Tag: cheesecake

Lime and Ginger Cheesecake

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Cheesecakes have always been one of my favourite puddings, and that remains the case since cooking dairy and egg-free. I’ve tried many, many truly awful recipes, but this ‘no bake’ recipe works an absolute treat.

Tofutti is the only dairy-free cream cheese that I rate, but this particular recipe can use any brand of vegan cream cheese to great effect. I find most dairy-free cream cheeses unpleasant and often rather pasty, but this recipe transforms even a disappointing ‘cheesy’ spread into a luxurious, zingy, creamy cheesecake. It’s luscious, cheesy, zesty and sings with flavour. A great way to end a rich or spicy meal. The combination of ginger and lime works really well and if you didn’t mention it to them, I’m fairly certain not many people would call it as a vegan cheesecake.

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Lime and Ginger Cheesecake 

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan) N.B. contains soya

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This recipe makes 1 small cheesecake (enough for 4 small portions or 2 large)

100g ginger biscuits, crushed

1 tbsp dairy-free spread, melted

5 tbsps soya cream cheese

2-3 tbsps soya yogurt

Juice and zest of 1 lime

2-3 tbsps icing sugar

  1. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted spread. Press into the bottom of the pie tin, or into individual ramekins. Place in the fridge to set.
  2. Whisk together the other ingredients until they are smooth. Taste and add more lime juice or icing sugar according to taste.
  3. Pour onto the biscuit base, and level off the top.
  4. Leave to set in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.
  5. Remove the tin prior to serving and garnish the top with a little more zest.

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lucylox10 Comments

Baked Caramel Cheesecake (dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free)

Are you a baked or unbaked cheesecake fan? I definitely prefer unbaked one but they seem almost distinct desserts to me, more like siblings than twins. So it’s probably a good thing to have a wonderful baked cheesecake in your repertoire as well. In fact, I did some cheesecake research before devising this recipe and it seems that cheesecakes are popular throughout much of the world, with subtle variations but the baked version is more traditional.

There are many vegan recipes for baked cheesecakes but most seem to be made of soaked cashews. Clearly that’s not going to fit with my requirements of being nut-free but also I personally think people are deluding themselves with cashews. To me the resulting concoctions taste like cashew nuts funnily enough – like all nuts they have a strong pervading flavour. It seems like that’s just me as people rave about cashew-based puddings, but I have never come across a cashew product which isn’t inherently nutty. So, yep you guessed it, there are no nuts in my baked cheesecake!

This cheesecake recipe is made using tofu and in my opinion gives amazing results, the texture is completely spot on to replicate the dense, slightly cloying nature of a baked cheesecake, with the bonus prizes of a bit of wobble and squidge. I have to admit that while the results were really authentic, nobody in the family liked it as much as an unbaked cheesecake – I guess we’re just a family that prefers that fresher taste.

To add flavour to tofu which is essentially very bland, I’ve incorporated a few dollops of Lotus caramelised spread, giving a wonderful caramel taste which works so well with a fruit syrup. I’m thinking that chocolate spread or Wow Butter would work well too.

 

Baked Caramel Cheesecake

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan) N.B. contains soya

Makes an 8 inch cheesecake

15 ginger nuts or 18 Lotus biscuits

3 tbsp dairyfree margarine

300g silken tofu

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp dairyfree milk

4 tbsp lotus caramelised spread

4 tbsp icing sugar

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade
  2. Turn the biscuits into crumbs by either placing in a bag and thumping with a rolling pin or whizzing in a food processor
  3. Melt the margarine and combine with the biscuit crumbs. Press firmly into a springform cake tin and bake for 10 minutes. Cool.
  4. Mix together the cornflour and milk to make a thin paste and set aside.
  5. In a food processor, blend together the tofu cornflour paste, lotus spread and icing sugar until totally smooth.
  6. Pour on top of the biscuit base and level off. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until set with a little wobble in the middle and slightly browned around the edges.
  7. Leave to cool fully in the tin.
  8. Serve with blueberry couli or caramel sauce.

lucylox2 Comments

Dairy-free Chocolate Cheesecake

vegan chocolate cheesecake

Now, obviously you can’t make a really authentic cheesecake if you don’t eat dairy – you do need plenty of cream cheese after all! I’ve made plenty with soya cream cheese which makes a fantastic fruity cheesecake. This chocolate based recipe is pretty inspired as it’s made made using silken tofu, which was kindly supplied by Mori-Nu. It’s a particularly versatile and good quality tofu and my preferred brand of choice when either making savoury dishes such as salt and pepper tofu, or a sweet dish as found here.

