Hi baking friends!
This is the best vegan matcha cheesecake you’ll ever try! Packed with delicious green tea matcha powder and balanced perfectly with decadent white chocolate, this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. The recipe requires no baking and can be whipped up in a couple hours. Make sure to use good quality matcha powder to really celebrate the amazing flavour of matcha!
The salty, crunchy base is the final element of this showstopper and rounds out the flavour to make a perfect mouthful.
If matcha isn’t your cup of tea then not to fret – check out my other cheesecake recipes here! Or click on any of the photos below!
Vegan cheesecakes are an interesting topic because there is currently no exact vegan “cream cheese” alternative that seamlessly matches that taste of a dairy cheesecake so you need to get creative! Ideally we want to perfectly match both the texture and flavour!
Most popular ingredients for vegan cheesecakes are:
- creamed (white) nuts such as cashew or macademia;
- vegan “cream cheeses” that usually have a coconut or tofu base but are fortified with stabilisers and lactic acid, the latter of which gives that classic tangy taste;
- coconut cream (taken from the top of a chilled can of coconut milk);
- silken tofu
I experimented with all of the above and I settled on using the first three. The signature formula of a cheesecake is the fat content which makes the dessert thick and sometimes crumbly. To achieve that I had to use the fat and texture of cashews and the fat % from coconut cream. The vegan “cream cheese” is also an absolute must because it contains lactic acid. You could skip the vegan cream cheese and just use more cashews and a teaspoon of lactic acid but who really has that lying about in their kitchen?
Silken tofu was a lovely addition to the texture but I got some feedback that it was far too light for a classic cheesecake. In a previous attempt I added some agar powder to the the filling and it produced a very panna cotta-like dessert. A few of my recipe-testers actually found this result quite appealing with one person commenting “it’s like a Summery, lighter version of the classic and you can eat more without feeling sick”.
Ultimately, I had to agree that it was quite far away from a classic cheesecake but if you’re looking for something lighter then here’s my ingredient swap for you: – substitute the 300g cashews for 300g silken tofu! If you want a really strong white chocolate flavour then swap out some of the coconut cream for more white chocolate.
If you want the hue of the cheesecake a little less green then feel free to use less matcha powder. I liked this amount because it allowed the flavour to shine through but if you want less then take out 1 or 2 tsps!
One last note, I use the Elmlea plant-based double cream for decoration in my photos. I have previously used squirty cream but unfortunately it doesn’t last very long so I wouldn’t recommend it. This plant-based double cream is absolutely delicious and whips up in a few minutes.
If you’re in the UK, here’s a list of exact products I used for this recipe:
- For the coconut cream, buy these cans of coconut whipping cream. If you don’t have access to cans of coconut whipping cream then chill some cans of coconut milk in the fridge overnight and then scoop out the cream from the top of the can!
- McVitie’s Rich Tea biscuits for the base (if you’re gluten-free you can buy these gluten-free biscuits).
- My go-to vegan block butter is the one from Naturli.
- For the vegan cream cheese, I used 2 x packs of the Violife cream cheese original.
For this recipe you’ll need:
- 8-inch springform cake tin (ideally a push-through cake tin to get smooth edges)
- food processor/blender
Vegan Matcha Cheesecake
This no-bake vegan matcha and white chocolate cheesecake is about to blow your mind. There's nothing that can compete with this deliciously creamy but earthy cheesecake filling balanced perfectly with the sweetness of white chocolate and the buttery biscuit base.
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 160g vegan biscuits
- 70g melted, vegan butter
- pinch of salt
- Filling:
- 400g vegan cream cheese (2 x packs)
- 250g cashews
- 200g white chocolate, melted
- 150g coconut cream
- 120g caster sugar
- 8g (4 tsp) matcha powder
- pinch of salt
- White chocolate layer:
- 100g white chocolate
- 70g coconut cream
Directions
- Step 1 Crust: Pulse the biscuits in a food processor with the salt until they are completely crushed. Add the melted butter and process until well combined.
- Step 2 Place a circular disk of parchment in the bottom of the cake tin to help get the cheesecake out later. Place the crumbs into the cake tin and spread evenly. Use a cup and baking parchment to flatten it down. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Step 3 Cheesecake filling:
- Step 4 Bring half a saucepan of water to a boil and boil the cashews for 30 minutes to soften them (you can also soak them in hot water overnight). Discard the soaking water, dry off the cashews and place them into the food processor with the coconut cream. Blitz until smooth.
- Step 5 Add the vegan cream cheese to the food processor with the matcha powder, sugar and salt then blitz again until smooth.
- Step 6 Finally, melt the white chocolate in the microwave using 30-second bursts or by using a bain-marie method. Pour the melted chocolate into the food processor and pulse until completely combined.
- Step 7 It will be very thick so you may have to scrape down the sides to get it to blend completely smooth.
- Step 8 Pour this filling into the cake tin in on top of the frozen crust and leave it in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.
- Step 9 Ganache Layer: Chop up the white chocolate and set aside in a small bowl. Add the coconut cream to a pot on the stove and heat it up. Once it starts to steam, pour the coconut cream over the white chocolate to melt it. Wait 2 minutes and then whisk it together to make it smooth.
- Step 10 Pour this ganache over the chilled cheesecake, working quickly as the chocolate will set within 15-30 seconds.
- Step 11 Cover again and refrigerate for an hour before serving!
