Making a truly delicious cheesecake
Making a convincing vegan cheesecake is no mean feat. This vegan tofu & cashew cheesecake manages it with flying colours. What’s even better is that it’s pretty healthy as it contains, hemp and flax seeds which boost omega 3 levels. On top of that it has plenty of protein due to the tofu, ground almonds, peanut butter and other seeds. The texture & taste are suberb to boot.
How to save time & enjoy your treats!
As it’s quit a bit of work even if straightforward, I like to make 2 at a time, but make them fairly small. That means that you can eat one and freeze one. Alternatively you can have two different fruit flavours, like blueberry on one and mango on the other. The freeze ok, but they’re not so good as fresh – so bear that in mind.
The nitty gritty of construction
The base is made first, using whatever vegan biscuits you prefer. If you want to make it gluten free, many biscuits are made with oats and so are usually gluten free. In the UK, Dove’s Farm Oaten biscuits are particularly good and they’re organic too. Make sure you grind the flax & hemp seeds first in a mini grinder like a Cuisinart one as they won’t grind properly in a food processor. Cut the dates into fairly small pieces first as well or the same problem will occur. Break the biscuits up first too, then use the pulse setting to break it into fairly fine crumbs. Don’t overdo it so it goes to dust – but they must be well broken up.
A few other hints to mention
Adding the margarine, peanut butter and other liquids to a medium saucepan gives you the space to mix the biscuit crumbs easily. I also put a greasproof paper circle in each pan which helps protect the cake tins when you cut it up. It also insulates the mixture from coming into contact with the aluminium pans. Divide the mixture between the pans and then smooth it down with the back of a spoon. Make sure it’s an even thickness all over.
Blending and finishing your afternoon tea treats
Blending the other ingredients in the food processor is easy when you weigh them into the bowl using digital scales. Make sure to give it a really good blend so it’s silky smooth. If you use the ingredients I suggest, you will have half a pack of tofu and half a can of coconut milk left over. This can be frozen and kept for your next batch of cheesecakes.
The final finishing touch!
I suggest making a compote style fruit topping on these tofu & cashew cheesecakes. I’ve found that mango, blueberry, black cherry, summer fruits, strawberries, and blackberries all work well. I’m not so keen on raspberries, as they have a lot of very hard pips in them. I generally cook it more than a standard compote and maybe even give it a light quick mash! If I’m honest – my favourites are mango, black cherry & blueberry!
Tofu & Cashew Cheesecake
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- grind the hemp, flax or dessicated coconut if using in an electric spice grinder or pestle and mortar first or they will stay whole which doesn't work. If you don't have a grinder, just substitute more biscuits. I add the flax etc to bump up the nutrition/omega 3s, but they're not essential in any way.
- chop the dates up - each date into roughly 8 to 10 smaller pieces or they stick to the food processor blades and don't get chopped properly.
- Add the biscuits, dates, ground seeds etc into a food processor
- pulse blend to turn them into fine crumbs.
- heat coconut oil, margarine and peanut butter in the pan enough to melt together and mix - don't overdo it - you just want to melt it.
- add biscuit, date and seed mixture mixing well
- Line the base with greaseproof paper and grease sides and paper.
- then divide into the two cake tin bases (roughly 230g of mixture per base)
- spread the mixture evenly over the base a fork or spoon with a chopping action works well.
- Pat first, then smooth it flat with the back of a serving or dessert spoon.
- Cook for 10 minutes in fan oven at 180°C (200c in normal oven) – until golden brown –
- allow to cool a little before adding filling.
- Add Tofu and cashews to a food processor and thoroughly blend the cashew with the yogurt until completely smooth – it will take several minutes.
- Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and blend until you have a fairly runny liquid.
- Pour equal amount into the two tins. Leaving it to settle for a bit, so the bubbles rise to the surface will help with consistency but is optional.
- Place carefully in the oven and bake at 165°C on fan oven for 50 mins
- Remove and allow to cool.
- Shortly after removing from oven carefully break the seal from around the edge with a knife – this helps prevent splits opening up in the centre of the cheesecake - allow to cool before adding the toppings. The custard powder is important to stop the spliting too.
- Add topping ingredients to a small pan.
- Bring the mixture to a slow boil and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until syrupy.
- spoon the slighly cooled mixture onto one of the cheesecakes
- Spread evenly over top of cheesecake - works best with a fork I find.
- The quantities of topping are enough for one cheesecake, so double if you want to do them both with the same fruit topping.
- It's essential for it to chill in the fridge overnight to achieve the best consistency - slightly firm, but smooth and rich. If eaten immediately there isn't the contrast between the layers.
Nutrition
Notes
- This recipe makes 2 complete cheesecakes. It's no more effort to make 2 than to make one, and in fact the processor works better with larger quantities. As they freeze well, you can make two, freeze one for later. If you only want to make one, just half the quantities.
- After a lot of experimentation, I think the flax seed/hemp seed/ground almonds with the oat biscuits is the healthiest AND tastiest combination for the bases. It's gives a wonderfully nutritious, low sugar base that is tantalisingly nutty.
- It's very important to allow the cheesecakes to cool off and firm up after baking before eating. I think at least 5 or 6 hours - though I haven't run any specific tests. I do know if you eat them immediately after simply cooling they don't have the right texture they are still too squidgy. That cooling fridge time is essential to get the right texture.
- Don't keep them too long as if you do, the base becomes soggy - I would say 5 days is about the longest.
5 responses
It was a delicious cheesecake. Nice and light.
Just tried a slice of Phil’s vegan berry cheesecake. Very fruity, tasty and healthy!
Just tried the cheesecake, so refreshing and tasty. Delicate and smooth with sophisticated ingredients. Yet didn’t feel bloated or heavy in stomach as it’s vegan….no guilty feeling after ate two pieces too 😁
Excellent recipe, will forward to my local vegan cafe so they can make it as well!
Oh, that’s so kind of you.I do appreciate it. as a note, the way I created the recipe was looking around at all the cheesecake recipes, (and there are a lot) i took what I considered the best points of each and then experimented on the ratios to come up with what I think
Is close to the best combination achievable. so in one sense, I stood on the shoulders (of giants) of other recipe, writers!