Hi baking friends!
This is the best vegan blueberry cheesecake you’ll ever try! Packed with fresh blueberries and decorated to the high Heavens, this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for the Summer! The recipe requires no baking and can be whipped up in a couple hours. Make sure to find some fresh, edible flowers to make this simple cheesecake into a showstopper! The zingy, tart blueberry jelly is an absolute must-have on top of that creamy, purple cheesecake filling.
The salty, crunchy base is the final element of this showstopper and rounds out the flavour to make a perfect mouthful. My usual test subjects said this was the best dessert to date! So hopefully you will enjoy it as much as they did.
If blueberries aren’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!
It’s also a personal preference but I like to finish off all my cheesecakes with a jelly layer. Since we don’t use gelatin, the vegan substitute for the setting agent is agar agar powder. If you’re not familiar, agar is a naturally gelatinous powder derived from marine red algae. It mimics a lot of the qualities of gelatin but it has a unique texture- slightly more crumbly and more of a bite than gelatin. It’s a super popular ingredient in Asian desserts such as jelly cakes so you’ll often find it for cheap in your local Asian supermarket! If you can’t find agar agar powder then here is the conversion for other forms it comes in:
1 tsp of powdered agar = 1 tbsp agar flakes = 1/3 cup agar strings =will set 350ml (1 1/3 cup of liquid) into a firm jelly.
Use slightly less agar for a softer jelly but too little and the jelly will fall apart.
For this recipe you’ll need a LOT of blueberries! 400g for the jelly and filling, and you should always have some spare for decoration. I use a mix of fresh and frozen. Frozen blueberries pack a lot more juice and zing and then fresh bluberries taste, well, … fresh!!
One last note, I use the Elmlea plant-based double cream for 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!
- I buy my agar wholesale online because I use it so often but it’s also sold in Waitrose (or plenty of Asian supermarkets).
- 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 Blueberry Cheesecake (No bake)
This no-bake, vegan blueberry cheesecake is about to blow your mind. There's nothing quite like a deliciously fresh and tart blueberry jelly on top of that cream purple cheesecake filling. All balanced perfectly with a crunchy but buttery biscuit base.
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 200g vegan Digestive biscuits
- 80g melted, vegan butter
- Filling:
- 400g vegan cream cheese (2 x packs)
- 250g cashews
- 200g coconut whipping cream
- 150g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 30ml lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 120g icing sugar
- pinch of salt
- Jelly layer:
- 250g blueberries
- 30ml water
- 30ml lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 50g sugar
- 3/4 tsp agar agar powder
Directions
- Step 1 Crust: Pulse the biscuits in a food processor 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: Bring half a saucepan of water to a boil and boil the 250g 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 4 Add the vegan cream cheese to the food processor with the blueberries, icing sugar, lemon juice and salt then blitz again until smooth. It will be very thick so you may have to scrape down the sides to get it to blend completely smooth.
- Step 5 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 6 Jelly Layer: Add the blueberries, water and lemon juice to a food processor and pulse until it is completely smooth. Pour the purée through a sieve into a bowl on a set of scales. You will need 200g of blueberry purée. Discard any excess then add the 200g of purée to a pot on the stove.
- Step 7 Mix the agar powder with the sugar until completely incorporated and then add this to the purée in the pot. Turn on a medium heat and bring up to a simmer, stirring continuously.
- Step 8 Allow the jelly to simmer for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the heat. Wait a further 10 minutes for the jelly to cool slightly, stirring occasionally.
- Step 9 To check if the jelly is going to set, pour a small amount of jelly into a bowl and place it in the freezer. If it doesn’t firm up within 5 minutes then reheat the jelly with some more agar and repeat the process. If it has set too firm, almost rubbery, then you can add 50ml of water into the jelly and whisk it vigorously until smooth. This will loosen the setting power of the agar.
- Step 10 Once it has cooled slightly, pour it on top of the chilled cheesecake filling.
- Step 11 Cover again and refrigerate for an hour before serving!
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender