How I Created These Colorful, Super Duper MOIST Cake Balls With Instant Pudding Packets

Super Duper MOIST Cake Balls by Give It A Whirl Girl

This past weekend was Mother’s Day weekend and I wanted to do something special to celebrate it. My husband and I had some kid-free time and we came up with the grand idea of creating these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls together! Ok, I lied, it was actually ALL my idea and I just employed his help. Does that mean I can call him Give It A Whirl Boy since he helped me with one of my blog projects? Keep reading to find out how I added a secret ingredient to make these cake balls the moistest cake balls you ever did have.

So many pretty colors on these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls!

Here is how I created these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls

The secret ingredient is…

Want to know what my key ingredient is with any cake mix I ever use? Sugar-free instant pudding packets from Jell-O! Yup, and I use the whole entire packet. For these two batches of cake balls that I whipped up, I used one packet of sugar-free cheesecake pudding for the pink and blue balls, and for the green cake balls I had to use my favorite pudding mix, pistachio pudding (sugar-free as well). I always opt for any of the sugar-free pudding packets since I think it is unnecessary to add even more sugar to the cake, but you can feel free to use any pudding packet your heart desires.

Baking the cake

First things first! For these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls, you need to decide on a boxed cake mix to use. I went with Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Rainbow Chip mix. I created two batches of cake balls so I needed two boxes of cake mix. To add a much-loved moist cake ball you then need to choose a pudding mix. You will also need to choose a can of frosting that you would like to mix in to hold these balls together. I used Betty Crocker’s Rainbow Chip frosting.

Make sure you have some decent bakeware to use! I love my Circulon nonstick set.

PRO TIP!

The cake mix calls for 1/2 cup of oil. I used ghee (butter) instead and they came out marvelous!

I used a 9×13″ cake pan and baked the cake for 28 minutes. After the cake cools I then scrape the top and middle part away and pour the crumbled cake into a large mixing bowl. I do not use the bottom part of the baked cake because it has that baked texture to it. The top of the cake has plenty of that baked texture to it and that is plenty for cake balls. You will want to crumble all of the cake into the smallest pieces. You do not want large cake pieces in your mixing bowl.

Some of the key ingredients for my Super Duper Moist Cake Balls! — Some of the key ingredients for my Super Duper Moist Cake Balls

Here are the two cakes crumbled up and awaiting the frosting

Frosting to hold them all together

The frosting is what you will be using to hold these balls together and to give them a big punch of sweetness for that sweet tooth of yours. Once you have all of the cake crumbles in the large mixing bowl, add 3/4 of the frosting to the bowl and mix it all up until well incorporated. I use a soft spatula to do this. You might need to use the entire can but I do not recommend it. This is going to take a bit of muscle to stir this all up so pull up your sleeves and get ready to mix, mix, mix!

After the cake and frosting is completely mixed you will want to make sure you have VERY CLEAN hands and you will want to take the mixture with your hands and form 1-inch cake balls

Chill them balls!

After you form those cake balls with the cake crumbles and frosting you will want to freeze the balls for a short period of time. 15 minutes is plenty! Just be sure that you do not freeze them for too long. You don’t want them completely frozen.

Wilton Bright Candy Melts

I wanna dip my balls in it!

Oh my goodness! Who here remembers this show The State? Truth be told, that while my hubby and I were working on these balls there were some humorous injections pertaining to balls jokes! Yeah yeah… I am 38 years old and still haven’t grown up! lol!

Anyway…

You will need to choose some candy melts to dip your balls in. I went with the Wilton Candy Melts. I was able to locate the new Brights colors and got bright pink, bright green, and bright blue.

Here is our work area for the Super Duper Moist Cakes Balls that we created

Sprinkles galore!

Hello and welcome to the fun part of this post! Here is where we get a bit messy and have a bit of a sprinkle explosion. You can get creative here and use the sprinkles of your choice to decorate these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls! I had a wide variety of many different rainbow sprinkles on hand so my moist cake balls have a lot going on.

You might LOVE these rainbow sprinkles for the Sweet Tooth Fairy

Wilton Rainbow Chip Crunch - Available at JoAnn's - This is one of my favorite sprinkles to use! — Wilton Rainbow Chip Crunch – Available at JoAnn’s – This is one of my favorite sprinkles to use!

