Baked Cheesecake

Hi lovelies

When I first became vegan more than 4 years ago, I thought I would never be able to have my favourite foods again. Well, I soon learned that you can practically veganize anything.

Baked cheesecake was a firm family favourite, along with malva pudding (a South African sticky toffee pudding) and red velvet cupcakes. While I have veganized most things, cheesecake had not been one of them. Vegan cream cheese in SA is incredibly expensive and nuts aren’t cheap either, so I always put off creating a baked cheesecake recipe, because I thought that should it flop, it would be one helluva expensive flop.

Cheesecake remained one of my dad’s favourites and although I have veganized almost all of our old treats (which he very happily indulges in), I thought that cheesecake would almost certainly never be one of them.

On my four year vegan anniversary earlier this year, I came home from grocery shopping to find my dad watching What The Health. It was almost too good to be true. I mean, my dad is a typical South African man with a huge love for meat, biltong, and cheese, and I never thought he would voluntarily watch a plant based documentary. But, he was so appalled and horrified by what he learned that he stopped consuming meat, dairy, and eggs two days later. My dad, the meat lover, gave it all up. Just like that. It certainly hasn’t been easy for him, he gave up what he ate for all his life, for goodness sake!

But… this change is also part of the reason why I created this baked cheesecake recipe. If I could give him back another one of his treats, I would at least lessen his temptation to go to the local bakery and buy an “illegal” slice of cheesecake. He also still threatens – weekly – to go buy himself milk chocolates. Luckily, I have an amazing friend who is bringing him some vegan milk choccies from the UK. Thanks, B!

Okay right, back to the cheesecake. So, a couple of weeks ago I found out that the Chinese Restaurant just around the corner from where I live, sells tofu for R5 a block. You can imagine my delight. I soon started to disappear into my mind, imagining all the delicious stuffs I could make with it and then got the idea for a baked cheesecake. I had no idea as to whether it would be a success or not.  I was happy to fail miserably because of the cheap tofu and thought that I would just try and try again if the first cheesecake turned out to be a flop.

I formulated a recipe, got all the ingredients and prepared myself for failure. I mean, a baked cheesecake made from tofu? Pfft. Well, let me tell you, I legit could not believe what I tasted with the first bite. Deliciously creamy, lemony, goodness. My dad was skeptical. My sister had a bit more faith in me. They both had a taste and agreed that, yes, I had done it. I thought the texture could improve a little bit and it could do with some more lemon juice. A couple of days later I baked a second cheesecake and it was perfect! So absolutely and wonderfully perfect.

I hope you find yourself to be dreaming of this cheesecake just as much as I am.

If you bake it, please use #cookiesandkale so that I can see your creations.

Much love,

Michelle xx

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Baked Tofu Cheesecake:

200g digestive biscuits, crushed
1/4 cup melted vegan butter or coconut oil

Optional: Blueberry swirl:
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
a squeeze of lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

600g firm tofu, pressed
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (less if you want a less lemony taste)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil, room temperature
1 cup castor sugar*
1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract
1 tablespoon custard powder*
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup coconut cream

1. Preheat oven to 180deg C.
2. Wrap the loose bottom of a springform tin with baking paper (to prevent leaks) and spray with spray & cook.
3. Mix crushed biscuits and melted butter and firmly press into the tin.
4. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from oven.
5. Optional: Blueberry swirl:
Add everything to a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat until it becomes saucy. Add water as needed, one teaspoon at a time. Let cool down.
6. Turn oven temperature down to 160deg C.
7. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until very smooth.
8. Pour over the pre-baked crust.
9. Optional: Spoon the blueberry sauce on to the cheesecake and swirl with a skewer or toothpick.
10. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
11. Leave to stand in warm oven (turned off) for 30 minutes.
12. Take out and leave to cool down. Once cooled, remove the springform tin and refrigerate over night.

Letting the cheesecake rest in the fridge will help it to firm up and let the flavours develop. The longer it stands, the better the taste.

Notes:
You can make your own castor sugar by grinding regular sugar.
Moirs’ custard powder is vegan in SA.

Edited (01 July 2018) to include optional blueberry swirl.

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