"better for you" easy fig & lemon cheesecake

Hi all,
Here is a recipe for a delicious no-bake fig and lemon cheesecake. I love cake, cheesecake especially, but don’t tolerate refined sugars and starches very well so I often make flourless & refined sugar free versions of my favourites. I made these today and 2 of them have already disappeared… If my guests don’t arrive soon they might not see them at all haha ;)

Ingredients – makes 4 ramekins

for the base:
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon oats (or ground almonds)
2 tbsp organic unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp honey or 1 tbsp jaggery powder/ shakkar/ sucanat (they’re all the same except for price ;) )
for the cream:
300g cream cheese, full fat is a must unless you’re using pure stevia
2 tbsp honey or agave or sweetener of choice, to taste
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest or 1/8 tsp lemon essence
for the fig topping:
any no added sugar fig preserve (or preserve of choice – I used St. Dalfour High Fruit Content Spread which is delicious, has no added sugar and many flavours, and you can pick it up at most supermarkets)

1. melt the butter in a glass bowl, then stir in all of the other ingredients for the base until combined. Divide between 4 ramekins and pat down with the back of a spoon to achieve a flat, solid base.
2. tip the cream cheese into a bowl and soften it with a fork. Add the other cream ingredients and mix well, adjusting sweetness if desired until a light, creamy and subtly sweet mix is obtained- something predominantly creamy to offset the sweetness of the preserve.
3. Spread or pipe the cream mix evenly on top of the bases – no need to have refrigerated it in the mean time.
4. mix rounded teaspoons of fig preserve in a bowl until it is smooth and no lumps remain. spoon on top of the cream and spread in an even layer. Refrigerate until ready to eat, or enjoy now :)

You can see the full blog post here, with discussion of vegan/paleo/gf tweaks: http://recitries.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/better-for-you-fig-lemon-cheesecakes-with-vegan-paleo-gf-options/

And you can see a few more photos at my page, www.facebook.com/FFEAbySawsen

Thanks for looking
Sawsen x