Which Super Duper Moist Cake Ball will you try first? The cheesecake or pistachio?

Each and every Super Duper Moist Cake Ball is unique

Final thoughts

Boy! These Super Duper Moist Cake Balls sure were a labor of love and completely and totally worth all the time and effort put into making them. My family came over after Mother’s Day dinner and we played cards and ate cake balls! These moist cake balls were enjoyed by all, both children and adults. They are a joy to eat, that is for sure! How many will you eat? Always remember to save room for dessert!

Question & Answer Time!

Tell me what ingredients you will use to make a batch of cake balls.

Stunning array of our Super Duper Moist Cake Balls

Super Duper Moist Cake Balls ready for you! They sure are a labor of love!

One last photo of our Super Duper Moist Cake Balls

Shop for items to create these cake balls

Unique Rainbow + Unicorn Gifts - SHOP Perpetual Kid — Unique Rainbow + Unicorn Gifts – SHOP Perpetual Kid

You might also enjoy these posts at Give It A Whirl Girl

May 13, 2019 14

GIVEAWAY – CHOCOLATE – Happy Holidays and Thank You

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CONCLUDED. Thank you all for your participation. More giveaways soon!

I would love to wish all of my readers happy holidays and a huge thank you to all who take a moment out of their day to read my blog. I just recently hit the 6-month mark of blogging so YIPPEE and HOORAY! As a thank you I would love to gift one person ten pieces of gluten-free, organic chocolate from a wide variety of different brands. I am hosting this chocolate giveaway as a thank you to my loyal readers that have followed along on my blogging journey.

One lucky reader will receive ten scrumptious chocolate candies

I gotta say that so far the 6 months have been quite the journey. Blogging is always an uphill battle to get better and better at it. There is always something new to learn and this information helps me improve upon myself. I learn something new about blogging every single day and I am constantly feeding my brain these tips and tricks. I have a voice when I create a post and I wish and hope for that voice to be heard. That is why I am so thankful for those who read, comment and share my blog posts.

I am very very very thankful for each and everyone of you!

I am so excited to share this special giveaway with my audience. I hope that this chocolate brightens up the winner’s day. I know I would be flipping thrilled to win a prize pack like this.

CHOCOLATE GIVES ME LIFE.

I have carefully selected these brands of chocolate confections because I hold their products near and dear to my heart. I’m not the type of person to pick up a Hershey Bar. I always long for something better. The ten brands of chocolate products represented here all strive for quality and they use wholesome ingredients to produce their products.

Winner will receive one product (one piece) from each of the following brands:

Alternative Baking Company – Colossal Chocolate Chip Cookie
Lily’s 40% Chocolate, Salted Almond & Milk
Justin’s Organic Peanut Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate
Enjoy Life Boom Choco Boom Dark Chocolate
Theo Cranberry Orange Dark Chocolate
Eating Evolved Classic Coconut Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate
Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Cranberries & Orange & Cinnamon
Alter Eco Chocolate Bar Dark Super Blackout Organic
Newman’s Own Organics 70% Cocoa Chocolate, Super Dark
Heavenly Organics Honey Patties, Chocolate Mint

These ten brands can all be found on Amazon and many ship with Amazon Prime. If you are not yet a Prime member you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.

The chocolate giveaway

Alternative Baking Company

I am giving away one chocolate chip cookie from Alternative Baking Company. This cookie is gluten-free and vegan. They offer a wide variety of cookies to choose from and they come in 12 different flavors. You can find out more in their online store.

Lily’s Sweets

The winner of my giveaway will receive one Salted Almond & Milk chocolate bar from Lily’s Sweets. Lily’s chocolate bars are sweetened with Stevia and they do not contain any added sugars. The chocolate is also free of GMOs and is vegan-friendly. These bars are wonderful for those of us who are watching our sugar intake. If you are curious about these chocolate bars why not pick up a variety pack on Amazon with 6 fun flavors!

Lily' Sweets Salted Almond & Milk Chocolate Bar — **Lily’ Sweets Salted Almond & Milk Chocolate Bar**

Justin’s Organic

The winner of my chocolate giveaway will receive one package of dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Justin’s. If you love the combination of dark chocolate with peanut butter you will be swooning over these with your first bite. These taste 10x better than your average Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and they are only made with all-natural, organic ingredients. These peanut butter cups are also available in milk chocolate.

