I’ve always made our birthday cakes. Be it for my husband or my girls there is not a birthday that goes by without my making some sort of decadent creation. It’s a family tradition passed on by my mom and one I would not give up for anything.
Years ago when I finally placed a gorgeous cake with a carefully crafted sea scape in the fridge in the wee hours of the morning, my husband asked “Why don’t you just buy a cake? It’s so much work!” The next day, as guests arrived for her party, my daughter proudly paraded them through the kitchen, opened the refrigerator with a beaming smile “Look at the cake my mom made for me!”
Yes it was worth all the lost sleep for sure!
Over the years I’ve come up with a few favorite recipes and I usually make either a strawberry with butter cream cake, or a raspberry mascarpone cake. I’ve served a few wicked chocolate mousse cakes as well. Most of these creations have been my own variations on recipes from famous pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre, and yes, they are all rich and insanely delicious!
None of my go-to recipes were suitable for this special birthday. Now that my second daughter is a vegan I had to come up with a new, equally fabulous vegan dessert for her 15th birthday. She loves chocolate as much as I do so I decided to try my hand at making a vegan chocolate cheesecake.
I played around with a few recipes before coming up with my own and a new family favorite!
Since I eat a gluten free diet I made the crust out of pecans and dates, added some vanilla and a little coconut oil and pressed it on the bottom of my pan. It tasted like pecan pie! I’ll be adapting this to make some energy bars so check back soon for that recipe 🙂
This cake was rich, creamy and so flavorful we all loved it!
Oh and did I mention it’s fabulous for breakfast the next day? Ummm!
With a good amount of protein and healthy fats, along with antioxidants it’s a much tastier and healthier option than most of breakfast cereals, so go ahead and indulge!
Vegan Chocolate Cheese Cake
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 cups pecans
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp salt
For the Filling
- 3 cups cashews
- 3 cups almond or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
For the chocolate sauce
- 1/2 cup raw cacao butter
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
Making the crust
- In a pan roast pecans over medium heat.
- Place pecans, pitted dates, coconut oil, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse until a coarse but creamy paste is formed.
- Press paste into the bottom of an 8" spring form and place in refrigerator to set.
Making the filling.
- Place cashews and almond or coconut milk in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
- Place soaked cashews, coconut cream, coconut oil, cacao powder and maple syrup in a blender or food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Pour cream onto prepared crust, gently tapping the pan as needed to remove bubbles.
- Place in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours or until set.
- When cake is set, remove from spring form and drizzle with chocolate sauce.
- Decorate with dark chocolate chunks and pecan pieces.
Making the chocolate sauce
- In a double boiler or a saucepan set onto another one with about 1 inch of boiling water, gently melt cacao butter and coconut oil.
- Remove from heat when melted and add raw cacao powder and maple syrup.
- Whisk until well blended.
- Allow to cool before pouring onto cake.
- You'll want to remove the cake from the freezer at least one half hour before serving. If you are not serving until the following day keep in refrigerator for a creamier consistency.
I’m not vegan, but I eat paleo most the time and this fits that category too!! This looks so amazing, creamy, and delicious!!
It is pretty yummy if I can say so myself Jessica 🙂
This looks heavenly! looks like there is some good ingredients in there!
Nothing but good stuff Alicia 🙂
What the what. That looks amazing! My friends were always amazed when I made all vegan desserts. Thank you for sharing.
You are most welcome Shannon! I would love if you could share some of your recipes 🙂
This looks so good and despite being a bit challenging, I can make this and I think the whole family would enjoy it!
It’s really not that challenging Barrie, and it is quite delicious! Enjoy!
Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. I’m so excited that you added chocolate too. This sounds & looks delicious! Thank-you for the fun recipe. 🙂
You are most welcome Natalie! I am such a chocolate lover I always get inspired to find fun ways to cook with it. This cashew cheesecake does not taste quite like a traditional cheesecake since it has no dairy but it received raving reviews from my hubby who is a die hard cheese cake fan. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did 🙂
OMG! I never knew that Vegan cheesecakes were even possible! I generally can’t eat them because of the dairy, but this recipe is a godsend! It looks absolutely delicious and super nutritious…I’m curious to find out how it tastes! Thanks for sharing!
I don’t think I would ever have thought a vegan cheesecake was possible before my daughter made the choice to be a vegan Sarah. But I’ve loved playing around with recipes and finding all sorts of scrumptious treats to make for my family 🙂
Evertime I’m on you page I get hungry! You have very tempting recipes :))
Wow, that looks delicious! I have a vegan friend who would just love this recipe, thanks for sharing it!
You are most welcome Judy! I’ve been having a lot of fun coming up with tasty vegan treats 🙂
As much as I would love to try that cake, and believe me I do… I think I’d be happy looking at it! That pictures of it are AWESOME! It should be in Bon Appetit magazine or something. But back to the recipe, LOL… It looks really delicious. I am not sure if my culinary skills are good enough to master it, but I would give it a try! Thanks for posting this!!
I’d add a little caramel to the top.
Yum! My 19 year old daughter would totally agree with you Stephanie. I’ll have to add some caramel the next time I make this cake 🙂
This looks so yummy. My sister-in-law is vegan and her birthday is coming up. This would be perfect for her!
Thank you Marianne! It’s a fun cake to make and it is rich in flavor so I hope your sister-in-law absolutely loves it.
Nice to find Vegan recipes! Looks good!
I’m pretty new to vegan baking but it turned out amazing Kathi! Enjoy!