We're cooking up and recipe testing a whole host of treats this November with locally harvested pumpkins and squashes that are at their very best right now. This time virtually no baking required. (Just a little bit of roasting) This surprisingly nutritious and protein packed pie has become a favourite in our household. I've been having it for breakfast and as a mid afternoon snack as it's fairly light and not overly sweet  and certainly gives me that little energy boost I'm after right now as we juggle running the business and caring for our 15 month old baby! It's based on a recipe by Julia Platt that I found in a wonderful book called The Plant Power Way which I would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for nutritious, tasty and interesting plant-based recipes and ideas.

This cheesecake/pie hybrid is a refreshing take on a classic American dish- the pumpkin pie. We used a small pumpkin to make this and an 'onion' squash as we think the latter imparts a richer flavour than pumpkin alone. What I love is how easily it comes together once you’ve chopped, peeled and roasted the squash and pumpkin- and this step only takes 30 minutes in the oven. We like to sprinkle it with a pinch of cinnamon and ginger before it goes in the oven- allspice and nutmeg would additions as well.

The rest of the pie is just a matter of blending the filling ingredients and pulsing the base and there aren't too many steps required. We hope you enjoy! Tag us @dovebrookkitchen on instagram if you do get around to making it- we'd love to hear what you think.

 

Spiced Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Recipe:

Crust ingredients:

115g of Walnuts

115g of Hazelnuts

85g ground flax seed

45g oat flour

8 medjool dates, pitted and soaked

Pinch of salt

Cheesecake filling:

800g  pumpkin (the small varieties and/or 2 small onion squashes) peeled & cut into bitesize chunks and cooked at 170 degrees in a fan oven for 30 mins- sprinkled with a pinch of cinnamon, salt and ginger)

250g drained silken tofu

85g coconut cream

240ml maple syrup

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ginger

Juice of one lemon

2 tbsp soy lecithin or aquafaba (to help bind everything nicely)

 Instructions:

1. Lightly grease a 9’ spring form cake tin with coconut oil.
2. In a processor, pulse walnuts and hazelnuts a few times. Add flaxseed, oat flour and salt and pulse a few more times.
3. With the motor running add the dates gradually until the mixture comes together smoothly enough that you can press it evenly into the base of the cake tin.
4. After pressing it into the base to form your pie crust, place in the freezer for 12 minutes.
5. In a blender add the filling ingredients and blend until smooth. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour onto the crust evenly.
6. Return it to the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours. Let it thaw for roughly 45 minutes before serving. You'll want to check if you can cut through right to the centre as that might still take a little longer to thaw.

 

Topping:

Cashew Vanilla Cream Frosting

140g raw cashews (soaked for 30mins in hot water, or 4 hours in cold water if you have time)

170ml maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp aquafaba

 Instructions:

Blend all the ingredients and spread decadently on top of the frozen cheesecake filling. We garnished the frosting with some dried pineapple slices we had knocking around and they went surprisingly well!