PEANUT BUTTER MILLET CHEESECAKE

Sometimes you find yourself facing one of those cheesecake situations; and sometimes bucketfuls of cashews, or Londonfuls of them, give you a stomach ache that makes you question your chances of survival, and you consider tofu instead, and remote islands, or give it a Japanese twist and go for seaweed powder and loss in translation, or perhaps yoghurt or coconut oil or frozen bananas or cauliflower or the Land of Oz; and the options are so many and the fear of the unset so unbearable and you’re almost tempted to sack it off altogether and sit on the kitchen counter and eat sprinkles on toast until further notice; and in the end you find yourself whipping up cheesecakes out of millet and dates and peanut butter just for practice, and when you head to the fridge and casually grab a slice and eat it, your surprise could almost equal that of a little kid whose flying house accidentally squashes a wicked witch to death, as, geographical metaphors aside, you come to the realisation you’ve just made the best cheesecake you’ve ever had, and it's fair to say you've had a few.

PEANUT BUTTER MILLET CHEESECAKE

Filling:

150g (3/4 cup) uncooked millet

480ml (2 cups) apple juice or water

90g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar

200g (3/4 cup) peanut butter, melted

60ml (1/4 cup) maple syrup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

seeds of one vanilla pod

Crust:

200g (1 ½ cup) peanuts 

120g (3/4 cup) dates

2 tablespoons peanut flour, or cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Start by cooking the millet. Place the groats in a pan over medium heat with the apple juice or water, cover, bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Leave to cool.

For the crust, blitz the peanuts in a blender until roughly ground. Add dates and blitz again until well combined and sticky. Lastly add in the peanut flour/cocoa powder and salt and process until combined. Place the mixture into a 20cm/8” cake tin, pressing it down evenly and firmly to cover the base. Transfer the tin to the fridge whilst you prepare the filling.

Blitz the brown sugar in a blender until powdered. Add cooked millet, melted peanut butter, maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla seeds and process until smooth and creamy. Pour the filling over the crust and top with chopped peanuts and sugar things for added prettiness if you like. Return to the fridge for a few hours to set. Slice and serve.

Ricetta in italiano: