Perfect no-bake vegan cheesecake
Perfect no-bake vegan cheesecake
Another weekend, another dessert 🙂 I don’t know why but whenever I plan my weekend recipe I more often than not seem to land on a dessert! It’s probably because my mom used to bake at the weekends and therefore I have come to associate weekends with sweet treats, although I hardly need an excuse…
This weekend’s treat is a no-bake vegan cheesecake topped with a mountain of fresh, seasonal berries with a subtle hint of white chocolate and ginger. I’m really excited to be able to share this recipe with you – it’s so deliciously decadent and creamy yet really simple to make – it requires no cooking or baking skills at all.
I have seen a lot of vegan cheesecake recipes using vegan cream cheese and while I’m sure the results can be delicious, that’s not something I am terribly keen on myself. Firstly, because I like to know what’s in my food and those vegan cream cheese products tend to be rather processed. Secondly, because what’s on offer here, in the UK, is likely to differ from what is available in other countries and that makes the recipe a little harder to reliably reproduce. There is much less risk of that happening when you use wholefood ingredients like I did in this recipe: silken tofu, cashews and cacao butter.
The base is a standard crushed biscuit base made vegan. I used ginger snaps and bound them together with some melted coconut oil, but any dry vegan biscuits and vegan butter will work just as well. If you would rather have a wholefood crust, this kind of base will be just as delicious.
The filling is what it’s all about. I made it by honing just the right portions of silken tofu, creamy cashews and cacao butter, which yields a surprisingly creamy and indulgent result. Cacao butter, which you can order online or get in a health store, is key in firming this cheesecake up but it also gives it a gorgeous white chocolate flavour that works so well against tangy berries and spicy ginger.
I’m pretty sure you could use plant butter, coconut oil or white vegan chocolate instead but in the two last cases the amount of the ingredient will need to be increased or else the cheesecake will fail to set. I do encourage you to get your hands on cacao butter though if you can, not only is it invaluable at making delicious vegan desserts (like this summer sponge or my white chocolate ganache tarts), you can make your own chocolate with it too.
The filling is so simple to make yet so divine and utterly irresistible. When I was testing this recipe Duncan and I were like ‘we will be good and just have a little taste and bin the rest’ (cos being a recipe developer can wreck your good eating habits). No chance – once the sweet creamy mixture hits your palate there is no going back. We ended up fighting for leftovers 🙂 I hope you’ll make it and enjoy it just as much.
CHEESECAKE BASE
- 100 g / 3½ oz (8 tbsp) coconut oil or vegan butter
- 250 g / 8¾ oz vegan ginger biscuits (GF if needed)
CHEESECAKE MIXTURE
- 90 g / 3¼ oz raw cacao butter*
- 350 g / 12¼ oz silken tofu
- 160 ml / 2/3 cup maple syrup*
- 260 g / 2 cups raw cashews, soaked*
- 10 ml / 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp lemon juice + zest 1 lemon
- 5 ml / 1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
- 15 g / 3-4 tsp freshly grated ginger*, adjust to taste (optional)
TOPPING
- fresh berries (I used raspberries and strawberries)
- Prep: line the bottom of your springform tin with a circle of baking paper and cut out a long rectangle to line the sides of the tin with. Affix the long strip of paper to the sides of your springform tin.
CHEESECAKE BASE
- Melt the coconut oil / vegan butter.
- Grind your biscuits in a food processor until you get a delicate crumb.
- Add the melted oil / butter and process until the mixture resembles wet sand. You should not need any more moisture but if you do, add a small amount of plant milk.
- Transfer the mixture to the lined tin and press it into the base really well, creating a compact biscuit base. I used the bottom of a glass to ensure the base is smooth, even and well bound. Place in the fridge while you make the cheesecake mixture.
CHEESECAKE MIXTURE
- Melt the cacao butter gently (do not let it overheat), over a water bath. Allow it to cool down a little while making the rest of the mixture.
- Put (drained) silken tofu, maple syrup, drained cashews, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon extract (if using) in a blender. Process until silky smooth. If, like me, you don’t have a very powerful blender, you may need to split the mixture into two batches to be able to get the cashews blended super smooth and creamy.
- Finally add melted (cooled, not hot) cacao butter and blend until well combined with the rest of the mixture.
- Season with ginger to taste (if using) blending more to incorporate the ginger well into the mixture.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture over the set base and place the tin in the fridge (for at least 4 hrs) to set.
