I’ve had some good vegan cheesecake before, but virtually every recipe I’ve ever come across has used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. As this stuff is up there on the processed scale, I’ve been searching high and low for a Tofutti-Free recipe.
At first I tried this one from the Seitan is My Motor blog, but for the life of me I could NOT get my yogurt to strain. I poured it into a cheese cloth placed in a strainer…a day later nothing whatsoever had strained out and it was the same consistency. No idea if I’m doing something wrong or if Silk Live soy yogurt is just a freak of nature. There is no yogurt cheese in my future, it seems. Needless to say, after some intense Googling, I finally came up with my own recipe.
Tofutti-Free Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust or make your own (depends how lazy I am)
- 2 16 ounce packages medium to extra-firm tofu tofu (silken, if you can find it...I can't)
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp. grated lemon zest
- 2 tbsp. almond butter or tahini
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 4 tbsp. soymilk
Instructions
- Prepare graham cracker crust according to instructions.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- In your food processor, combine remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth.
- Pour into pie crust and bake for 20 minutes.
- Cool and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and firm, at least two hours. This tastes better every day it sits, so I recommend letting it chill overnight before eating. Easy peasey.
I’ve tried adding some cashews and vanilla extract. I didn’t notice a difference with the cashews, but like the almond extract much more than the vanilla. I plan to play around with sweetners more, as I’d prefer to use something healthier than plain white sugar. If you try something different that works, let me know!
For a topping, try a mixture of your favorite berries, mixed with some agave nectar, lemon juice and your favorite jam simmered on the stove until most of the water has evaporated. Mmmm.
Another slice!
I agree that tofutti is nasty over processed. I have had great results with a cashew/agave/lemon juice concoction as a filling and almonds/dates as a crust. I just make these two and layer them, pop it in the freezer and it’s delicious.
I have had problems with some brands of soy yoghurt too. For me, homemade yoghurt works best.
I eat a lactose-free diet as much as possible and was inspired to check out more vegan recipes after stumbling across aux vivres in montreal, especially their gateau fauxmage. Came home and googled recipes and came across yours, which seemed most likely to be similar. Read it, made it, fed it to non-vegan friends who loved it, even the visiting french carnivore who came back for seconds. The only thing I found was that it needed more cooking time – a friend reckons that may be to do with altitude (?) so I reckon here in UK need longer in the oven. I cooked it for 30, am going to attempt again and cook for 35-40 so centre is not so wobbly.
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Hi featherhouse,
Thanks for your comment! It’s always good to find out how my recipes work for others! I’m going to pay extra attention to the cooking time next time I bake it. My center wasn’t wobbly, but I’m not from a particularly high altitude either! Hmmm!
do you think it might be that I used silken tofu?
featherhouse , that could definitely be it! I used extra-firm, which I squeezed a bit of the water from first! I’d say firm or extra-firm or a mixture of both would probably keep the cooking time the same. Perhaps silken is a bit more watery? But honestly, if you prefer silken and an extra 15 minutes cooking works out, why not? Let me know if using silken and cooking longer works for you next time if you try it again!
Hello there! I posted a link to your blog on my blog after trying out your recipe! It’s an awesome recipe and I really enjoyed it! 🙂 My blog is found at romaforthesoul.wordpress.com.