Vegan Mini Cheesecakes always make for an impressive and delicious dessert. This is your classic cheesecake recipe made dairy free, with a rich biscuit base, cream cheese filling and sweet strawberry sauce topping.
The ingredients
Cheesecakes are the epitome of an indulgent dessert. A rich biscuit base, an even richer cream cheese filling and then a sweet sauce on top. For this vegan variety I’ve used classic British digestives for the base. They’re accidentally vegan and have a lovely malty favour.
To make the cheesecake filling I’ve used cashews, they have a subtly nutty flavour and blend up to a lovely creamy texture once soaked well. To this add vegan cream cheese, coconut oil and coconut cream. Don’t worry you won’t be able to taste any coconut in the final bake. The coconut oil cools to a solid consistency helping the cheesecake to set. Finish by spooning in fresh lemon juice for a slight tang and vanilla bean paste for a hint of toffee like flavour.
The method
The recipe is deliciously easy to follow. Cheesecakes can often look intimidating with their 3 neat layers but looks are often deceiving.
To make the biscuit base bash or blend your vegan digestives then stir in the melted dairy free butter. Press into your prepared muffin liners and quickly bake for 5 minutes. Baking allows for a crisper base which is less likely to crumble.
To make the cream cheese filling start by soaking your cashews Boil them for the full 30 minutes to ensure they are soft and malleable. This way your cheesecake filling with be smooth and creamy; no one wants a gritty cheesecake! Blitz the cashews and remaining ingredients in a food processor for a minute or two. You will be surprised how long a minute is when you have the most unnecessarily noisy blender and decide to bake at 10pm (apologies to my neighbours!).
Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit bases and chill for a minimum of 3 hours, or best yet overnight. Then remove from the fridge and place in the freezer for a further 1 hour to allow the cheesecake to completely set.
How to decorate your vegan mini cheescake
Drizzle over the strawberry sauce and decorate with fresh strawberries and if you’re feeling indulgent, vegan maltesars. They add the perfect chocolatey crunch in contrast to the creamy cheesecake filling. I use gnawbles sold by creative nature, just be warned they are highly addictive!
How long does it take to make mini cheescakes?
Give yourself an afternoon to make these little gems, as the vegan mini cheesecakes require a minimum of four hours to completely set. If you want to make these a day ahead, you can also choose to leave the cheesecakes in the fridge overnight to set.
Leave a comment and let me know how you get on making these Vegan Mini Cheesecakes I would love to see your creations over on instagram!
more vegan sweet treats
vegan chocolate orange brownie cookies
Vegan Mini Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the base
- 100 g digestives
- 50 g vegan butter melted
For the cheesecake filling
- 200 g cashews
- 175 g vegan cream cheese
- 130 g caster sugar
- 75 g full fat coconut cream from 200ml can of coconut milk * see notes
- 25 g coconut oil melted
- 1.5 tsp lemon juice
- 1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste
For the strawberry sauce
- 130 g strawberries
- 30 g caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp cornflour
- 60 g Vegan maltesars *see notes optional
Instructions
- Place 6 muffin liners in a muffin tin. Pre heat the oven to 200C / fan 180C.
- Place the cashews in a saucepan and pour over boiling water, ensuring the cashews are covered. Boil for 30 minutes.
- In a food processor, pulse the biscuits until they resemble a crumb texture. Stir in the melted vegan butter. Divide the the biscuit mixture between the muffin liners and press down firmly. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Drain the cashews and pat dry. Blitz the cashews in a food processor until well chopped. To the food processor add the the coconut cream, coconut oil, caster sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Pulse until the mixture is smooth and creamy, this should take approximately a minute or two.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit bases, until just under the rim of the muffin liners. Smooth over with a spatula and place in the fridge. Leave to chill for 3 hours or overnight. Then remove from the fridge and place in the freezer for a further 1 hour to allow the cheesecakes to completely set.
- Quarter two thirds of the strawberries, leaving the rest halved to decorate the cheesecake. Add the quartered strawberries, caster sugar and 3 tbsp of water to a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.
- Mash the strawberries with the back of a spoon. Drain the strawberries in a sieve over a bowl until the juice runs smooth.
- Stir the cornstarch into the strawberry sauce and leave in the fridge to cool.
- Remove the cheesecake from the freezer and drizzle over the strawberry sauce. Decorate with crushed and whole vegan maltesars and the remaining strawberries.
Made these for my girlfriend. Cheesecake took longer to set than the recipe stated but was worth it in the end. She said it was the best cheesecake she’s eaten!