So, Christmas is coming – in fact, today it’s exactly ONE MONTH away. Scary, isn’t it? If you’re keen to still enjoy food over the festive period but want to keep it healthy, look no further than this indulgent cheesecake, flavoured with cacao, orange and cardamom. YUM.
Relatively simple to make, high in protein and with clean ingredients, you’d never know this was actually good for you. This can be made in advance and chilled for up to 2 days if you’ve got guests coming round, or make it for a weekend treat.
So, without further ado, here’s the recipe – I guarantee this will be a winner!
Ingredients:
For the base –
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 2 tbsp cacao powder (I used Kaizen Living)
- 1 scoop PhD Nutrition Chocolate Orange diet whey protein
- Juice of ½ a large orange
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (I used Lucy Bee)
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C, and grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
Put the ground almonds, cacao powder and protein powder in a bowl and stir well. Whisk together the melted coconut oil and orange juice, then pour in and bind together to create a dough-like consistency – it should stick together. Press into the tin and spread evenly with your fingers to cover the base. Bake for 5-8 minutes until starting to brown a little.
For the filling:
- 1 x 349g pack of silken tofu (I used Morinu)
- 2 eggs
- 2 scoops PhD Nutrition Chocolate Orange diet whey protein
- Juice of the other orange half + zest of the whole one
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp natural sweetener (I used Truvia stevia)
- 10 cardamom pods
While the base is cooking, simply put the tofu, eggs, protein powder, orange juice, sweetener and cornflour in a blender and whizz up until completely smooth – blitz for about 30 seconds. Slice open each of the cardamom pods and scrape out the little black seeds. Add to the mixture and whizz up again.
Now stir in the orange zest, leaving a little to decorate, and pour over the slightly baked base. Return to the oven and bake for a further 35-40 minutes until set and slightly golden. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until cooled.
Run a knife around the edge and gently remove the cheesecake from the tin. Keep in the fridge until fully chilled.
For a chocolate glaze drizzle: Simply mix together a little orange juice, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp cacao powder and whisk until smooth. Open up another cardamom pod and crush the seeds, then add to the sauce. Pour over your cooled cheesecake and leave to set. Sprinkle with the remaining orange zest and you’re good to go!
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