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We just had a holiday here that is traditionally celebrated by a dairy themed smorgasborg, with cheesecake a staple dessert. In an effort to make it inclusive for my son, last year I made my first cashew-based vegan cheesecake (well, a dozen mini cheesecakes) using what seems to be a pretty standard set of ingredients (cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice, maple syrup…). They looked adorable, but even I, having put in so much work to make them and really wanting to like them, just wasn’t interested in more than a few bites and more or less all of them ended up in the trash. The taste was too nutty and not close enough to the real thing that my taste buds know and love.

This year his preschool was planning on doing a cheesecake making activity. While I was more than happy to accept their suggestion that he make a simplified “cheesecake” with vegan whipped cream based filling, I wanted to make an authentic cake for us to enjoy at home. I figured I’d give cashews one more chance since I happened to have an impressive stock in the cupboard. After spending, admittedly, too much time comparing recipes online I decided to wing it a bit and attempt a vegan banana coconut cream cheesecake, and this happened…(I just salivated a little).



With an anzac biscuit crust and the creamiest banana coconut cream filling, I was really surprised with the results. I think I’ve finally found my go-to cashew cheesecake recipe.

What did I do differently that I think made such a huge improvement to the taste and texture? I soaked the cashews for close to 36 hours before preparing the filling.

To prepare the crust I followed the anzac biscuit recipe, pressing the batter into my spring form pan as I would with any other crust recipe. Place a piece of parchment paper on top and fill the pan with almonds/beans to weight it down while baking.

Note on Alternative Crusts: If you want to make this gluten free, you can make a great and simple raw crust by blending 10-12 soaked and pitted dates, 1 cup of almonds (pistachios also work great), 1/2-3/4 cup grated coconut. Press it into the pan and let set in the fridge for 30 min. A traditional tea biscuit based cheesecake crust would also be great with this filling.

While the crust cools, pulse the ingredients for the filling – cashews, coconut oil, coconut cream, bananas, and maple syrup – for a good 2-3 minutes to let it become smooth and airy. Pour the mixture into the pan to evenly cover the crust.

For the chocolate topping, heat the remains of the coconut cream and, taking it off the stove, melt chocolate chips in it. Stir until the chocolate thickened (add more chocolate if it doesn’t thicken), and using a spoon drizzle the chocolate in a circular pattern around the cake. Don’t worry about globs or imperfections – it really doesn’t matter. For the final touch, you can take a fork and lightly drag it through the top of the cake to make it all look on purpose.

Here’s the recipe. If you’re looking for a crowd pleasing vegan cheesecake with an authentic cheesecake taste, I definitely recommend this one. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

