Did you know there is a whole population of people who have never heard of fruit leather? And they all happen to work at the grocery store I frequent haha. But seriously, I was surprised to find that most of the employees at the store had never eaten fruit leather before. The entire staff at the store already knows me as the quirky girl who regularly requests the location of abnormal products, such as blue spirulina, red dragon fruit, purple sweet potato, just to name a few. And I was so sure this was going to be the product that would prove to them I’m not a total weirdo. Clearly, it was not.

I’ve found the staff sometimes can recognize products if I show them search engine images on my phone, so I pulled up “fruit leather”. The main staff member helping me immediately exclaims “Oh, it’s rolled up, like Fruit Roll-Ups”. I think “How bizarre, he knows of Fruit Roll-Ups, but not of fruit leather” and respond, “Yes, it’s very similar, except made with natural ingredients.” In fact, if I were to guess on the history of fruit roll ups, I would say they were based on fruit leather. Anyway,he directs me to the staff member who specializes in natural products and we found a whole shelf of natural fruit snacks. I needed the fruit leather to make the eyebrows and pupils of my Angry Birds, so I was quite relieved to now have fruit leather. The alternative I had in mind was plum or eggplant skin, yikes!

Angry Birds Assembly Station

This no bake “cheesecake” took a lot of experimenting. I made a similar cheesecake over the holidays, but it was very much a cashew cake. The cashew taste was quite prominent. The recipe I based it off of only used lemon juice for the cream cheese flavor, and I wanted more. I added miso paste for an umami component, but still wasn’t satisfied. On my search for vegan cheese, I kept finding vegan mac and cheese recipes using nutritional yeast, but omitted it from my holiday cheesecake because I didn’t have any on hand.

Five months later, I now have regular access to several pounds of nutritional yeast. My mom loved nutritional yeast growing up and coincidentally rediscovered it a few weeks ago and now buys it in bulk. The nutritional yeast gives the cheesecake a cheesy flavor. The yeast in combination with the miso and lemon juice creates a flavor comparable to actual cheesecake. The texture is created with cashews, agar, and arrowroot. However, I’ll admit it still needs some work to be like actual cheesecake

Angry Birds Slingshot

Agar was used to firm up the cheesecake. In the past, I have used coconut oil, but it has a relatively low melting point (76°F/24°C) compared to agar (185°F/85°C). Agar felt more suitable this time, with the rising temperatures of summer around the corner. The problem with agar is that it doesn’t firm up when used with acidic ingredients. And that is what happened to these cheesecakes; the lemon juice prevented it from hardening. The only solution I could think of was to keep them in the freezer. A problem with coconut oil is that it’s impossible to slice when frozen. This problem doesn’t seem to exist with agar.

Next time, I might try more agar powder to see if it would make a difference. It would be nice to be able to keep this dessert in the refrigerator instead of the freezer. And since it uses agar, it should theoretically still be firm at room temperature. If you have any tips for using agar with acidic ingredients, please let me know. I don’t want to revert back to using gelatin!

Angry Birds No Bake “Cheesecakes” {Vegan}

By Tiffany Makes

This is a mini vegan no bake cheesecake recipe made with cashews and coconut cream. The flavor of cheesecake is mimicked using lemon juice, white miso paste, and nutritional yeast. The agar powder helps with firmness and arrowroot powder helps with thickness. The crust is made with walnuts and dates. The mini cheesecakes are decorated like Angry Birds characters Red, Chuck, and Bomb.

Yield: 4 Reds, 4 Chucks, 4 Bombs

Prep time:

50 mins

Cook time:

10 mins

Idle time:

3 hours

Total time:

4 hours

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup raw unsalted walnuts
• 1 cup Medjool dates – pitted
• Pinch of salt

Filling

• 2 cups raw unsalted cashews – soaked
• ½ cup coconut cream
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 3 tsp white miso paste
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp agar powder
• 1 cup cold water

Topping

Red

• ½ cup strawberry puree
• 6 tsp maple syrup
• 3 tsp arrowroot powder

Chuck (Yellow)

• ½ cup mango puree
• 6 tsp maple syrup
• 3 tsp arrowroot powder

Bomb (Black)

• ¼ cup (60 mL) full fat coconut milk
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tsp mango puree

Angry Birds Decoration

• 2 rolls fruit leather – black (e.g., berry spinach)
• 1 roll fruit leather – orange (e.g., apricot)
• 1 apple
• 1 carrot
• 1 mango

Instructions

Advance Prep

Soak cashews in a bowl with 3 cups warm water and 1 tsp sea salt for 3 hours to reduce phytic acid.
Alternative: Soak cashews in a bowl with 3 cups boiling water for 10 minutes.
After soaking, drain and rinse the cashews.

