Mint Swirl Chocolate Crust Cheesecake
A raw cheesecake with a showstopping spiral: rings of vanilla, peppermint-blue, and mint-green cream over a rich chocolate coconut crust. Every slice reveals the swirl. No baking, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free.
Love mint and chocolate? Try my Raw Mint Chocolate Chip Slice, too.
Yield: One 6-inch cheesecake, serves 10–12 · Active: 1 hour · Total: 5 hours, mostly freezing · Year-round (especially festive at the holidays) · Best eaten: early afternoon
Ingredients
Chocolate crust
¾ cup almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
1 cup desiccated coconut
½ cup raw cacao powder
3 tbsp coconut sugar
Optional: ½ tsp coconut aminos, for depth
3 tbsp cacao butter (or coconut oil), melted
1 tbsp filtered water, as needed
Vanilla cheesecake base
1¾ cups cashews, soaked at least 4 hours and drained
¼ cup maple syrup, plus more to taste
2–3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¾ cup coconut oil, melted
Seeds of ½ vanilla bean (or ½ tsp vanilla bean powder)
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Blue mint layer
1 tsp blue spirulina (Blue Majik) powder
1 tsp warm water
2–4 drops food-grade peppermint oil, to taste
Green mint layer
1 tsp matcha powder (or 1 tsp regular spirulina, for caffeine-free)
2–4 drops food-grade peppermint oil, to taste
Method
Make the crust. Line the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan with parchment. Process the almond flour, coconut, cacao, coconut sugar, and coconut aminos (if using) until crumbly. Add the melted cacao butter and pulse to combine, adding water 1 tbsp at a time if needed. Press it firmly into the pan, building it slightly up the sides, and freeze.
Make the vanilla base. Blend all the base ingredients until completely smooth, then divide them evenly among three bowls.
Color the layers.
Blue: Mix the blue spirulina with the warm water into a paste, then stir it into one bowl with the peppermint oil until evenly blue.
Green: Stir the matcha and peppermint oil into the second bowl until evenly green.
Vanilla: Leave the third bowl plain.
Add the peppermint oil a drop at a time, tasting as you go, since it's very potent.
Build the spiral. Place a scoop of vanilla in the center of the crust. Spoon a scoop of blue right into the center of the vanilla, then a scoop of green into the center of the blue. Keep going, always adding to the center, and using the same size scoop each time, until all three are used. Each new scoop gently pushes the last one outward into rings.
Settle. Tap the pan firmly on the counter to level the layers. If you like, draw a chopstick lightly across the surface for a feathered pattern, without going deep, or the rings will blur.
Freeze at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Serve. Release the pan, and slice with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts. Let the slices sit 15 minutes before serving.
A note on peppermint oil: Use only oil labeled food-grade, and add it a drop at a time. It's very potent, and brands vary in strength.
A note on caffeine: Matcha contains a little caffeine, and cacao contains theobromine, so this is best enjoyed earlier in the day. For a caffeine-free version, use spirulina for the green layer.
A note on "raw": Every cashew sold has been heat-treated to remove the caustic oil in its shell, so "raw" here means no-bake.
Storage
Frozen up to 2 months. Thaw 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nourishment Notes
Blue spirulina (sold as Blue Majik) is a concentrated extract of phycocyanin, the deep blue pigment in spirulina. Its pigment is a cousin of chlorophyll and the heme in our blood, and it's one of the only natural, vivid blue food colorings, no synthetic dye needed. It's sensitive to light and heat, which is part of why this dessert is made cold.
Peppermint oil does the work of several tablespoons of fresh mint, in a concentrated form. Its menthol activates the cold-sensing receptors in your mouth, which is what creates mint's cooling sensation, the same reason peppermint tastes cool even in hot tea. A few drops give a clean mint flavor without the grassiness of fresh leaves.
The zebra-spiral technique is what makes this cake so striking. Each new scoop of color pushes the one before it outward, rather than mixing in, which creates clean concentric rings instead of a muddy marble. It's the same technique behind the classic zebra cakes of Eastern and Central Europe, and it depends on using the same size scoop every time.
Cashews and almonds — magnesium, copper, zinc, and vitamin E.
Raw cacao — magnesium, iron, flavanols, and theobromine.
Coconut, coconut oil, and cacao butter — lauric acid and stable fats, which help the cheesecake set firm.
Matcha — L-theanine and EGCG, a polyphenol from green tea.
Blue spirulina — phycocyanin, studied for its antioxidant effects.
Peppermint — menthol, traditionally used to soothe digestion.
For your cycle: The cacao's magnesium makes this a comforting luteal-phase treat, and peppermint is traditionally used to ease bloating.
Sourcing
Cashews — organic (every cashew sold has been heat-treated, even "raw" ones)
Almond flour — organic and blanched (keep it in the fridge)
Desiccated coconut — organic, unsweetened, and sulfite-free
Raw cacao powder and cacao butter — organic, and ideally tested for heavy metals
Coconut oil — organic, virgin, and unrefined
Coconut sugar and maple syrup — organic coconut sugar; organic Grade A dark maple syrup
Coconut aminos (optional) — organic and soy-free, like Coconut Secret
Blue spirulina — Blue Majik by E3Live, or another pure phycocyanin powder, ideally tested for heavy metals
Matcha — organic, ceremonial or culinary grade from Japan, ideally tested for heavy metals
Spirulina (caffeine-free option) — organic, and tested for heavy metals and microcystins
Peppermint oil — organic, food-grade peppermint essential oil
Vanilla — organic vanilla beans or vanilla bean powder
Lemons — organic
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall