Ice-Cream and Giggles

You may find this surprising, but I only started eating and liking rhubarb about 2 months ago. My dad has been growing rhubarb for years, but I would never touch it. It think it might be because it resembles spinach too much!

I decided to make this jam to fill some pop tarts, and it evolved from a rhubarb jam to a rhubarb - strawberry - apple jam because we had heaps of strawberries and apples in the fridge that needed to be used up! It results in a not too sweet jam that is perfect to eat on its own or fill pop tarts with!

Prep: 15 minutes, cooking: 15 minutes, soaking: 1 hour. Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Makes around 2 ball jars worth of jam, approx 1000ml.

You will need:

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
320 grams of rhubarb, washed and chopped
330 grams of strawberries, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chia seeds

Method:

1. Mix apple, rhubarb, strawberry, lemon juice, coconut sugar and water in a saucepan. Have on medium heat and let simmer for around 15-20 minutes until cooked and the rhubarb has started to dissolve a bit.
2. Add mix to a food processor/blender and puree the mix.
3. Pour mix into a large bowl, add chia seeds and stir in well. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour until a jam is formed.

This cheesecake is inspired by one of my favourite biscuits: the wagon wheel. It is an Australian biscuit, made with two biscuits sandwiched with marshmallow, strawberry jam, and this whole thing is dipped in chocolate! I mean, what's not to love? (Besides gelatin, dairy, gluten, sugar...). So here I decided to make a cheesecake with a biscuit (aka nut) base, vanilla cashew coconut filling, berry chia jam, and topped with chocolate!

I have been making a lot of cheesecakes lately, as I finally bought myself a vitamix! It is so wonderful, it makes cheesecake fillings so so so smooth, and grinds down the seeds in my berry smoothies. Not to mention all the soups I have been making...  But why should I be selfish and keep all my cheesecake recipes to myself? I shouldn't, that's why! So enjoy!

Also, it is best not to view the "marshmallow" filling as a marshmallow, think of it more as a delicious coconut-y vanilla layer!

Makes two small cheesecakes, with tin approx. 10 cm in diameter.

Serves 4-6 people, approx. 20 minutes prep, 4-6 hours freezing time.

You will need:

For the base:

1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans, but almonds and walnuts would also work)
1/2 cup pitted medjool dates

For the "marshmallow" filling:

3/4 cup cashews, soaked overnight
4 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 vanilla bean, with contents scraped out
1/4 cup maple syrup

Berry jam:

1/4 - 1/3 cup chia jam (I used a mixed berry chia jam, but something like this is what you want).

For the chocolate layer:

1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp maple syrup

1. Blitz nuts in a food processor, add dates until combined. Press into two springform pans.
2. Blitz all ingredients for filling in a good blender or food processor (I used a vitamix) until super smooth. Divide between the two pans. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours.
3. Cover the filling with a layer of chia jam, then mix the chocolate, and pour this on top of the chia jam layer. Let set for 2-3 more hours.
4. Eat!