And I just discovered that these peanut butter candy cups are available in white chocolate as well. So something for everyone!

Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups — **Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups**

Enjoy Life Foods

Enjoy Life Foods is one of my favorite brands and I love their vegan and gluten-free chocolate with all of my heart. The winner of this giveaway will receive one Dark Chocolate Boom Choco Boom bar. This brand makes the most incredible chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies.

Theo Chocolate

I love the gourmet flavor of a Theo Chocolate bar. The winner will receive one Cranberry Orange bar from Theo Chocolate. Here is a variety pack of holiday flavors available on Amazon. Make sure you check out their 12-bar variety pack also.

Eating Evolved

Eating Evolved makes primal and paleo products that are gluten-free and vegan. They only use all-natural ingredients to create their mouthwatering treats. I am giving away one Dark Chocolate Classic Coconut Butter Cup to one lucky reader of my blog. If you want to try three different flavors of these Eating Evolved Coconut Butter Cups there is a 12-count variety pack available on Amazon.

Endangered Species Chocolate

Amazon offers a variety pack of several different flavors of Endangered Species Chocolate. The winner of my giveaway will receive one bar from this brand and it will be Cranberry Orange flavor. What I love about this brand of chocolate is that they give back to the environment. Endangered Species Chocolate has donated $1.4 million towards conservation efforts of endangered animals.

Alter Eco

This Super Blackout Bar from Alter Eco is not for the faint of heart. This chocolate bar is for the real, true chocolate lover out there. This bar is super dark and one lucky reader of my blog will get to give this bar a whirl. I love this bar paired with a glass of port wine. Alter Eco also produces a variety of decadent chocolate truffles.

Newman’s Own Organics

This is another brand that gives back. Newman’s Own contributes 100% of their profits to charity organizations. You can read more about their mission statement on their website. The winner of my giveaway will receive one 70% chocolate bar from Newman’s Own. This bar is organic and made with wholesome ingredients and love.

Heavenly Organics

These Chocolate Mint Honey Patties from Heavenly Organics are gluten-free and made with only three natural ingredients: chocolate, raw white honey, and peppermint oil. The winner of my giveaway will win one package to try out.

Here are some of my blog highlights that feature chocolate I would love to share:

Paleo & Vegan Cookie Dough Cheesecake Recipe

Slice of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

This recipe turned out quite fabulous and I am really proud of this one and had to share it here on my blog! I am a lover of pretty much anything this is cookie dough. This was a delectable treat that truly pleased my palate. This recipe is perfect for anyone that loves to indulge in chocolate.

Paleo & Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe

A nice slice of the Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Ahhh yes… we have another cheesecake recipe that I would love to share with my readers. So yeah I am a big time cookie dough lover but you want to know what else I love? The combination of dark chocolate and raspberry. Pure bliss! This is another recipe for the chocolate lovers out there. I am quite obsessed with all of these paleo and vegan cheesecake recipes. It is nice to know and reassuring that those of us who need to opt for a gluten-free diet have a wide variety of things to choose from nowadays.

Paleo Chocolate & Matcha Cheesecake

One more cheesecake recipe. This recipe is paleo friendly. I could have made it vegan-friendly as well but silly me decided that sweetening this up with honey was a great idea. Great idea, yes, but not friendly for the vegan readers. This chocolate and matcha combination had a very unique flavor.

So tell me… what is the first product that you are going to give a whirl if you win my chocolate giveaway? Leave a comment below and make sure you enter the giveaway. Good luck to all!

Enter the chocolate giveaway through the entry form below.

THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS (no extra cost to you). ALL OPINIONS STATED HERE ARE MY OWN.

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December 11, 2018 111

Hosting Thanksgiving At My Home – My First Time Wrap-Up!

Hosting My First Thanksgiving by Give It A Whirl Girl

Thanksgiving has came and went. Whew! This was my first year hosting the Thanksgiving Day holiday at my home. I gotta say that I was probably nervous about the whole situation for the month leading up to it. I know that a lot of work and prep goes into pulling off this festive day. Our feast that we had here was perfect and excellent from start to finish. I was satisfied with how every single element of it came out. No complaints whatsoever here! I hope all of my readers also had a great holiday and enjoyed their big plate of food!

