A few days ago I posted the recipe for Cashew Cream Fruit Pie. It was a such a hit in my home and amongst my guests, I decided to create a variation of this pie for chocolate lovers. This recipe is the result. My husband and kids loved it! Sweet, creamy, delicious, satisfying and nutritious.
Cashews contain zinc, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and copper – all important minerals for a multitude of bodily functions. Plus, not only do cashews have a lower fat content than most other nuts, approximately 82% of their fat is unsaturated fatty acids, plus about 66% of this unsaturated fatty acid content are heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.
For those who are following the Freedom Weight Loss program the amount of cashews in one serving (about 1/16 of pie) is equal to your daily allowance of nuts/seeds… so unless you’re going to bypass nuts/seeds for the day, then you might want to skip this recipe, and try something with a lower calorie density like Chocolate Cherry Nice Cream Pie instead (it’s mostly fruit!). However if you are looking for a whole food, plant-based, unprocessed alternative to many of the sugary, oily, processed desserts then this is your dessert.
I’m very into blending flavours and this pie checked off some of my favourite flavour boxes:
- The crust, a blend of walnuts, almond, dates, shredded coconut, and cinnamon provides the cozy feeling cinnamon imparts.
- The cashew cream is comprised a vanilla layer (yum!) and a chocolate layer (double yum!) – definitely 2 of my favourite flavours.
- And the date caramel is is sweet and sticky.
It’s advisable to let the pie defrost for about 10 minutes which makes it easier to cut. But I also nibbled on some right out of the freezer and it was still really good. I didn’t try letting it thaw beyond about 15 minutes, but my assumption is that the cream might get too soft and frozen fruit would get mushy.
I used a spring form pan, but you could also use a regular pie dish. I like the spring form pan because it’s easy to work with, and the product looks beautiful.
CRUST
1 cup of pitted dates
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/8 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Place all ingredients in food processor fitted with an s-blade. Blend well. Mixture should look like a crumble. Press crumble mixture into the bottom of springform pan. I didn’t use any oil or parchment paper, the pie separated quite easily from the base of the pan.
FILLING
2 cups of cashews soaked for at least one hour; best to soak over night, which allows the cashews to soften
1 cup of pitted dates soaked for at least one hour; best to soak over night, which allows the dates to soften
1/4 cup of date soaking water
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp of cocoa powder (or cacao powder) for the chocolate layer
Place all ingredients except cocoa powder in food processor fitted with an s-blade. Blend well. Scrape down the sides, and continue mixing. You may need to scrape down the sides about 3-4 times to get an even texture. Mixture should be very creamy. Pour half the filling over the crust, and smooth out with a rubber spatula. Place in freezer to begin setting.
Add cocoa powder to the remaining half of the cashew cream. Blend well. Pour over the vanilla layer and smooth out. Place in freezer allowing the cream to set.
DATE CARAMEL TOPPING
1 cup of soaked dates
1/2 cup of reserved date soaking water.
1/8 tsp of Himalayan salt
Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend well. It may require scraping down several times in order for dates to be broken down. Pour over the chocolate layer and smooth out with a rubber spatula. Cover and freeze.
Remove from freezer about 10-15 minutes before serving.