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.
- 1 cup (160g) raw whole almonds
- 1 cup (170g) firmly packed chopped pitted dates, plus more as needed
- 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
- 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
- To make the crust, grease a 9- or 10-inch (23 or 25cm) springform pan with coconut oil.
- Process the almonds and dates in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and clumps together.
- Form the mixture into a ball; if it doesn’t hold together, you may need
- to add a bit more chopped date and process again.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.
- 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.
- Add the poppy seed booster once the filling is completely blended, and then blast for just a few seconds to combine.
- Pour the filling into the crust.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and freeze the cheesecake for 6 to 8 hours, until solidified.
- To serve, transfer the pan from the freezer to the fridge and defrost for about 30 minutes.
- Gently release and remove the sides of the springform pan, and then cut the cheesecake into 10 even slices with a very sharp knife.
- Keeping the slices together on the springform pan bottom, return the cheesecake to the fridge to continue defrosting for another 30 minutes before serving.
- 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.
- 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.
- Tweak the dates, lemon juice, and ginger to taste. This sauce will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.
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

22 Comments
This tastes really good! Thanks for the recipe!
This by far the best vegan cheese cake I taste ever!!! And trust me I have taste many!!! So easy to make. For the crust I used macadamia nuts instead of almonds and oh my word it was decadent!! Keep up the awesome work your doing. Thank You!!
Marvelous! So happy you enjoyed it Janet.
Did you use medjool dates or deglet noor?
Thanks!
Also, if I have a crust mix, could I use that instead of making one homemade?
Sure! Just follow the directions on your package and proceed with making the filling and sauce.
This turned out really well! It took longer to defrost than an hour, so we kept it in the fridge after that. Definitely the best vegan cheesecake I’ve had.
I would use medjool dates.
When you say coconut oil in liquid form do you mean to buy the liquid in the bottle or melt solidified coconut oil before adding?
Just regular coconut oil. It has a melting point of 76 degrees, so it might be liquid, melty, or solid, depending on the room temperature. There are some new-ish cooking coconut oils that have undergone some type of process to remain liquid at slightly lower temperatures – I would avoid these (this isn’t something I’ve ever seen in store though – most are just coconut oil).
Make sure your freezer accommodates your springform pan… I didn’t check ahead and after making the cheesecake it does not fit- doh!!! Hopefully I can leave it in the fridge a little longer and it will be ok? Wish me luck ? happy valentine’s day ???
I think that will work!
Love a delicious vegan cheesecake and it’s one of the vegan desserts I make that gets requested by everyone over and over. Even people that can/do eat everything and can have a “traditional” cheesecake love it which makes me smile. Can’t say I remember the last time I made a plain classic one with berry sauce but I want to soon because this looks so good!
Does this have a very strong coconut flavour?
No, not at all. I make a very similar one regularly for parties and several people have commented that they couldn’t tell the difference!
What do you soak the cashews in? Water, coconut?
Water, then drain before using.
HOW long should I soak the cashews?
I usually soak them for 4 to 6 hours.
If you don’t have 4-6 hours to wait for soaking cashews you can put them in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water on them let that sit for about 10 minutes drain and carry on ?
Great tip – thanks!
Oh my gosh, this looks and sounds phenomenal! I love Tess’s recipes!!