Here is a look at my dinner plate from Thanksgiving! I have a little bit of everything on my plate: roasted turkey, redskin mashed potatoes with French butter, Brussels sprouts, wild rice stuffing with mushrooms and cranberries, White Castle stuffing, Clean Bean (green bean) Casserole, ambrosia, sweet potato casserole, and my favorite~ Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce! I am hoping to do a recipe post soon for my famous cranberry sauce. I can turn any cranberry-sauce-hater into a lover! So far it has worked with two haters in my family.

Today I will be discussing Thanksgiving and how we pulled it off. I could not have possibly made this day possible without the help and support of my family. My mom, Kathie, was a huge help. She purchased the turkey and a great majority of the food that was served. Money is super tight right now with my family so I was very grateful that she pitched in (big time) to help me create this feast.

My mom bought the 19-pound turkey and an electric roaster to cook the turkey in. I spotted the roaster when we took a trip over the Costco and I thought it would be a great idea to cook the turkey in there so we could free up the oven space for the side dishes that needed to be warmed up. Turned out to be the best idea ever!

My stepmom, Evelyn, was also a huge help. She came over early on Thanksgiving to help my mom and I prep. Evelyn brought over an appetizer and a side dish to pass as well. The appetizer that she brought was unique. They were bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Well, they were delicious. These got gobbled up pretty quick. For a side dish, she brought her famous sweet potato casserole. My stepmom was incredibly helpful with the kitchen clean up as well. That helped me tremendously.

Prepping for the Thanksgiving holiday

Paleo & Vegan (Gluten-Free) Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

The day before Thanksgiving, I did what I could to prep for the big day. The first thing that I did was I created my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake. This is my favorite fall dessert at the moment. I wanted to get that done early because the cheesecake needs to set for at least six hours. I gave it plenty of time to set by creating it the morning before the holiday. I have a recipe for this paleo/vegan cheesecake on my blog. I did modify the recipe just a tad bit. Obviously, I did something different for the topping. Instead of creating a whipped cream with coconut cream I topped this cheesecake with a ton of walnuts and pecans. I wanted to make it extra nutty. I purchased a can of non-dairy, almond milk whipped cream to top it with. Instead of using the spices individually I used a jar of pumpkin pie spice.

Paleo & Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake topped with walnuts and pecans

Paleo cranberry sauce

I also busted out my slow-cooker the day before Thanksgiving to make my paleo cranberry sauce in advance. This is one of those set-it-and-forget-it recipes. I love cranberry sauce and my cranberries have the power to turn cranberry sauce haters into lovers! My husband never eats cranberry sauce. Guess what? This year he did! And I know that he enjoyed it because he helped himself to some for his leftover plate. This cranberry sauce is simple to make. I call it my Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce! There are many ingredients that go into it but it is very easy to create. There are no refined sugars in this cranberry sauce. I use an entire bottle of pure maple syrup to sweeten it. I also use fresh-squeezed orange juice, orange zest, two ambrosia apples, walnuts, and pecans to create the sauce. The apples are a nice, welcome addition and the nuts give it a great texture. The sauce is heavily seasoned with pumpkin pie spice. I picked up a bottle of the Spice Hunter’s Pumpkin Pie Spice at Nino Salvaggio’s in St Clair Shores. This pumpkin pie spice seemed like a wonderful blend of spices. It worked out well in my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake too, so the funds I spent on it was a great investment.

Ingredients Cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, star anise, fennel, black pepper

You can pick up a bottle of this awesome pumpkin spice seasoning on Amazon. I highly recommend using this Spice Hunter blend for all of your fall flavored foods.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cranberry Sauce

Continue reading “Hosting Thanksgiving At My Home – My First Time Wrap-Up!” →

November 24, 2018 3

Healthy Hot List – Must-Have Health Food Products For Your Lifestyle (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo, Whole 30, or Keto)

Healthy Hot List - Must-Have Healthy Food Products For Your Lifestyle (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo, Whole 30, or Keto)

I would like to start up a new regular feature on the blog featuring items that I have used and fallen in love with. I will be calling this the Healthy Hot List. These are all health food items that I have given a whirl and want to spread the word about so this fits in perfectly with my Tried It Out Tuesday weekly feature. These are healthy foods that can fit into your routine.

