By Frances
My best cheesecake yet, thanks to the actual recipe from Little Bird, found on Matakana Superfoods website. They do a strawberry one, but my fave berry is blue. And to quote one of Tui's favourite books, "My Blue is Happy"!

Biscuit Base
3/4 cup dried coconut (or organic desiccated coconut)
1 1/4 cups brazil nuts or cashews (I used buckinis - sprouted buckwheat groats)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/3 cup soft, pitted dates (medjool dates work well)
pinch of sea salt or himalayan crystal salt

Directions:
1. Line a 25cm springform cake tin with plastic wrap; it needs to be fully lined with no gaps around the sides.
2. Using the metal blade in your food processor, blend coconut into a fine flour. Add nuts and pulse until they are the size of large couscous (you want some texture as this makes for a more ‘biscuity’ base). Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until the dough holds together when squeeze between your fingers. I actually make a date paste first, as my small food processor is better doing the dates separately. Then I mix the paste by hand with the crumb mixture.
3. Firmly press the mixture into the base of the cake tin. Set aside.

White Filling
1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours and rinsed)
3/4 cup young coconut flesh from a drinking coconut (this can be replaced with cashews)
1 cup nut milk
3/4 cup coconut oil, in liquid form
1/4 cup cacao butter, in liquid form (or replace with another 50g of coconut oil)
1/2 cup coconut sugar or organic maple syrup (I use rice malt syrup. If you are a raw purist, this is not technically raw. I prefer it because it has no fructose)
1/4 tsp. vanilla bean seeds, scraped from pod (I used vanilla extract)
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Berry Filling
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries, thawed
1/4 cup coconut sugar or organic maple syrup or 1/2 cup rice malt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup coconut oil, in liquid form

Decoration
Freeze-dried berries (optional)

Directions:
1. Blend all ingredients for the white filling until smooth in a high-speed blender (be careful not to let mixture overheat). The consistency should be a little thicker than cream. Add a drop more nut milk, if needed, to get it super-smooth. Pour half the mixture over the ‘biscuit’ base. At this point I would put the tin in the freezer for a few min to harden the white filling so when you add the berry filling it will swirl better.
2. Add all ingredients for berry filling to the remaining mix in the blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour into cake tin on top of the white filling and lightly fold in with a spatula. (Don’t over-mix as you want to create a swirling, two-tone effect.)
4. Refrigerate overnight, or freeze for 5 hours until set. (This cheesecake also works well as an ice cream cake served from the freezer).
5. Remove cheesecake from the tin, take off plastic wrap and transfer to a plate. Use a palate knife to smooth the outside of the cheesecake, then decorate.

This is my entry into September's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Mummy Do It.