame. I did not even put the full teaspoon you called for; I put maybe 3/4. And I soaked my nuts in plain water only, so no salt there. I think you need to change this recipe asap to only call for 1/4 tsp salt in the crust.
Oh my goodness I am SO sorry!! That must have been an oversight by me .. I will fix it right away. Thanks for letting me know!!
That sounds so yummy!! I will have to look that up and maybe give it a try 🙂