This dish honors the fifth anniversary of my vegan column, and you can slap me with a (rubber) chicken if you don’t believe it’s among the best I’ve ever written. And I could not have written it without the assistance of others, such as the devoted minds and hands laboring to create a new world of plant-based foods, such as vegan dairy, which is now superior to ever before.
This cake is also improved for one reader, chef Matthew Sogorski, who saw that I was having trouble getting certain ingredients to behave and stepped in to help. As a result, this is not just a vegan cheesecake; it’s a celebration of how far we’ve come in the previous five years, as well as a sweet bite of optimism for how far we might go in the future.
Baked vanilla cheesecake
Vegan cheeses are not all made equal. It is essential to utilize a product that contains both coconut and soy. I recommend Bute Island’s Cheese or store brands from Tesco or Sainsbury’s. A 20cm springform cake pan and a food processor are required.
Prep 5 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Chill 5 hr+
Makes 1 x 20cm cake, to serve 8
100g shelled walnuts
100g shelled pistachios
30g unsalted vegan butter, melted
2 tbsp agave or brown rice syrup
⅛ tsp sea salt
750g vegan cream cheese – I like Sheese (don’t use Violife: I tried it, and it doesn’t work in this recipe)
300g silken tofu, drained (290g drained weight) – I like Clearspring
150ml vegan double cream
200g caster sugar
3 tbsp (30g) cornflour
1 lemon, zested
1 tsp ground vanilla beans, or 1½ tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 220C (fan 200C)/425F/gas 7 Cut a 38cm × 38cm rectangle of greaseproof paper and place it into a 20cm springform cake pan, pushing it flat against the edges and over the top edge.
Put the nuts and melted butter in a food processor, then add the syrup and salt. Pulse until a coarse crumb form, but don’t overwork the mixture or it will become nut butter. Pour the nut mixture into the pan, scraping out the food processor thoroughly, and push it down evenly with the back of a tablespoon.
In a food processor, combine the vegan cream cheese, tofu, cream, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and lemon zest until a thick cream forms. Pour this mixture evenly over the nut base, then bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. After this time, the cheesecake’s top should have some blackened spots and a slight wobbling.
Remove, allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for a minimum of five hours, or overnight, until sufficiently refrigerator cold. Cut and serve.
