Pear and Ginger Ricotta Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Drizzle

  • 6

Ingredients

  • Crust:
  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
  • Filling:
  • 3 pears, peeled and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons sucanat, turbinado or brown sugar
  • dash sea salt
  • 1 (12.3 ounce) package extra firm silken tofu
  • 2 (8 ounces each) tubs vegan cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 5 tablespoons sorghum flour
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons organic sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup drained, pressed and crumbled extra firm tofu
  • Caramel Sauce:
  • 1 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2/3 cup fullfat coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil or margarine
  • 2 dashes salt

Preparation

Step 1

To make the Crust:

Preheat your oven to 400 °F. In a large bowl, crumble the almond meal, coconut oil and sugar together until well combined. Stir well using a wooden spoon or large wooden fork until the mixture begins to clump together. Transfer to an 8 inch springform pan and press the crust against the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form a thin crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool briefly.

To make the Filling:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the pears, sucanat and dash of salt until broken down and thickened, about 7 minutes.  Allow to briefly cool and then transfer to a food processor along with the rest of the filling ingredients, except for the crumbled extra firm tofu. Puree until very smooth, at least 6 minutes. Add in crumbled tofu and pulse a few times until fairly smooth, but not completely pureed.

Spread filling into the prepared pie pan and bake in oven preheated to 400 °F for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250 °F without removing the cheesecake from the oven and bake another 70 minutes. Turn oven off and let cheesecake remain in the oven for 2 more hours. Chill in the refrigerator while you make the caramel topping.

To make the Salted Caramel Drizzle:

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, combine the turbinado sugar, coconut milk, coconut oil and salt and bring to a boil, stirring often. Let boil, continuing to stir occasionally for about 6 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Let cool in the pan and then pour on top of cheesecake. Chill at least 4 hours before serving.