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Almond & Apricot Dairy Free Cheese Danish Cake

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Almond and Apricot Dairy-free Danish Cake
This dairy free cheese danish cake is based on my ooey gooey cake. And I think it’s even better this way. I’ve made it a few times now with the apricot spread, and next I’m moving on to either raspberry or strawberry spread. I can’t wait.I have been dreaming of cheese danish for years, and I’m so thrilled to have this recipe now!

Almond & Apricot Dairy Free Cheese Danish Cake

grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free optional (see UPDATE at the bottom of the recipe)

Wet Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (I don’t know if this recipe would set up and look the same with another oil)
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp vanilla stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp psyllium husk powder *

Dry Ingredients

2 cups Honeyville almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (tapioca would also work)
1 tsp baking powder (Grain-free Baking Powder Recipe)
1/2 tsp baking soda

Dairy free Cream Cheese ingredients

3/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened Silk brand almond milk)
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (I don’t know if this recipe would set up and look the same with another oil)
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt

Topping Ingredients

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sliced almonds
9 oz  apricot fruit spread

Directions:

    1. Set oven to 325 degrees.
    2. Add the wet cake ingredients to the blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.
    3. Scoop the wet cake ingredients (not the “cream cheese”!) onto the dry cake ingredients.
    4. Mix with an electric mixer for about 10 seconds. Stop when it looks like a crumble for coffee cake, not like a solid mass of dough.
    5. Add the cake crumble to a greased 11 x 8 inch baking dish (I believe it is a 2 qt dish) or an 8 x 8 inch dish. Spread evenly, but don’t mash it down.
    6. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sliced almonds over the cake in the dish.
    7. Pour the “cream cheese” topping over the almonds.
    8. Warm 9oz of apricot fruit spread just slightly.
    9. Pour the apricot fruit spread in diagonal lines across the dairy free cheese.
    10. Use a knife in a figure eight motion to swirl the apricot and dairy free cheese.
    11. Sprinkle with another 2 tablespoons sliced almonds.
    12. Bake for about 25 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven the sides will be puffy and you might think it’s not done in the middle, but after it cools completely (and you refrigerate it some) it will set up nicely. My husband loves it cold from the fridge, but I love it room temperature. The girls eat it no matter what 🙂
Store in the fridge.

UPDATE: To make this with eggs and without psyllium husk: Change the Dairy Free Cream Cheese to 1 cup cashews, and 1/2 cup nut milk, and add 1 egg white. Keep the other cream cheese ingredients the same. To the batter: Add 1 whole egg to the wet ingredients.

♥, Kelly

P.S. There is a chocolate version of this recipe in my book, Paleo Chocolate Lovers’ Cookbook, where you will also find all sorts of favorites like donuts, cheesecake, chocolate zucchini bread, cake, brownies, cookies, truffles, even a savory chapter! They are the healthiest chocolate recipes anywhere 🙂

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Comments

  1. This sounds amazing, but I was wondering where you get your cashews. Everywhere I’ve looked is so expensive for such small amounts. Any suggestions?

  2. oh bot Kelly, this looks dreamy…I always loved those cheese danishes growing up, my grandma always brought them with her. I still pass them in the store and gaze longingly..but one look at hose ingredients is enough to cool my ardor! This is pinned!

  4. That looks delicious! We’re on The GAPS Intro Diet at the moment, but I’ll be bookmarket this to make once we’re allowed a broader range of food. Thanks 🙂

  5. Oh yum!!! I am waiting very impatiently for my “cheese” danish cake to cool! I live in northern MN so I stuck it out in the porch to cool more quickly!
    I had a very hard time not just eating spoonfuls of the “cheese”!!
    Thanks again for all of your amazing recipes.
    Oh and I used raspberry jam – it smells divine!

  8. This was wonderful!! Even my husband was raving about it, and he’s not even gluten-free or anything. I subbed a small egg in the cream cheese and a large egg in the wet cake ingredients for the psyllium husk powder – baked it 5 minutes longer and it turned out great. Probably not as fluffy as without eggs, but I thought it was wonderful. I can’t wait to try this with blueberry and raspberry jam too!!

