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Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice

Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice, Quirky Cooking
Photography by Stephanie Rieter, Total Capture Photography

If you know me at all, you’ll know I love cheesecake. Sadly, for many years, I couldn’t eat it! Whenever I ate dairy, I’d end up with headaches, an upset tummy, a stuffy nose, hayfever, and (if I had dairy a few days in a row) horrible flu symptoms… But sometimes I’d give in and have a bit of cheesecake anyway and just deal with the aftermath because I LOVE CHEESECAKE!!! But yeah, not ideal.

I started reacting to dairy as a small child, and as I grew my intolerance to dairy also grew. For many years I thought that the only thing I could do about it was to avoid it… forever. I began to think that since dairy bothered so many people, it must not be a food suitable for humans to eat, and really everyone should avoid it. Sure, I knew it had been a staple in the diet of many ancient cultures and hadn’t caused health issues for them, but maybe the people back then were hardier and coped with it better or something?? I didn’t really understand it, but figured it wasn’t a great food and I would stay away from it.

Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice, Quirky Cooking

Fast forward fifteen or twenty years, and enter my son Isaac’s sudden downturn in health, his struggles with severe OCD, my realisation that gut health is foundational for good overall health, and our subsequent massive gut-healing journey… (read the story here). We began by taking out all the foods that were difficult to digest or that caused us problems, and kept only very nourishing, easy to digest foods in the diet (mostly just slow cooked meats, stocks, veggies and animal fats at first). No dairy, not even butter or ghee. Then as we worked through gut-healing, we began to slowly add foods back in, taking care to use only traditional, whole foods that were unprocessed and preferably organic or pesticide free.

And here’s the interesting bit… the kids (who had always reacted to dairy as I did) were very quickly able to introduce 24 hour yoghurt and sour cream, ghee and butter into the diet, without any reactions. And after a year of deep healing, I was able to eat ghee! (Imagine my excitement!!!) Then yoghurt, sour cream, butter and eventually… cheese! First the hard cheeses, then the softer cheeses, and now I can pretty much eat any dairy (in moderation), as long as it’s not highly processed and preferably organic and non-homogenised. WOO HOOOOOO!!!

Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice, Quirky Cooking

How is it that a food that caused me so many problems for years is now a healthy food for me? Well, quality plays a big part: there’s no comparison between your general supermarket milk and dairy products and their good old fashioned whole food counterparts – especially organic, unprocessed dairy and probiotic-rich fermented dairy products that are such a big part of many traditional diets. And secondly, a damaged gut is not properly able to digest dairy (and many other foods, even if they are traditional, organic whole foods), so you need to get to the root cause of the issue and heal the gut! Once I changed these two factors, I was able to reintroduce dairy.

However, cheesecake eluded me. Organic cream cheese is very difficult to find (have you ever seen it?? I haven’t!), and whenever I tried regular cream cheese the hayfever came back and I didn’t feel so good. So I decided to try an old fashioned organic cheese called quark.

In case you’ve never heard of it:

“Quark is a white, soft, fresh dairy spread often compared to cream or cottage cheese. It’s usually made by fermenting and warming milk with live cultures, then straining it. Unlike cheese, it generally contains little to no salt or rennet, and it’s not traditionally based on whey like ricotta, though the exact process varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.” via Good Food)

Our local organic dairy (Mungalli Creek) makes quark and we can get it in our tiny little supermarket in my country town. I found it worked beeeeautifully in my cheesecake instead of cream cheese, AND I didn’t react to it!! YAY!!!! 

So I now have cheesecake back in my life, and I’m so happy that I just had to share this recipe with you all – a healthy revamp of the old Aussie favourite, Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice. 🙂 

For those of you who can’t find quark where you live: Start hassling your local organic dairies (hee hee), or make your own (recipe here), or use cream cheese if you like.

For those of you who can’t have dairy, or want a vegan variation: I remember the frustration and the longing for cheesecake, and I am sending you love and hugs and a dairy free, vegan version! 😀 (See? I wouldn’t forget you, don’t worry.) This variation is super yummy too, so scroll down to the second recipe card and get those cashews (or almonds) soaking!

For those of you who can’t have nuts: Try replacing the nuts in the base with pepitas and/coconut flakes. If you need a dairy free, nut free version, sunflower seeds should work instead of the nuts, but the colour won’t be as white. Disclaimer – I haven’t tried a nut free version, so you may have to play with it a little!!

