Vegan Tofu Cheesecake with Strawberry Curd
AmericanDessertsspecial occasioncreamyfruity
Tofu instead of vegan cream cheese, which is the entire economic argument — 400 g of firm white tofu costs a fraction of the tubs, and blended long enough it sets just as densely.
Long enough means two full minutes. Anything less and you get a cream with tofu grain still in it, and no amount of baking will smooth that out afterwards. Press the water out of the block first, or the filling comes out slack.
The crack-prevention step is the one people skip: when the fifty minutes are up, turn the oven off, open the door a crack, and leave the cheesecake in there for an hour. Cheesecakes crack from a sudden temperature drop, not from overbaking. Then a night in the fridge to set.
Ingredients
crust
- 215 g vegan oat biscuits
- 50 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 80 g vegan butter
filling
- 400 g firm white tofu
- 300 g plant based sour cream
- 70 g lemon juice
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 15 g cornstarch
- 10 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp ground vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
- 20 g vegan butter
- 20 g water or plant-based milk
strawberry curd
- 200 g fresh or frozen strawberries
- 6 g cornstarch
- 25 g sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 25 g vegan butter (optional)
Contains: gluten, soy
How to make it
- Start by preparing the base. Take the butter out of the refrigerator in advance so it softens slightly. Alternatively, you can gently warm it in the microwave to about 30°C to speed up the softening process.
- Finely crush the vegan oat cookies, then weigh out 215g.
- Add plain flour to the crushed cookies and mix. Add the plant-based butter cut into cubes, then work it in with your fingertips to create a dough.
- Choose a cheesecake pan with a diameter of about 20 cm. Cut a circle from parchment paper with the same diameter to line the bottom.
- Press the dough into the pan and shape the crust. The walls should be about 4 cm high for this size pan. I make the walls thicker, a bit more than 1 cm, and the bottom thinner, about 6-7 mm.
- Place the shaped crust in the refrigerator until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 175°C - top and bottom heat without fan. I recommend placing a baking sheet in the oven, not just a rack.
- First, remove excess water from the tofu using whatever you have at home - tofu press, nut milk bag, or kitchen towel.
- Pour coconut cream, lemon juice, powdered sugar, melted plant-based butter, cornstarch, plain flour, ground vanilla, pinch of salt, and water or milk into the blender.
- Blend everything together until smooth to create a beautiful cream without tofu lumps. Blend for about 2 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the cream's flavor to your liking - more sugar, more vanilla, or more lemon.
- Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour the tofu cream into it. Level everything and cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil.
- Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, you can remove the foil and finish baking without it.
- Let the cheesecake cool for about 1 hour in the turned-off and slightly open oven to prevent cracking.
- Allow the vegan cheesecake to cool in the pan, then store it in the refrigerator so it sets properly. I usually let it set overnight, but give it at least 2 hours.
- While the cake is baking, prepare the strawberry curd. Blend fresh strawberries and cornstarch in a blender.
- Pour the strawberries into a small saucepan, add sugar, butter, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat until the curd thickens.
- You can pour it over the cheesecake before refrigerating so the curd sets on top.
- Once set, remove the cheesecake from the pan and cut into 8 pieces. Store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
345Calories
9 gProtein
33 gCarbs
20 gFat
2 gFiber
per serving