Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake

I made this vegan strawberry cheesecake to celebrate my blog’s birthday in February 2020. However, I forgot to post the recipe! A couple of days ago, a friend asked if I had any intention of sharing the recipe or not, and it suddenly hit me that it’s actually been a full ten months since I made the cheesecake featured here. So, here we go without any further delay!

As of today, I use only dates and jaggery as sweeteners in my recipes, but this cheesecake was developed way back when I was fine with eating white sugar occasionally. You can use bura or khand (unrefined/raw sugar) instead. I love cooking with strawberries; the sweet, fruity aroma of strawberries stewing in their own juice makes your kitchen smell so heavenly! Even though this dessert looks kinda “fancy,” it is very easy to make and a crowd-pleaser. This recipe has been successfully taste-tested on picky-eating non-vegans who actually went for seconds, so go ahead and make a batch if you have guests coming over 🙂

Agar-agar is an important ingredient; it is what makes the cheesecake set. I use the Urban Platter brand. 

Time Taken: 30 minutes active time + setting time

Yields: 6 medium slices

1 Indian teacup = 150 ml

 Ingredients:

Crust:

• 8 Oreo cookies, preferably chocolate (or any other vegan sandwich cookies like Parle bourbon)
• 2-3 teaspoons coconut oil

Filling:

• 1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 4-5 hours, drained & rinsed)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup roughly chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar/khand/bura (increase if the strawberries are not sweet enough)
• 1 slightly heaped teaspoon agar-agar powder (I use the Urban Platter brand)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 2-3 drops vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt

Color: 2-3 tablespoons fresh beetroot juice

Method:

Crust: 

1. Crush the cookies in a mixer. Add 2-3 teaspoons of coconut oil and mix to form a crumbly dough. The amount of oil required depends on the kind of cookies used. 

2. Line the base of a 6-inch loose bottom cake tin with baking/parchment paper. Press the cookie mixture evenly on the base to form the crust. Refrigerate.

Filling:

1. Mix the chopped strawberries, sugar, salt, and cinnamon powder and leave to macerate for 30-40 minutes.

2. Add the agar-agar powder to the water and mix well. Keep aside for 5 minutes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat & simmer for a minute.

3. Add the strawberry mixture to the agar-agar water and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat until the fruit pieces are mushy. Reserve some of the cooked fruit.

4. Blend the soaked cashews with the strawberry-agar-agar syrup while it is still warm. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and beetroot juice. Blend again till smooth and creamy. Mix in the reserved cooked fruit. 

5. Pour into the cake tin over the set crust. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes before serving. Dip a knife in hot water, wipe, and slice the cheesecake.

Important: Don’t skip the beetroot juice for a natural pink color! 

Decoration ideas: You can decorate the cheesecake with chopped fruits of different colors like kiwis, strawberries, cherries, pomegranate arils, orange segments, etc. Or drizzle over some vegan chocolate syrup and sprinkle with toasted nuts and seeds!