- Once set (the top will be firm to the touch), top with fresh fruit. Keep refrigerated.
*MAPLE SYRUP: You could use other liquid sweetener (like agave syrup) or icing sugar to sweeten and plant milk (135 ml / ½ cup + 1 tbsp) to get the right consistency.
*CASHEWS: Soak them overnight or in boiling water for a minimum of 45 minutes.
*GINGER: Instead of freshly grated ginger, I also like using 5-6 stem ginger balls (about 100 g / 3½ oz) instead. You could also use stem ginger syrup (instead of maple syrup) to sweeten but if doing so make sure you taste the mixture before adding ginger balls or else the ginger flavour may end up too strong.
Cacao butter is quite crucial, not only does it impart white chocolate flavour, but it is also what gives this cheesecake firm texture. You may be able to use coconut oil but I am unsure as to the exact quantity. It is less firm that cacao butter so my guess is about 120 g should be enough to give the cheesecake the firmness it needs but you would need to try. Perhaps make a quarter of the recipe first and if you are happy, scale up to the full cheesecake. Hope this helps. Ania
Well, my previous answer still stands. In fact lemon extract would be helpful in adding lemon flavour without too much liquid, but either way I think you may run into issues with consistency like I mentioned before. Ania
You could but the problem is that it will impact this cheesecake's texture and it will dilute the strength of cacao butter, which is what helps it set. You could combat this by increasing the amount of cacao butter though. Hope this helps! x Ania
is it possible to freeze these and thaw in the fridge when ready to serve? want to make them ahead of time for Christmas this year.
I haven't tried but I don't see why it wouldn't be okay to do that. Hope you'll enjoy it. x Ania
THX so much🙏🙏🙏
I haven't but cheesecake (whether vegan or not) relies on fat for its texture and tofu has almost no fat so it won't give you the same consistency or mouthfeel. You could substitute half of the cashews with hulled sunflower seeds though (they also need soaking first). I would be careful about substituting all of the cashews with them though as their flavour is a little less neutral. Hope this works well for you. Ania
I haven't tried using cotton tofu as it's not typically used for desserts. I am pretty confident that if you press the water out if it first, it should work fine but I don't want to say definitely as I haven't used it in this context. How about making half (or even one quarter) of the recipe as a test first? Ania
Thanks.
I assumed 16 portions as it's rather rich. I will add a note, thanks for letting me know. x Ania
I'm so sorry that it wasn't quite what you expected. When you say it felt like 'tiramisu', do you mean that it wasn't quite dense enough? I found it quite rich and dense myself (and therefore I did not find the need to use any setting agent, cocoa butter is used for that reason) but I did find that cocoa butter can be different depending where you get it. I once used a different brand as my regular supply ran out and the cheesecake set, but it was more like soft serve cheesecake ;) so I reckon that this is perhaps where the issue lies. The one I usually use is very hard and opaque and the one I had to buy in an emergency, although also solid, was not quite opaque enough, it was a little translucent and a bit softer to cut too. I will add a note under the recipe. x Ania
But I don't think it was the cocoa butter. Mine is really hard and opaque too, I think. Could it have been the tofu, I wonder. I let it drain really well though.
Or maybe it's just not my taste? When it comes to no-bake cheesecake I'm used to (and really like) the consistency you get with gelatine. I guess that is not what I should expect when using cocoa butter?
BUT! Serendipitously I found a solution. Last weekend I froze half of the cake because it was too much. Yesterday I took out a piece and left it at room temperature for one hour before eating it. The consistency was perfect for me that way! :)
I want to try for a bulk catering order so have to keep the price reasonable. Pure Maple syrup is very expensive in India.
Pls help 🙏🏻
That should be fine, I would use about 150 g (3/4 cup) but you can just add a little less to begin with, blend and taste and add more if needed. I would melt the sugar in a bit of water first to make sure the finished product is smooth, not too much water, just a splash. Hope you'll enjoy the end result. Ania
I have not tested this recipe without using cacao butter so while coconut oil or vegan white chocolate would work too, I am not sure as to the quantities exactly. Probably about 100 g vegan white chocolate will work just as well but you may need to reduce added sweetness in that case. In the case of coconut oil, you'll probably need closer to 150 g as it's not as solid as cacao butter. Hope this helps! Ania
No, there it is no mistake. Raw cacao butter, which is one of the key ingredients in making chocolate, imparts white chocolate flavour. Ania
Enjoyed this one immensely. Now to negotiate over the remaining portions :)