Vegan blueberry & macadamia cheesecake recipe
If you're yet to enter the magical world of vegan desserts, this macadamia cheesecake is a sensational place to start. It’s so very rich and surprisingly healthy. Macadamias can be substituted for cashews and depending on the season, any berry can be used for this recipe. Blackberries have a bitter edge that works well with the sweet creaminess of the cheesecake, but blueberries are delicious too.
Tip: You will need a loose-bottomed cake tin for this recipe. You can use a normal pie/quiche dish – it just makes it harder to extract the cake. Try lining your tins with a snug layer of clingfilm.
Ingredients
For the crust- 300 g raw macadamia nuts
- 1 handful pumpkin seeds
- 90 g dates (soaked for 1 hour, then pitted)
- 20 g freshly grated coconut (desiccated is fine)
- 360 g raw cashews or macadamias (soaked for at least 3 hours)
- 120 ml lemon juice
- 120 ml brown rice syrup (or other sweetener of your choice)
- 180 ml coconut oil
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 ml water
- 400 g blueberries
- 45 g dates (soaked for 1 hour), pitted
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Cheesecake
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 0 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- To make the crust, put the macadamias, pumpkin seeds and dates into a food processor and pulse together until a rough crumble is formed. Add more dates if it’s a little dry or more nuts if it’s wet. The mixture should be able to be rolled into balls and not be overly sticky.
- Scatter a layer of coconut on the base of a loose-bottomed cake tin.
- Using your hands, press the macadamia crust on to the coconut covering the base. Press the edges down with your fingers, forming an even layer.
- To make the filling, blitz all the ingredients in a cleaned food processor until you have a smooth cream-like texture. You may need a few goes to get it all incorporated, scraping the sides down with a spatula.
- Scrape out your filling mixture into the cake tin or pie dish, bang it gently a few times on a work surface (to get rid of air bubbles) and smooth the filling down using a spatula.
- Place in the freezer for around three hours or until frozen. For best results, eat on the day of freezing, or soon after.
- Remove from the tin or dish using a thin cake slice around the edge and gently pushing the base out. Take it easy and slowly. Pop it into the fridge and allow it to defrost – a couple of hours will do.
- Place the blueberries and dates into your food processor and blitz well. Add a little water to thin the sauce out if needed. Pour over the cheesecake before serving, and if there is any excess sauce, serve it in a bowl as a berry bonus.
This recipe is from Peace & Parsnips: Vegan Cooking for Everyone by Lee Watson, published by Michael Joseph, £20. Photography by Alistair Richardson.
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