Crust

Soak dates in some water for 2 minutes to reduce tackiness.
Meanwhile, pulse the walnuts in a high speed blender or food processor until they become crumbs. Remove from the blender/processor.
Place the dates into the blender/processor and blend until it becomes like a paste. Add the walnut crumbs back in along with the salt. Process until well blended and can be shaped into a ball.
Cut 12 strips of parchment paper with rough dimensions of 5 x ½ in (13 x 1.5 cm). Place 1 strip into each well of a greased muffin tin. They will be used to lift the mini cheesecakes out of the well.
Spoon the walnut crust into the muffin tin wells and press down using tips of fingers.
Optional: Dehydrate the crust in the oven at 150°F (65°C) for 1 hour.

Filling

Pulse the cashews in a high speed blender or food processor until it becomes creamy.
Put the rest of the ingredients, except for the agar and water, into the blender/processor and blend until smooth. Set this cashew filling aside.
Place the agar powder into a saucepan on the stove without heat. Add the cold water and stir. Let it sit for 2 minutes.
Bring the agar solution to a boil for 3 – 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and slowly drizzle in the cashew filling while whisking.
Pour the cashew filling into the muffin tins with the walnut crust.
Freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Run the back of a knife around each mini cheesecake to release. Use the parchment tabs to help remove the cheesecakes.
Store the mini cheesecakes in an airtight container in the freezer until ready to serve.

Topping

Red

Heat the strawberry puree in a double boiler over medium heat.
In a small bowl, mix together the maple syrup and arrowroot powder.
Whisk the maple/arrowroot mixture into the puree for 30 seconds to a minute.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Once cooled, spoon the strawberry topping over 4 of the mini cheesecakes.

Chuck (Yellow)

Heat the mango puree in a double boiler over medium heat.
In a small bowl, mix together the maple syrup and arrowroot powder.
Whisk the maple/arrowroot mixture into the puree for 30 seconds to a minute.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Once cooled, spoon the mango topping over 4 of the mini cheesecakes.

Bomb (Black)

Heat the coconut milk in a double boiler until it starts steaming. Turn off the heat.
Add the chocolate chips and whisk until it’s smooth. Set aside to cool.
Mix the mango puree with 3 tsp of the chocolate topping. Reserve this for decorating Bomb’s eye area.
Once cooled, spoon the chocolate topping over 4 of the mini cheesecakes.

Angry Birds Decorations

Angry Birds Eyebrows

Use the black fruit leather to cut thick eyebrows for Red.
Use the orange fruit leather to cut eyebrows for Chuck and Bomb.

Angry Birds Pupils

Use a large round piping tip to punch out 2 pupils for Red with the black fruit leather. Repeat for remaining Reds (total 8 pieces).
Use a small round piping tip to punch out 2 pupils each for Chuck and Bomb with the black fruit leather. Repeat for remaining Chucks and Bombs (total 16 pieces).

Angry Birds Scleras

Cut the apple around its core and into thin slices.
Use a paring knife to cut 2 egg shapes for Red’s sclera. Slice a section off each to fit Red’s eyebrows. Repeat for remaining Reds (total 8 pieces).
Use the back of a piping tip to punch out 2 scleras for Chuck’s sclera from a slice of apple. Repeat for remaining Chucks (total 8 pieces).
Use a large round piping tip to stamp out 2 scleras for Bomb from a slice of apple. Repeat for remaining Bombs (total 8 pieces).

Angry Birds Beaks

Cut the mango lengthwise along the sides of the pit. Use a piece without the pit (save the other pieces for another use). Run a spoon along the outer perimeter to separate the mango from the skin. Cut the mango lengthwise into 0.25 in (0.5 cm) slices. Cut Red and Bomb’s beaks using these slices. Repeat for remaining Reds and Bombs.
Chop off a 1.5 in (4 cm) section of the carrot close to the wider end. Cut it in half lengthwise. Slice a thin piece from the cut edge. Use this piece to cut a thing triangle to create Chuck’s Beak. Repeat with remaining Chucks.

Angry Birds Final Assembly

Start by positioning the beaks onto the bottom half of the birds.
For Bombs, spoon some of the reserved mango/chocolate mix over the eye area above the beaks.
Place the sclera above the beaks.
Add the pupils to the sclera, positioning them towards the center of the face.
Put the eyebrows above the eyes.
Store the Angry Birds mini cheesecakes in the freezer until ready to serve.
Enjoy!

Notes

1. 20 minutes of the 50 minute prep time is estimated for the decoration step.
2. When creating the Angry Birds features, keep in mind the diameter of a muffin tin is around 3 in (7.5 cm).
3. During the final assembly, it helps to position all the pieces on a clean surface before putting them onto the mini cheesecakes.
4. Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker’s 7 Ingredient Vegan Cheesecakes.