Lime And Vanilla Vegan Cheesecake

Cheesecake craving, squashed. This easy no-bake vegan cheesecake is light, creamy and subtly sweet with a perfectly silky texture.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 500 g soft tofu, drained
• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours (longer is fine) and drained
• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted if solid
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Vanilla - seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla paste, or 1 tsp natural vanilla extract

For the crust:

• 1 cup dates
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted if solid

Instructions:

For the filling:

1. Put everything except the coconut oil into a blender or food processor.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour in the coconut oil, while the blender is running. You'll now have a thick and creamy, but pourable filling mixture.
4. Pour the filling into your pre-prepared crust and evenly spread and smooth it with a spatula. Work quickly as the chilled crust will start to set the filling mixture quite quickly.
5. Pop the cheesecake in the fridge overnight (ideally) or for at least 2-3 hours to set.
6. Serve straight from (or recently from) the fridge. Both the crust and filling will soften at room temperature.

For the crust:

1. Put all crust ingredients in to a food processor and pulse until you have a small crumb.
2. Use your hands and the back of a spoon to press the crust mixture evenly into a tin. I used a 20cm pie tin with a removable base.
3. Put in the fridge or freezer for a few hours to firm up.

NOTES:

Prep time does not include soaking time for the cashews, or chilling time for the crust or whole cheesecake.This recipe freezes pretty well. It's better from the fridge so I wouldn't recommend freezing it ahead of time for a special occasion, but go ahead and freeze leftovers in single serve portions. The moisture content of the tofu means the cheesecake freezes solid, so allow an hour or two for it to thaw at room temperature.

Source: quitegoodfood.co.nz