Many of these health food items fall within the realms of several different diets: gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, Whole 30, keto, and vegan.

Whenever I try out a new product and I become a fan I do my best to promote these items and spread the word about them. I would love my good words for these brands to travel far and wide because they earned it with their quality health food products. Hope you enjoy this list and let me know if you have tried anything on this list.

Healthy Hot List – Health Foods Your Pantry Needs

Caulipower Variety Pack – Cauliflower Crust Frozen Pizza – Gluten-Free

I recently blogged about this Caulipower pizza. I tried the veggie one out and doctored it up a bit. I was really impressed with the quality of this frozen cauliflower crust pizza. This is a low carb pizza alternative and features a gluten-free crust. The cauliflower crust mimics a regular crust quite well considering the fact that it is all veggie!

Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo

This Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil mayonnaise is a must-have in your fridge. It is paleo-friendly and Whole 30 compliant. It is also egg-free and dairy free. I have made tuna salad, potato salad, and macaroni salad with this mayo and the flavor of it was impressive.

Check out my: Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric Chicken

Terrasoul Superfoods Cacao Nibs

Did you know that chocolate in its purest form is actually quite healthy and good for your body? These raw cacao nibs from Terrasoul Superfoods are an antioxidant powerhouse. Cacao nibs are also vegan-friendly. I enjoy eating these on top of my smoothie bowls or incorporating them into my nice-creams.

Mamma Chia – Chia Squeeze – Variety Pack of 4 flavors

I consider myself a big fan of Mamma Chia. I often purchase their chia drinks and chia seeds. The squeeze pouches are an awesome on-the-go snack. These pouches come in at 70 calories and contain 1200-milligrams of Omega-3. These squeeze pouches are also a great source of protein, antioxidants, and fiber.

Enjoy Life Foods Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – Package of 6

Here is another brand that I am a huge fan of- Enjoy Life Foods. At the moment these are my favorite chocolate chips. They are a trusted brand for me and the only brand I purchase my chocolate chips from. I usually use the dark chocolate chips. They are free from common food allergens. If you are looking for a dairy-free, vegan option for chocolate chips this is the brand I recommend going with.

**Find out how I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips in THIS RECIPE!**

4th & Heart Grass-Fed Ghee Butter – Variety Pack

A lot of talk about ghee these days! Ghee is a clarified butter with all milk solids removed. It is a dairy-free option to butter and this can replace your current butter or cooking oil with a 1:1 ratio. I use 4th & Heart ghee for my cooking and my baking. The smell of a ribeye steak cooking in some ghee is divine. I will never turn my back and go to regular butter again. Ghee not only tastes better but it also has some health benefits as opposed to butter. This variety pack includes regular ghee and a vanilla ghee, which would be great for your next baking project!

Banza Chickpea Pasta Variety Pack of 6

If you are looking for a lower carb pasta that is gluten-free and high in protein look no further than Banza! I have been using Banza quite often in my pasta dishes and it is one of my favorite pasta that is gluten-free. You can check out the macaroni salad that I made with Banza HERE. I whipped that up for family and even though it was gluten-free the pasta salad was a smashing success. Pro tip: undercook your pasta just a tiny bit. I always do a minute or 2 less than the suggested time on the box. I also give my pasta a rinse before serving.

Nut Cravings Raw & Unsalted Cashews

If you are interested in making a vegan and paleo cheesecake raw cashews are a must! Nut Cravings has pretty reasonable prices. Raw cashews can be quite pricey! When the raw cashews (soaked overnight) are mixed with a bit of coconut milk and lemon juice you end up with a faux cheesecake filling. I honestly prefer my raw paleo cheesecakes over traditional nowadays.

Thai Kitchen Coconut Cream

Coconut cream is essential for paleo or vegan baking. If you are in need of a dairy-free whipped cream the best way to go is to use Thai Kitchen coconut cream. You simply refrigerate the can overnight and then scoop the solids out of the can (no water) and then use your whisk attachment on your stand mixer.

Kiss My Keto Chocolate

Sugar-free, low-carb chocolate bars? Can I get a hell yeah! Check out this variety pack of chocolate bars from Kiss My Keto and let me know which flavor you will try out first!

What health food items have you tried from this Healthy Hot List and what are your thoughts? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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September 25, 2018 1

Paleo Matcha & Chocolate Cheesecake – RECIPE – Gluten-Free

Let it be known that making these cheesecakes are one of my favorite things to do in the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen. These desserts are rich, flavorful, and actually quite nutritious. They are a much better alternative to regular cheesecake. The basic ingredients in these are fruit (medjool dates) and a variety of different nuts (mostly cashews). I am not going to lie, sometimes I even sneak in a slice for a filling breakfast. This matcha chocolate cheesecake dessert is unique in its flavor. If you are a fan of matcha (green tea) this recipe for a matcha chocolate cheesecake might just be perfect for you. I love everything about this particular one: the crust, the filling, and the chocolate ganache on top. It all marries together harmoniously to make one hell of an awesome cheesecake.

This almost-paleo matcha chocolate cheesecake requires several different components to make it all come together. I broke it down into sections for you. I suggest gathering up all of your ingredients first so you can breeze through this recipe with ease.

Continue reading “Paleo Matcha & Chocolate Cheesecake – RECIPE – Gluten-Free” →

September 17, 2018 6

Paleo Cookie Dough Cheesecake and Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger Ribeye Steaks – Saturday Cooking Adventures

My husband is off work Fridays and Saturdays. We did not have any plans for those two days so we just had a chill time at home. I needed something to pass the time so I resorted to cooking. What better way to spend the time! I started off Saturday with some multigrain pancakes for Joe and Chloe. I got started on dessert, a Paleo Cookie Dough Cheesecake, early because those cheesecakes take a few hours to set. And dinner was simple~ ribeye steaks marinated in Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger and peppered bacon wrapped in asparagus. It was a delightful day of cooking from start to finish.

Seems kinda contradictory though to make a vegan cheesecake for dessert after a ribeye dinner! I mainly chose to make this type of cheesecake for the fact that it is paleo and uses only gluten-free ingredients. I do try to eat vegan meals on occasion though because I do enjoy them. My favorite vegan food to make is “nice cream”. It is a vegan ice-cream created with frozen bananas, coconut milk, and other fruits, etc. It is a simple, healthy dessert to create at home and a nice alternative to regular ice-cream.

In this post I will be discussing how I made the dessert and the dinner and I have broken it down into sections for you.

Continue reading “Paleo Cookie Dough Cheesecake and Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger Ribeye Steaks – Saturday Cooking Adventures” →

September 2, 2018 2

Paleo & Vegan No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake – How I Made It

On the weekends I love to have my biggest cooking days. There is always a day thrown in there where we go out to a restaurant but most of my bigger dinners are reserved for weekends. Sunday kicked off with some healthy dessert making in the kitchen. I had a craving for something white chocolate & raspberry so I made a No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. I absolutely love making any kind of dessert but for me, paleo is my favorite kind to whip up because it is a fairly new concept for me. I am trying my best to get a grasp on paleo and gluten-free baking & cooking. Every day is a learning experience in the kitchen. Today I am going to talk about my experience and my process of making the cheesecake that I created yesterday.

Give It A Whirl Girl in the kitchen with fresh raspberries for cheesecake!

I have made some paleo cheesecakes in the past and I was a huge fan of the result. This white chocolate raspberry one turned out the be the simplest one yet. A paleo cheesecake is gluten-free and dairy-free. This one was also considered vegan because no animal products were used at all. The great thing about these cheesecakes is that they are no-bake. But that doesn’t mean “no wait”. Once the ingredients are in a springform pan they need to set for at least a few hours in the refrigerator.

This cheesecake came out so silky and smooth. White chocolate and raspberry flavored anything is a weakness of mine. I absolutely love that combination of flavors. Whoever originally came up with the idea of marrying those two flavors is deserving of a giant trophy or give them a medal!

For inspo, I used this recipe from Prettypies.com but it was modified greatly. I am putting the link here so if you would like to create something like this, it was a great recipe with modifications. So shoutout to Pretty Pies for the inspiration!