The tofu base is quite a revelation, on first reading it doesn’t sound good does it? Tofu cheesecake, it sounds bland and a bit meh. But in fact the results are inspired and delicious. The texture is as smooth and creamy as a cheesecake should be and the chocolate flavour is happily soaked up by the tofu to make a wonderfully rich and decadent filling. All this from six simple ingredients, you can’t go wrong with that!

chocolate cheesecake

Dairy-free Chocolate Cheesecake

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

dairy-free, egg-free chocolate cheesecake

makes one 12 inch cheesecake, enough to serve at least 8

200g crushed biscuits, I used Lotus Caramalised Biscuits

50g dairy-free spread, melted

350g pack firm silken tofu

170g dairy-free chocolate, such as Kinnerton

4 tbsps golden syrup/maple syrup (or use honey if you’re not vegan)

1 tbsp sunflower oil

grated chocolate to decorate

  1. Melt the dairy-free spread and stir into the crushed biscuits. Press into the bottom of a loose base tart tin. Place in the fridge to set.
  2. Meanwhile, in a blender pulse the silken tofu with the syrup/honey until smooth.
  3. Melt the chocolate and oil together either over a bain-marie or in a microwave. Stir until smooth.
  4. Carefully stir the chocolate into the tofu mix until well combined.
  5. Pour over the biscuit base. Smooth over the top and then leave to set in the fridge for at least a few hours.
  6. Decorate the top as desired, I used shaved white chocolate.

egg-free, dairy-free cheesecake

Disclaimer: Mori-Nu sent me a pack of tofu which I used to create this recipe.

lucylox10 Comments

Oreo Cheesecake

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I saw a pin of an Oreo cheesecake on Pinterest and felt inspired to make my own version – there was something so appealing about the contrasting creamy white cheesecake mix sandwiched between the almost black crumb layers. Besides my girls love cheesecake over any other pudding so I always relish an opportunity to make a new variety!

Oreo Cheesecake (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

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  • 200g Bourbon biscuits (check they’re dairy-free), crushed
  • 1 tbsp dairy-free spread, melted
  • 1 tub tofutti better than cream cheese
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp vanilla or plain dairy-free yogurt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

– Place 1/3rd of the crushed biscuits in a bowl and set aside
– Add the melted spread to the remaining crushed biscuits
– Press into the bottom of a flan or cake tin
– Thoroughly beat together the cream cheese, yogurt, icing sugar and vanilla
– Spread over the biscuit base, level off neatly and place in the fridge to firm up
– Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top of the cheesecake and return to the fridge until ready to serve

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lucylox7 Comments

Strawberries and Cream Pie

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The fruity theme continues! This recipe evolved from a total experiment – I was going to make a traditional strawberry cheesecake for pudding, but wondered how it would work if the strawberries were combined with the cheesecake mix rather than as a topping.

Truth be told, this was also an attempt at being cunning! Little S isn’t the greatest berry fan, and she’s be known to scrape off any recognisable berry, so I reckoned in combining them with the cream cheese mixture she wouldn’t have the option! Good plan it was too! By adding the strawberry purée to the cream cheese mix the filling becomes more mousse like, the flavour is spot on ‘strawberries and cream’, and it looks rather elegant too!

Strawberries and Cream Pie (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

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  • 1/2 pack Bourbon biscuits, crushed
  • 1 tbsp dairy-free spread, melted
  • 1 tub tofutti cream cheese
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4-1/2 cup icing sugar, depending on taste

– Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted spread and press into the bottom of a loose leaf cake tin
– Place in the fridge to set
– Meanwhile, whizz up the strawberries in a food processor until they become a smooth purée
– Add the cream cheese, vanilla and 1/4 cup of icing sugar
– Pulse until it has formed a smooth mixture that’s well combined
– Taste and add more icing sugar if desired
– Pour over the biscuit base and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

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Cheesecake is a big favourite in our household – probably the most requested pudding/dessert, even above chocolate brownies! This version is is reminiscent of those chocolate cheesecakes you get in supermarkets and certainly will please anyone who prefers chocolate to fruity flavours. It also has the magic of being able to fool any dairy-eater into enjoying the pudding without realising they’re eating some ‘funny food’ – always a most satisfying result! 😉

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan) N.B. contains soya

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This makes 2 small or 1 medium sized cheesecake

  • 100g Lotus biscuits, crushed
  • 2 tbsp dairy-free spread (I use Pure)
  • 1 pack (225g) of dairy-free cream cheese (I prefer Tofutti)
  • 3 tbsp dairy-free yogurt
  • 4 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder

– Melt the dairy free spread and mix into the crushed biscuits.
– Tip into a springform or loose bottomed tin and firmly press down
– Place in the fridge to firm up
– In a food processor, or with a hand held whisk, beat together the cream cheese, yogurt, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
– Taste, adding more vanilla or sugar as desired
– Stir in the chocolate chips
– Pour onto the biscuit base, level off the top and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours
– Dust with cocoa powder and remove from the tin.

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lucylox18 Comments