Isn't she a beaut!? We totally enjoyed this for our New Year's Eve party-at-home, just the four of us. It's thick and rich so it lasted us a few days, fortunately. I'm blogging all this, including my own tweaks, because my son Matthew wants to have this again for his birthday in March. I used a storebought and imported jar of Finnish strawberry-rhubarb jam for the topping, and it was the perfect tartness with the richness of the cheesecake.
For the crust, I used this recipe from Gnom Gnom, and this is how I interpreted it for us.
You'll need (for an 8.5-inch/22 cm springform pan, which I oiled and lined the bottom with baking paper):
- 2 cups almond flour or meal
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- a sprinkle/pinch of sea salt
Do this:
Toast the almond flour in a dry pan on the stove for a few minutes, until it turns a bit darker and is fragrant. Put that into a food processor and whiz up with the other ingredients. (Don't whiz it too long or it will liquefy!) Press it into the bottom of the springform pan and bake at 170 C/350 F for about 8 minutes or so. Let it cool and rest while you get on with making the cake filling.
For the cheesecake (based on this recipe from A Virtual Vegan)...
You'll need:
- 2 cups raw cashews (soaked them in just-boiled water for 15 minutes and then drain)
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas (about 1 cup, drained and rinsed)
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons katakuriko (Japanese potato starch), cornstarch, or arrowroot powder
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 400 ml soy cream (thick cream for whipping)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Do this:
Preheat your oven to 320 F/160 C. Blend the filling ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor and then pour into your prepared pan with base. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until it's firm.
Cool overnight in the fridge and then top with a fruit topping if desired. Enjoy that sucker! It's so festive, and a perfect substitute for the New York cheesecake I grew up on from Andrea's Quality Cheesecake in Orlando.