A gluten-free crust is made out of ground up nuts. You use coconut oil and maple syrup as a binder. You need a springform pan for this. Her recipe suggests a 7-inch springform pan and I only had a 9-inch pan. My cheesecake would have been a bit taller if I had the smaller pan (mine was a bit flat). I used a combination of almonds and cashews. If you ever opt for a crust like this I suggest soaking your nuts (yeah that sounds funny) so they can soften up and be ground up finely in the food processor. I think that many different types of nuts would work well for a crust but in a paleo cheesecake, it is typically raw cashews. In the future, I want to try a cashew & macadamia nut combo.

Gluten-free crust (& paleo) for a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Made with ground almonds and cashews

For the “white chocolate” part of this cheesecake you make your own chocolate. White chocolate always contains dairy and dairy is a no-no with a paleo diet. So in order to solve this you melt down some cacao butter and use that as white chocolate. I love Navitas Organics Cacao Butter and use that as my brand of choice. Cacao butter is chocolate in its purest form. I warmed up some fresh raspberries in my cacao butter so I could infuse the white chocolate with fruit flavor. The recipe called for 1/2 cup of cacao butter and I used a bit more of that and used everything that was remaining in my bag, probably around 3/4 of a cup.

Navitas Organics Cacao Butter Melting w/ fresh raspberries

Once your cacao butter is warmed up and melted you add it to a food processor with your soaked cashews. It is very important that these are raw cashews and free of any added salt. Nobody wants a salty white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. The recipe called for some shredded zucchini but I avoided that completely and just used fresh raspberries to bulk up the filling.

Paleo also means no added refined sugars. So with paleo, you have some options for adding that desired sweetness. In this case, you use maple syrup. Just to clarify too, maple syrup is not some kind of Aunt Jemima pancake syrup, it has to be pure maple syrup straight from the tree. You can find some here by Now Foods.

When you add a bit of lemon juice to this cashew mixture it really does give you a taste of cheesecake. It is truly remarkable how you can make a healthier cheesecake using some simple, natural ingredients.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake w/ fresh raspberries on top

At this point, everything was all put together in my springform pan and I topped it with fresh raspberries. I allowed it to set in the fridge for about 3 hours or so. While the cheesecake was setting I placed my KitchenAid stand mixer bowl in the freezer so it could get super cold. Next up on the to-do list was my vegan & paleo whipped cream! If you want to try your hand at making whipped cream like this get yourself a can of coconut cream and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I use the Thai Kitchen brand of coconut cream in my recipes.

Once your cheesecake has chilled a bit you can prepare the whipped cream. There is no added sugar in this whipped cream. I have been known in the past, though, to sweeten with a bit of coconut sugar but that is completely optional. To make this you simply take all of the fatty coconut off the top of the water that is in the can and place it in the mixing bowl with a whisk attachment. Very important~ do not allow ANY water from the can in your mixture. I still have a hard time with this and am perfecting my whipped cream. The more water you have in there, the less it will whip up nice and fluffy. I whisk this up at a high speed for a few minutes.

Ok almost time to eat! BUT it still needed the whipped cream added to the top. I used a Wilton Dessert Decorator to put my whipped cream in place. Just choose a tip for the pump and simply press down on the plunger to put your dollops on. Easy peasy!

Paleo & Vegan White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake — Paleo & Vegan No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Paleo & Vegan No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I was so eager to find out how all of this tasted. I took my first bite and I was instantly in love with this dessert… omg so good! Major plus over here is that hubby doesn’t like raspberries or white chocolate and my daughter is away on vacation so I get this dessert all to my sweet self!

Did you make anything new and exciting in the kitchen this past weekend? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

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August 20, 2018 2

Here is how I created these Super Duper Moist Cake Balls

The secret ingredient is…

Baking the cake

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Frosting to hold them all together

Chill them balls!

Wilton Bright Candy Melts

Sprinkles galore!

Final thoughts

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Prepping for the Thanksgiving holiday

Paleo & Vegan (Gluten-Free) Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Paleo cranberry sauce

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Did you make anything new and exciting in the kitchen this past weekend? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. I DO RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF ITEMS ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THESE LINKS. THIS HELPS MAKE FOR A BETTER BLOG EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF MY READERS. ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARDS MAKING IMPROVEMENTS ON THIS BLOG.

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**Find out how I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips in THIS RECIPE!**