How I enjoyed making these little beauties.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure they were going to come out of the bun tins but using a rounded butter knife, they popped out surprisingly easily.  My bun/patty tins were not as deep as mini muffin tins but the end result was still good.

The biscuit base could probably be made with a variety of different crumb depending on whether you are gluten-free, sugar-free, use a ready-made biscuit or make your own crumb.    I had some gluten-free water biscuits in the cupboard so decided to try out with those.  Another time, I may well try making the base with almond flour, nuts etc. but I was very pleased with how these turned out.

To make these bites vegan, agar-agar could be used instead of gelatine (as in the original recipe).

INGREDIENTS: (makes approximately 10)

Base:
75g gluten-free water biscuits or similar
2 tablespoons coconut oil, butter or ghee

Filling:
190g cashews
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
40ml maple syrup
5ml cornflour
4 sheets of gelatine
½ can (7fl.oz) coconut milk
About ¼ lemon (juice only)

Strawberry topping:
300g fresh strawberries
25ml water
25ml maple syrup
Dessertspoon lemon juice
4 sheets gelatin

METHOD:

Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water.   Leave for at least 1 hour before draining thoroughly.

Tamp down the crumb

Lightly oil 10 to 12 non-stick bun tins.

Using a Nutribullet or blender, pulse the water biscuits to a fine texture.   Melt the coconut oil, butter or ghee and mix well together.

Put a teaspoon of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the bun tins and press down firmly – I used the end of a mini rolling pin to tamp the mix down.

Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes.   Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

Meanwhile, soak the gelatine sheets in the coconut milk in a small saucepan and after five minutes, gently heat until dissolved.   Do not boil.   Alternatively, follow the instructions on your gelatine packet.

Combine all the filling ingredients, including the coconut milk, in either a Nutribullet or blender and blitz until very smooth.   Spoon the filling over the biscuit base in the tins leaving about 1/4cm from the top of the tin for the jelly to be poured.   Pop in the fridge.

Cut the strawberries into pieces and put in a saucepan with a splash of water.   Very gently bring to a simmer and cook for roughly ten minutes until very soft and breaking down.

Pour the mixture into a sieve and allow to drain, gently pressing down the strawberries to extract all the juice.

Put the juice, water, maple syrup, lemon juice and 4 sheets of gelatine into a saucepan.

Leave for 5 minutes before very slowly warming up, stirring continuously until the gelatine has fully dissolved.   If using sheet gelatine, do not boil.

Very carefully pour over the filling and top with a small piece of fresh strawberry.   Leave in the fridge for two to three hours to completely set before  removing from the tins.

Leave to set in the fridge

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Recipe adapted from The Buddhist Chef

NB:  All photographs used in this blog have been taken by me, and are of food I have prepared and served myself.

Since writing this blog, I have made these bites using mini muffin tins and this gives about 24 smaller, deeper bites (just as tasty).  I have also tried a base using blitzed seeds and nuts and this also worked well.

Best eaten on the day made although I prepared the base and filling the day before I needed the bites; cooked down my strawberries the day before so all I had to do was make the jelly on the day.  Very pleased with the result.