  9. Well, mine wasn’t nearly as pretty as yours but it WAS scrumptious! Thanks for the great recipe and inspiration. Growing up (in Ohio) the Entenmann’s cheese coffee cake was one of my favorite weekend treats! This is a great approximation.

  11. This looks yummy!! My mom has made pastry Danish for many many years. Her Danish braids are amazing! I’m loving that I can try making these. Thanks!

  13. Hi Kelly. I LOVE your blog and recipes.I’m trying to get gluten out of my husband’s diet, and your recipes are really helping. I have the Yerba Prima Psyllium Whole Husk (link below) and used it in the coconut milk bread, which was SO YUMMY! Is there going to be a major difference between the product I have and the Psllium Husk Powder you specify we use in your recipes? I’m wondering if I just lucked out when I used it in the coconut bread. I tried to make it even finer in my coffe grinder, but not much happened there. About to make the Danish Cake this weekend so wanted to check first to see if I should go buy the powder.
    http://www.iherb.com/Yerba-Prima-Psyllium-Whole-Husks-Colon-Cleanser-12-oz-340-g/4795

  14. I have now made this 3 times! This time on individual ramekins and used different types of preserves for a brunch. You do have to double the cashew cream cheese this way, but so good! I have made raspberry, strawberry, apricot and strawberry coconut which is my fathers favorite. No one guessed it was dairy and gluten free! I love this recipe!

  15. This is sinfully delicious…total crack! I used raspberry jam. I mixed the cake together in a bowl and used my fingers t get it all evenly distributed and crumbly. I did not have psyllium powder so I used a 1/8 of a teaspoon guar gum in the cheese, and some psyllium husks in the cake.
    Totally transported me back, this will be made again and again

  21. I made this this morning with strawberry (and used cashew meal instead of almond meal bc I bought it at TJ and wanted to try it out). This was amazzzzzzzzzzzzing. One of the best desserts I’ve made in a while (and we are not GF or DF!)

  22. Made this this morning and it was wonderful! I made the dairy-free cream cheese the night before which helped make prep faster this morning. Thanks for such a great recipe!

  23. Um. All I have to say is WOW!! THIS IS SERIOUSLY SLAMMIN GOOD! I can’t really believe my taste buds right now. I used cashew meal instead of almond just because I had it on head, and like I said, WOW. This recipe has convinced me to buy your book!! Thank you SO much for giving me back danish!!! Xo

  24. I cannot wait to try this! I LOVE LOVE LOVE apricot. I saw you use Honeyville almond flour. Are there other brands that work well? Where do you buy this? Does Coscto have it? Is it better to use blanched or unblanched?

    Yum Yum! I’m making this this weekend for Sunday brunch!

  25. This was amazing! And beautiful. I followed your update that allowed for the use of eggs, and we are loving it. Thanks so much for your hard work and sharing recipes with us.

  26. Instead of almond milk and almond flour. Can I use coconut milk and cashew flour??? Or another flour substitute ??

    • I’ve heard that chestnut flour/meal is a good almond flour substitute, but I’ve never tried it. You might google it in case other ingredients need to be adjusted. I bet coconut milk would sub okay, but it is thicker and has a stringer flavor than almond. Whole Foods has lots of different boxed milks–hazelnut is amazing. Stronger nutty flavor (which might be nice!) but a thin consistency like almond.

  28. DELICIOUS! Thanks so much! Can’t wait for my partner to get home and try this. Being GF, DF and egg free really makes sweet stuff a challenge

  29. This was very disappointing…. I made the recipe using the same ingredients as you and did it exactly as written (though I didn’t find instructions on how you make the cream part…. I had success making it in the food processor). I was wondering what the consistency is supposed to be on the bottom layer? I resisted the urge to mash it down… (I do a ton of baking, and anything I make like this, the bottom layer is to be pressed in to the pan)…. is it supposed to be a crust (like the bottom of lemon bars?) or a cake? Because all I got after baking it was a crumbly sand pit! The cashew cream is divine with my cherry preserves… but with the addition of sliced almonds on top of the crust, the cream layer doesn’t even hold the bottom together. I’d like to try making this again…. any suggestions?