Vegan Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake
This post may contains affiliate links. Read my disclaimer policy here.
I feel like a slight cheat calling this a cheesecake as there is zero cheese in this recipe.
Even though you could adapt a traditional cheesecake recipe and use vegan cheese, I wanted to try something completely different and use an ingredient that has become very handy in many of my vegan dinners.
Cashew nuts.
Cashews are a must in any vegans cupboard. They're literally a saviour when it comes to making recipes like my buttered “chicken” curry, and very many pasta dishes. Soaked and then blended they create such a creamy mixture, and a perfect alternative to cream. The recipes I share on my blog are all sweet bakes as I feel I can be most creative in that field but are you interested in savoury dishes? I definitely won’t shy away from making bread. My absolute favourite.
But a new favourite of mine is my cheese(less)cake. An important and the very first stage is soaking the cashew nuts overnight. This makes them super soft and easier to blend. You’ll get less grainy pieces and a much smoother consistency. I loved playing the “guess what this is made from” game with anyone who has tried my cheesecake as the cashew taste is not apparent. It's the combinations of cashews, yoghurt, and maple syrup which gives it its rich and creamy taste.
Another fundamental element to this cheesecake is the caramel, and obviously, my cheese-less cheesecake would have a caramel-less caramel. I did attempt to make the traditional caramel but I ended up getting a spoon stuck in the caramel which was stuck in a bowl, and burnt the roof of my mouth, so I moved on very, very quickly. (For those who are wondering, the spoon, the bowl, and the roof of my mouth survived this very dramatic ordeal). For an easier version, and I would personally say much tastier caramel, I have used Medjool dates. Make sure they're Medjool, as they create the most creamy of caramels. Did you know I have my very own dates; google 'Aycan dates'. I have swirled the caramel throughout the cheesecake, and when you take a bite with the dates inside, it's just added a new sweet and rich texture.
I would recommend saving any date caramel you may have left for the very last day of blogmas. It's included in a recipe you don't want to miss.
So, is there anything about this cheesecake that has kept to its traditional roots? The base?
I do love a good cheesecake base. One that is nice and crumbly, which coincides with the velvety cheesecake. It's a very simple biscuit and butter combo, and you, of course, can use any biscuit you like. Biscoff if you want to help enhance the richness of the flavours or simple Digestive like I have used. I did add some cocoa powder to the base for that slight bitterness, plus it is a chocolate and caramel cheesecake after all. A layer of melted chocolate covers the top of the cheesecake, plus even more chocolate with some chocolate curls. These are really easy to do, make sure your chocolate is cold, and using a potato peeler, run it down the edge of the chocolate. To serve, I added a healthy dollop of vegan cream, and sprinkles.
If you're looking for a dessert that is packed with delicious flavours and textures, you need to try this cheesecake. Serve it on Christmas day, or as a pre-Christmas treat.
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE
This recipe makes 12 slices of cheesecake!- 300g biscuit, blended to a fine crumb
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 110g / 1/2 cup dairy-free butter, melted CARAMEL
- 200g Medjool dates
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 83ml / 1/3 cup non-dairy milk CHEESECAKE
- 200g / 1 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
- 200g plain non-dairy yoghurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
- 80ml / 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk
- Date caramel
- 100g dairy-free chocolate
INGREDIENTS
BASE- Overnight, soak the cashew nuts in water.
- To prepare your base, in a bowl, mix together the biscuit crumbs, melted butter and cocoa powder. Pour into a lined 9inch loose base tin and press down around the bottom, and slightly up the sides. Make sure it's all packed in tightly. Leave in the fridge to set.
- To make your date caramel, remove the stones from the dates and in a high-speed blender, blend together all the caramel ingredients. You may want to add a little more milk for a smoother consistency. Leave to one side.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C(fan) / 350°F / gas mark 4.
- To make your cheesecake, in a high-speed food blender, add the soaked cashews (make sure you drain them first), and blend until it has all broken down and starts looking creamy. Add in the rest of the cheesecake ingredients, and only 1 tbsp of caramel.
- Once it all looks creamy, have a taste as you may want to add a little more of the ingredients to suit your taste buds. Once you're happy, take the pan out from the fridge and pour some of the cheesecake mixture into the pan, swirl in some caramel and continue to build up layers of the caramel and cheesecake.
- Place into a pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes. Unlike a cake, you can't test with a knife, but you'll know it's done as it should still move slightly but not look like it's still liquid. Leave to cool at room temperature before pouring over the melted chocolate. Once set, remove from the tin and serve.
INSTRUCTIONS
Let me know in the comments below if you're a fan of cheesecake, and have you ever tried a cheeseless cheesecake? I can't believe we are half way through blogmas, how fast time has gone! Take a look at my advent calendar to catch up on all the posts so far.
LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW
and let me know your thoughts on this post!