Note: You can choose which recipe you want to make and print out the recipe card below by clicking on the Print button at the top of the recipe. 🙂

Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice, Quirky Cooking

A word of warning: this recipe is very addictive. You may want to cut it up into squares and freeze it in small batches so that you don’t just eat it all within a couple of days. That may work… probably won’t, but just so you know, it does freeze well. And if you DO manage to ignore it calling you from the freezer, you will have some on hand for when friends pop by for a cuppa. Yay!!

Enjoy! xx

“Which Gelatine Should I Use?” Changing Habits gelatine is by far the best gelatin that we’ve come across. It’s organic and has little/no flavour when added to food. (Affiliate link)

 

Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice, dairy free, Quirky Cooking
Dairy free, vegan version – Photo by Sarah Moran

 

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Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice – Dairy Version

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  • Author: QuirkyJo

Ingredients

base

200g pecans (activated or raw)

40g butter

1/8th tsp fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)

1Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

filling

1/4 cup hot water

1 Tbsp gelatine

350g organic quark or cream cheese

600g pure cream (not thickened)

180g honey or maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder

jelly

300g frozen raspberries

40g honey or maple syrup

1 Tbsp rosewater (optional)

2 Tbsp gelatine

Instructions

thermomix method

base

1. Line a 30x20cm (or 25x25cm) baking dish with baking paper and set aside.

2. Place all base ingredients into TM bowl and chop 10 sec/speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and chop for a few more seconds on speed 5 if needed (until blended but still a little bit chunky).

3. Press firmly into the lined dish and place into the freezer while making the filling.

filling

1. Whisk gelatine into hot water and set aside.

2. Place quark or cream cheese, cream, honey or syrup, vanilla and gelatine mixture into TM bowl and cook 5 min/60C/speed 4. 

3. Pour over base and place back into freezer until set firm, approx two hours.

jelly

1. Place all ingredients into a clean TM bowl.

2. Cook 10 mins/100C/speed 2. Set aside with the lid off to cool.

3. Strain through a nut milk bag as soon as the jelly is cool enough to touch, then pour over the filling, spreading evenly. (Straining through a nut milk bag will give you a beautiful, clear jelly; but you can use a fine metal sieve if you like – the jelly will just look a bit darker.)

4. Place back into the freezer until cheesecake is set firm, approx. half an hour.

5. To serve: cut into squares and serve cold. Garnish with some fresh raspberries if desired.

tips for conventional method

base

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender until the mixture comes together. Don’t over-process, you want it to have a little bit of texture.

filling

Mix gelatine into hot water; place all ingredients into a double boiler over medium heat and whisk until smooth and warm to the touch. Pour over the base and place in the freezer to set as above.

jelly

Simmer ingredients on the stovetop until the berries are falling apart. Remove from heat, cool slightly, blend in a blender, then strain through a nut milk bag or fine metal sieve. Pour over set filling, smooth, and place back in freezer to set as above.

Notes

Storage

Refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for 6-8 months, well wrapped to keep air out.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag @quirkycooking on Instagram — I can't wait to see what you've made!

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Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice – Dairy Free Version

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No reviews

  • Author: QuirkyJo

Ingredients

base

200g pecans (activated or raw)

40g coconut oil

1/8th tsp fine sea salt

1Tbsp pure maple syrup

1/2tsp cinnamon

filling

2tsp agar powder

1/4 cup hot water

250g raw cashews (soaked for up to 6 hours) or blanched almonds (soaked for 10 hours or overnight)

30g lemon juice

300g coconut cream

1tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder

100g pure maple syrup

jelly

1 Tbsp agar powder

1/4 cup hot water

400g frozen raspberries

40g pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp rosewater (optional)

Instructions

thermomix method

base

1. Line a 30x20cm (or 25x25cm) baking dish with baking paper and set aside.

2. Place all base ingredients into TM bowl and chop 10sec/speed 8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and chop for a few more seconds on speed 5 if needed (until blended but still a little bit chunky).

3. Press firmly into the lined dish and place into the freezer while making the filling.

filling

1. In a small bowl whisk agar with hot water. The agar will thicken immediately.

2. Drain nuts and rinse well. Place into TM bowl with remaining filling ingredients including agar mixture. Blend 1 min/ speed 8.

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and blend again for 30 sec/speed 9 or until very smooth.

4. Pour over base and place into freezer until set firm, approx two hours.

jelly

1. In a small bowl whisk agar with hot water. The agar will thicken immediately. Set aside while the raspberry mix is cooking.

