Parsnip-Based Cheesecake? The 'Why on Earth' and a Preliminary Recipe

So, Ela, why on Earth would you use cooked parsnips as a base for raw cheesecake?
Yes, congratulations to kt for guessing correctly that the secret ingredient in my latest cheesecake was parsnips!

In this post, I'll answer the 'why on Earth?' question. I'll also give a preliminary recipe, since we're going on a trip in a couple days and I won't be able to do any more recipe testing for at least a couple weeks.

The simplest answer to 'why on Earth?' is because it's important to me to feel good about something I'm eating and serving to others. I've found that this applies to desserts and treats almost more strongly than to regular foods: I want it to taste delightful, decadent, creamy, indulgent, and I want to have confidence in my ingredients, and know that I'll feel good afterwards.

Now, to details.
I can see two major criticisms of using parnips in cheesecake, so I'll deal with those before I get to the 'pros.'
1) Won't the shelf life be greatly reduced by using a cooked starch?
It is possible that the shelf life will be reduced slightly, but I store cheesecakes in the freezer anyway, and everyone loves them (yes, this version too!) so they don't last long! There's still plenty of fat in there.

2) Um, cooked parsnips? I thought this was raw food cuisine!
OK: here's what I think: the base ingredient in 'regular' raw cheesecakes is cashews. And unless you are paying through the nose for 'truly raw' cashews, cashews aren't 'raw' either! Like mangos, cashews are in the poison ivy family and have a highly toxic secretion in the shell that is almost impossible to circumvent without application of heat.

I've done it, both in Thailand and HI. In HI, I got blisters all over me and maybe a half dozen nuts. (3 cups of cashews for a full-sized cake.) In Thailand, with slightly better equipment and protective clothing, two of us worked for a half hour for a scant half cup of nuts. How many raw restaurants, let alone regular raw foodists, (can afford to) pay out for 'truly raw' cashews?

And then, if you're making a low-sugar version, as I prefer to (for reasons I'll get to in a second), chances are that your xylitol isn't 'truly raw' either. I am highly skeptical about the raw status of agave, at that. Even if it's low-temperature processed, it's highly refined. For comparison: bees laboriously fan their gathered nectar from an 80% moisture start product to a 20% moisture finished product. I used to be a beekeeper, I love bees, but I definitely think that their honey is highly refined and 'processed,' even if it's raw and otherwise magical. For the more decadent raw desserts, I think most people would agree that there's a certain degree of 'fudging' on the raw status generally, certainly vis-a-vis level of processing.

Just because the bees processed the honey where we couldn't see, it doesn't mean it's unprocessed. I think a similar cognitive dissonance takes place for people when they think of nuts, which they can just buy at the store and use (raw material that might have been heated unbeknownst to them), versus parsnips, which they have to cook on the stove themselves.

Are you with me so far? For me, the 'it's ok, because it's raw' argument doesn't wash with the cheesecakes. I love them, but haven't always felt good with them, and wanted to have it both ways.
So, on to the 'pros' of parsnip use.

I used to think that the reason why people tend to feel heavy after enjoying a raw cheesecake was the combination of huge amounts of fat together with lots of sugar. That's what I speculated after the last time I tried a 'commercial' raw cheesecake (at Blossoming Lotus in Portland). And that's why I've always made my own cheesecakes much lower sugar, usually with a combination of xylitol syrup and stevia; occasionally coconut nectar. They're still very rich, but don't seem to be so coma-inducing.

But you know what? Raw cheesecakes are typically based on cashews, nut milk and coconut oil/cacao butter for firmness. Sugar's going to tend to make that a gut bomb, but all by itself, that's a whopping great load of fat! Of course, my recent interest in avoiding PUFAs has caused me to examine that aspect of cheesecakes.  Cashews are actually relatively low in PUFAs (and mac nuts, which also work in cheesecakes, contain almost none, but are almost as expensive as 'truly raw cashews'). This overall fat load seems excessive, even when compared with the standard cheesecake that's based on cream cheese and eggs.

For concreteness: cashews are around 750 calories per cup (three cups for a large cheesecake, remember); a cup of cooked chopped parsnips is around 150 calories.

You pair that with the nut milk and coconut oil, and even without using sugar, it's no wonder that it's so heavy.
The good news is that if you keep the nut milk and coconut oil and replace the cashews with parsnips, it's still plenty rich!

I've already made delicious 'pumpkin pie' type mousses with cooked yams, but a parsnip, or perhaps a white sweet potato, is great for the cheesecake application because they're still white, and have a sweet, neutral flavor. As I mentioned in the previous post, I could taste the parsnip, but only in the same, unobtrusive way that I can taste cashews in cashew-based cakes, and not a single person that I served it to detected it at all.

What do you think? Would you try this, or do you prefer to stay with the cashews? (Hey, there's room for both, isn't there?)
To help you decide, here's the recipe: please note that this is not the final version.
White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake
Recipe for a 7in cheesecake; I made it crustless--any favorite crust would work.
1 cup cooked chopped parsnips, well drained (peel before cooking)
3/8 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup xylitol syrup
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch vanilla powder
pinch salt
1/4 cup melted cacao butter
1 tablespoon lecithin

1/4 cup blueberries and an additional tablespoon of lemon juice for swirling.

Blend the first seven ingredients until smooth. Add the melted cacao butter and lecithin and blend again until thoroughly combined.

Pour out into bowl (or onto crust) but leave 1/2 cup in the blender. Tip: I tend to save some of the 'white' mixture in a cup so that I can 'mend' the swirl if need be.
Add blueberries and lemon juice to the blender and blend well.
Pour over the white filling, swirl with a chopstick.
Freeze to set.

I really hope folks will try this: please let me know. Another benefit of using parsnips is that I imagine that a 'regular' blender would be able to handle this more easily than a nut-based cake, so non-Vitamix-owners will still get good results.

I'm pretty excited about this whole idea and can't wait to hear what others think.

It really is spring here--amazing to think that this time last year there was still snow on the ground. I spent some time outside with a shovel this morning, uprooting some of the more persistent weeds. Pushki--cow parsnip.
Look at the size of those roots--and this is just at the two-leaf stage!

 Meanwhile, in the raised beds, our chives made it through the winter! Several small patches like this one.

I did pause to consider the irony of our delight at the survival of these plants that we carefully babied, and our zeal to uproot other plants that survived the winter with no help from us. Pushki is nasty, though... And you better believe that I'll be living on nettle smoothies a few weeks from now! I love wild foods...

Please tell me what you think about the cheesecake and if you try it!