Classic Vegan Cheesecake with Sweet Strawberry Sauce

There’s no need to look any further. Your essential, show-stopping dessert recipe is here. Whether you’re looking to impress party guests or that special someone, this classic vegan cheesecake with fresh strawberry sauce delivers. It’s just one of the incredible yet nutritious recipes from Tess Masters’ latest book, The Perfect Blend: 100 Blender Recipes to Energize and Revitalize.

For your healthy eating pleasure, The Perfect Blend packs in 100 recipes, all dairy-free, gluten-free, plant-based, and vegan. You can read more about the book’s unique style here, and for a taste of the deliciousness within, enjoy these sample recipes:

• Kale Caesar
• Punched Up Potato Leek Soup
• Thai Slaw
• Gentle Lentils with Basil is the Bomb Sauce
• Avocado Avenger
• French Toast with Caramelized Bananas

And finally, the classic vegan cheesecake recipe below, which is actually two recipes in one. Tess also shared her Sweet Strawberry Sauce recipe as a topping option, and has this to say about it:

This quick, easy sauce is like a little black dress. It complements almost any dessert without upstaging it, fits into any menu, and never goes out of style. Best of all, it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. Enjoy it over ice cream, cakes, or pies. Try it drizzled over the Classic Vegan Cheesecake . Depending on the quality of your berries and your preference, tweak the lemon juice to taste. With well-ripened fruit, I reduce the dates to a third of a cup. But a half cup typically hits the sweet spot. For a sensational sauce, boost with the Grand Marnier, ginger, and vanilla.

Special Diet Notes: Classic Vegan Cheesecake

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, and paleo.

4.8 from 4 reviews

Classic Vegan Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberry Sauce

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Blend, freeze, slice, and scarf. That’s how easy this cake is! Once you have your cashews soaked (essential for a righteously creamy consistency), this decadent dessert takes less than 15 minutes to put together. It looks and tastes just like dairy-drenched cheesecake, but my family and friends tell me they crave this more than the conventional kind. Add the lemon and poppy seeds for an awesome twist and a drizzle of strawberry sauce to up the indulgence.

Author: Tess Masters

Serves: 10 slices + 2 cups (480 mL; 16 servings) sauce

Ingredients

Raw Crust

• 1 cup (160g) raw whole almonds
• 1 cup (170g) firmly packed chopped pitted dates, plus more as needed

Classic Vegan Cheesecake Filling

• ¾ cup (180ml) coconut oil (in liquid form)
• ½ cup (120ml) full-fat canned coconut milk (shake, then pour)
• ½ cup (120ml) fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup (120ml) pure maple syrup
• 3 cups (420g) raw unsalted cashews, soaked
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
• Pinch of natural salt
• Coconut Cream, to serve (optional)
• Optional boosters: 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus more to taste and garnish and/or 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Sweet Strawberry Sauce

• ¼ cup (60ml) raw coconut water or filtered water
• ½ cup (85g) firmly packed pitted dates, soaked
• 2 cups (300g) hulled and halved fresh strawberries
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
• Pinch of natural salt
• Optional boosters: 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier, 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, plus more to taste, or ¼ teaspoon natural vanilla extract

Instructions

1. To make the crust, grease a 9- or 10-inch (23 or 25cm) springform pan with coconut oil.
2. Process the almonds and dates in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and clumps together.
3. Form the mixture into a ball; if it doesn’t hold together, you may need
4. to add a bit more chopped date and process again.
5. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.
6. To make the filling, throw all of the ingredients into your blender in the order listed, including the lemon zest booster, and blend for about 1 minute, until rich and creamy. To achieve the smoothest filling, stop the machine periodically and scrape down the sides of the container.
7. Add the poppy seed booster once the filling is completely blended, and then blast for just a few seconds to combine.
8. Pour the filling into the crust.
9. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and freeze the cheesecake for 6 to 8 hours, until solidified.
10. To serve, transfer the pan from the freezer to the fridge and defrost for about 30 minutes.
11. Gently release and remove the sides of the springform pan, and then cut the cheesecake into 10 even slices with a very sharp knife.
12. Keeping the slices together on the springform pan bottom, return the cheesecake to the fridge to continue defrosting for another 30 minutes before serving.
13. Serve the slices plain or drizzle each one with 2 tablespoons of the Sweet Strawberry Sauce and top with a dollop of the Coconut Cream. Pass the remaining strawberry sauce and coconut cream at the table.
14. For the strawberry sauce, throw everything into your blender, including any of the boosters, and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth.
15. Tweak the dates, lemon juice, and ginger to taste. This sauce will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.

Notes

Because of the coconut oil, this filling will melt if left out at room temperature.
Also, the Prep time does not include soaking and chilling times. This dessert is best prepared a day ahead.

Reprinted with permission from The Perfect Blend, copyright 2016 Tess Masters. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Photography copyright 2016 by Anson Smart

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