Vegan - CHOCOLATE GALAXY BANANA CHEESECAKE

Filling:
½ cup whole unsalted unroasted cashews, soaked in water over night
½ cup well mashed ripe banana
(about two medium sized bananas)
1 packet of silken tofu, drained
2/3 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil at room temperature
4 teaspoons arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
pinch of sea salt
2/3 cup unsweetened chocolate chips or block chocolate broken into bits

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 deg
Lightly brush tart pan with removable base
Prepare crust and press firmly into pan. Bake for 10 minutes and move the pan onto a cooling rack.

While the base cools prepare the filling.
Drain the cashews and blend with the banana, tofu, sugar, coconut oil, arrowroot powder, lemon juice, vanilla extract and almond extract. Bend until completely smooth.
Set aside ¼ cup of batter and pour the rest into the pie crust. Melt chocolate pieces over a double boiler or in  glass bowl in the microwave.
Stir until chocolate is smooth add the reserved batter and stir through until smooth.
Spoon dollops of chocolate batter randomly onto the cheesecake. Poke the end of a chopstick into the  chocolate batter and gently swirl around the top to create a marble like pattern Repeat with the remaining chocolate blobs.
Bake the cheesecake for 50 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly puffed and the edges of the cake are golden.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cooling rake for 20 minutes. Cool furfer in the fridge for at least 3 hours or better over night before serving.
To serve, slice the cake with a thin sharp knife dipped in cold water.

Serve!

Varations:
Stir in a ¼ cup of Kahlua or your favorite coffee liqueur, into the chocolate batter.

Recipe from, Vegan Pie In The Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and  Terry Hope Romero http://www.theppk.com/books/vegan-pie-in-the-sky/
http://www.theppk.com/

Berry Tarts

11/2 cup plain flour
150g chilled butter
1 tblspn sugar
1 large egg
1/1 tblspn cold water

for the filling

1 cup of raspberries, or other berries with stems removed
3/4 heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large eggs
3 tblspns flour
vanilla essence or creme de cassis, or another exotic liqueur.

Make the crust: Use a grater to grate the butter into the flour. Tip: coat the butter with flour now and again to make grating easier.
Rub the flour and butter together until mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.Mix in the sugar, then add the egg and water, using a dough scrapper to mix ingredients together to form a ball.
Briefly knead the to ensure an even texture. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Lightly butter and flour a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Lightly flour a cool surface to roll out the chilled dough slightly wider than the pan. Line the pan with the dough, pressing gently around the edge. Remove any excess dough that hangs over the edge. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to high, 400F or 200C. Place the berries  into the tart pan. Mix together in a bowl, cream, sugar, eggs, flour and essence until smooth. Pour over berries. Lightly sprinkle with a little extra sugar.

To make a rhubarb tart, rhubarb must be cooked first. Harvest a bunch of rhubarb, cut leaves t inches off from bellow the stem.  Wash and dry stems. Cut into 1 inch pieces and place into a baking dish. Liberally sprinkle with sugar and a little orange zest on top, lightly stir through the rhubarb.
Roast in a medium hot oven until just cooked. Rhubarb should still be a little firm.

Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked,