How to Create a Plant-Based Holiday Feast Pt 2 Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan Crust

The best part about any holiday is the food. The delicious, heavenly food created with love. And the most terrifying part of any holiday when you’re plant-based or vegan is the food. Because most recipes out there contain loads of butter, cream, bacon, ham or turkey. It’s a holiday, a time of indulgence. But that doesn’t mean you have to include dairy or meat to enjoy yourself.

Since going vegan I’ve found that it’s difficult to get that feeling of being overfull or heavy after a mealof. And although that may be a hallmark to any holiday feast I can tell you I appreciate not feeling like falling asleep 15 minutes after a meal. So how do you create a delicious plant-based feast that everyone will love?

I’ve spent a lot of time in restaurants. And I have come to learn those delicious layered desserts or beautiful plates of food are not made from scratch every day. Cooks prepare elements days in advance. The elements of a dish are only put together minutes before it hits the table. And that’s the key to success when it comes to creating a holiday feast. Preparing what you can a week or a few days beforehand, a little at a time to make your holiday as stress free as possible.

If you remember, last week we made cranberry sauce and froze it. We're going to take that out and defrost it the day before your holiday. Today I’m going to walk you through the rest of our prep list. Here is our menu if you need a reminder.

Menu

Lentil loaf with gravy

Miso maple glazed carrots

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

Roasted brussels sprouts

Cranberry sauce

Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan crust

Now we’re going to break this menu down into easy to accomplish steps by days before the holiday to lessen the amount of cooking you have to do the day of.

5 days up to 2 weeks before your Holiday

• Make your cranberry sauce and freeze or keep in the fridge

• Make your cheesecake from start to finish, freeze

3 to 4 days before your Holiday

• Cook your lentils for your lentil loaf- store in the fridge

• Cut your carrots and brussel sprouts for roasting- store in the fridge

• Cut your vegetables for your lentil loaf- store in the fridge

• Roast garlic for your mashed potatoes

2 days before your holiday

• Make your lentil loaf, stopping before the final bake- store in the fridge

1 day before your Holiday

• Pull out your cheesecake from the freezer

• Pull out cranberry sauce from the freezer

Day of your Holiday

• Enjoy some well-deserved breakfast or brunch

• preheat your oven

• Bake your lentil loaf, when it’s finished remove from the oven while you roast the veggies

• Increase your oven temperature and roast your carrots and brussel sprouts

• Once both are cooked, toss carrots in glaze and turn the oven down to warm. Put the sprouts, carrots and lentil loaf back in the oven to keep warm. Cover the carrots and lentils so they don’t dry out

• Make your mashed potatoes, cover to keep warm

• Make your gravy

• Enjoy your holiday feast!

So just to recap, we’ve done the cranberry sauce so we can check that off our list. This week we’re tackling dessert. Which, as someone who studied pastry in school, is probably my favorite part of any meal.

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. My grandmother, before she passed, made the best cheesecakes in the world. She made them especially for me every Thanksgiving and Christmas, with strawberries, not cherries. I can’t say if she’s ever made a cheesecake with sweet potatoes in it. But I’m sure she’s happy I’m keeping up the tradition of holiday cheesecakes.

This sweet potato cheesecake with pecan crust is refined sugar-free, oil-free and gluten-free. So everyone can enjoy this Thanksgiving dessert. The base of the cheesecake is made of dates, pecans, oats and raisins. While the filling is wonderful fall spices, cashews, and roasted sweet potatoes. I’ve also included a recipe for some amazing maple candied pecans that will be delicious sprinkled on top.

I would be lying if I said this cheesecake took a bit of time, but that’s why we’re making it so early to keep in the freezer. And this sweet potato cheesecake is so worth it. It isn’t overly sweet, the crust is like a cookie and the candied maple pecans add a delicious texture and sweetness.

Let me know if you try this recipe in the comments below and what your favorite holiday traditions are

Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan Crust

Ali Lawrence | 11/14/19

• prep time: 30 minutes
• cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• cool time: 2 hours
• total time: 3 hours 45 minutes

Servings: 8 to 10

Ingredients:

For the Crust

• 1/2 C raw pecans
• 1/4 C golden raisins
• 1/4 C dates
• 1/2 C rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
• water as needed

For the filling

• 1.5 C roasted sweet potatoes (about 1.5 med)
• 2 C cashews, soaked overnight
• 1/2 C coconut cream
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp melted coconut butter or coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ginger

For the Maple Candied Pecans

• 1.5 C raw pecans, halves
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

For the Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place all of the crust ingredients besides the water in a food process or blender. Process until the mixture comes together like a dough, adding water to help keep the mixture moving.
3. Place the crust into a greased 9 inch springform or cheesecake pan. Pressing the dough into a thin layer that coats the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake the crust until golden brown and firm, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before adding the filling.

For the Filling

1. To roast your sweet potatoes: wash your potatoes and poke with a fork before wrapping in aluminum foil. Place on a sheet tray and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour until a fork can slide through the potato easily. Remove the potatoes and let cool.
2. Peel the potatoes and place them, along with all of the other filling ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth.
3. Pour the filling onto the cooled crust and add candied maple pecans. Place in the freezer to cool and set for about 2 hours. Once firm you can serve or wrap and freeze. Can be stored in the fridge up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month.

For the Maple Candied Pecans

1. Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes until the nuts are toasted and the maple syrup is bubbling. Take cake not to burn the nuts.
3. Chop the nuts roughly, keeping some whole. One you've added the filling to the cheesecake crust, sprinkle the candied nuts around the outside of the cheesecake before freezing. Store at room temperature up to 1 week.