2. Place raspberries, maple syrup and rosewater (if using) into a TM bowl and cook 10 mins/100c/speed 2.

3. Strain immediately through a fine metal sieve into a mixing bowl.

4. Add the agar mixture to the warm strained raspberries and whisk thoroughly until smooth and glossy.

5. Pour over the frozen cheesecake, tipping the pan to help it cover the surface and spread evenly with a spatula. The jelly will begin to set immediately on the frozen cheesecake so work quickly!

6. Place the cheesecake back into the freezer until completely set before slicing.

conventional method

base

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender until the mixture comes together. Don’t over-process, you want it to have a little bit of texture.

filling

Mix agar into hot water; place all ingredients into a double boiler over medium heat and whisk until smooth and warm to the touch. Pour over the base and place in the freezer to set as above.

jelly

Simmer ingredients on the stovetop until the berries are falling apart. Remove from heat. Cool slightly, and blend in a blender, then strain through a nut milk bag or fine metal sieve. Pour over set filling, smooth, and place back in the freezer to set as above.

storage

Refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for 6-8 months, well wrapped to keep air out.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag @quirkycooking on Instagram — I can't wait to see what you've made!

29 thoughts on “Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake Slice

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Amanda, yes you can! 🙂 For the jelly, follow the dairy version as is. For the filling, use the amount in the dairy recipe and simmer it in a small saucepan with the 1/4 cup water until it’s completely dissolved, cool until warm to touch, then add to the other filling ingredients and blend.

  1. Tinh says:

    I made the dairy-free/vegan version using the conventional method for my son’s birthday. It was delicious! Thank you so much for this version. I missed cheesecake.

  2. Chelsea Fletcher says:

    This is yum, thanks for sharing.
    Was i to melt the butter for the base? I also found 200g wasn’t enough of the pecans, i was only able to spread in a 20×20 tin.

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Chelsea, glad you enjoyed the slice. 🙂 No, there is no need to melt the butter for the base. The base is quite thin (we decided we liked this better when testing it) so it takes some patience and a little extra time to spread it out in the tin. xx

    • Kylie says:

      I have a tip for spreading the base into the larger tin: I lined the tin with baking paper (as directed), poured in the crumb mix somewhat evenly….ish. Then I got another rectangle of baking paper, laid it on the crumb and used my hands to smooth it all out to the edges. You could even use the smooth base of a wide glass (on top of the baking paper) to spread it out. Then just peel off the top sheet of paper at the end.

  3. Karin says:

    Yum…. I always use quark for cheesecake from my.mums recipe…. cannot wait to try this also….. love love love cheese cake…. so happy you have it in your life also… cheese cake is my mums love ….
    Love is. .. cheesecake

  4. Karen Reid says:

    Hi Jo – I’m going to try this for my husband’s birthday since he’s been without cheesecake since my son and I have been off dairy. We can have butter, and I have found quark, but we can’t have the cream in the dairy version. If I do the dairy version but substitute the cream for coconut cream, should I use 300g or 600g coconut cream? And how much honey? Thank you.

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Karen! 🙂 As you are substituting one type of cream for another, you will need to use the same quantity of coconut cream as per the recipe (600g). You can also use the same amount of honey (180g). Hope your husband loves it! xx

  5. April says:

    Can you use other berries like blueberries? Will it matter too much if you skip the straining part? Just thinking of keeping all the fibre goodness of the berries.

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi April! 🙂 You can definitely use other berries but I would still recommend straining as the seeds in the berries are not very palatable in the jelly. xx

  6. April says:

    Hi Jo, I’d like to replace the Agar with gelatin in the filling. How many tablespoons would you suggest? Agar never seems works for me, it just ends up sloppy unless I need to wait overnight? I just tried it after two hours in the freezer and it’s sloppy.

  7. Kirsty says:

    Hi Jo!

    My cheesecake mix had lumps in it that I couldn’t whisk out, what have I done wrong please!?
    I hope it still tastes as nice!

    Thanks

  8. Joanna says:

    Hi Jo, could you swap out the maple syrup for agave in one of the layers, say the jelly layer? Thanks! x

  9. Greshen says:

    Hi Jo. I’m just making this now. I can’t wait to try it. Just wondering if we are going to eat it all within the next few days (highly likely) then would I just store it in the fridge or do I still leave it in the freezer? Thanks for all your beautiful recipes. Your waffles and crumble recipe are two of our faves!!

    • Quirky Cooking Team says:

      Hi Brei. Almonds or Brazil nuts should work great in this recipe:-). Or even a mix of different nuts and seeds. Good luck.

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