Frozen strawberry cheesecake on a sunflower crust

By: David Frenkiel, Luise Vindahl Andersen
From: The Green Kitchen
Serves: 8-10
Photographer: Johanna Frenkel

I don’t think we have ever served this cake to someone who hasn’t immediately loved it. Therefore it has become one of our go-to recipes for all kinds of occasions. We used to make it with nuts in the crust, but lately we have moved to this seed-based crust. It has the most wonderful flavour and texture, not to mention that it is allergy friendly and gluten-free. Since the crust is very sweet, the filling doesn’t have to be. If you are looking for new variations, you can play around with all kinds of yoghurts, soft cheeses or coconut creams. You can also vary the colour of the filling by adding different berries to it. If you are having a big party make a range: blueberry blue, kiwi green, mango yellow and so on …

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
300g	sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons	hemp seeds, optional
12	fresh medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons	coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon	sea salt

Filling

Quantity	Ingredient
300g	fresh strawberries
1/2	lemon, juiced
120ml	honey or agave syrup
500g	quark

Topping

Quantity	Ingredient
250g	strawberries
a few	edible flowers, (see tip)

Method

Toast the sunflower seeds in a frying pan on low heat, or on a baking tray on 180°C, for 6–8 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before putting them into a food processor or blender together with the hemp seeds. Pulse for about 20 seconds. The seeds should be chopped but not powdered.
Add the dates, coconut oil and salt and process until the mixture comes together to a sticky crust. Alternatively, mash the dates until caramel-smooth and work in its remaining ingredients. Put the mixture into a 20 cm spring-form cake tin and flatten it out over the base. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
Purée the strawberries, lemon juice and honey in a food processor or blender, pour into a large bowl and add the quark. Mix well. Pour the mixture on top of the crust in the cake tin and put it in the freezer for about 1½ hours. You can keep it in the freezer for a few days but you will need to let it thaw for about 20 minutes before serving.
Top the cake with strawberries and a couple of flowers. Serve immediately.

Tip

Here are some suggestions for edible flowers: violas, calendula, roses, rosehip, dandelions, carnations, lavender, cornflowers, pea flowers, day lilies and chamomile. Although the flowers are edible we mainly use them for decoration.

For vegans, substitute vegan cream cheese for quark.