Cheesecake is no joke to me! I love it; the creamy filling, the [vegan] buttery biscuit base, oh yes, give me that buttery crunchy biscuit base! This Vegan Lemon and Blueberry Baked Cheesecake cheesecake recipe is a yummy fruity twist on the classic lemon cheesecake. The swirl of the blueberries gives that perfect professional look, and the sweetness of the blueberries contrasts beautifully with the zing of the lemon! The base is made mostly from nuts and oats, and gives a nice crunch once cooked, and also happens to make it gluten free!. This is a great dinner party or birthday dessert.
I’ve always been a cheesecake fan; let’s face it, it’s just an insanely good dessert. I also have a particular soft spot for baked cheesecake - where the base is even more biscuity and the filling more creamy. What’s great about this recipe is that you can choose any flavour, as the base stays the same, and you just need to replace the lemon and blueberry ingredients with something else. Uh oh, a chocolate cheesecake recipe may be coming to a screen near you very soon….
Let’s start with the base. Some cheesecake recipes get you to crush a packet of biscuits, add some vegan margarine and be done with it. The reason we haven’t done that, is that it is so easy to make this base, and we like to know what’s in our food. Also, we love the nutty flavour from the almonds, and it gives more protein to the dish. You don’t have to use almonds - I’ve used walnuts in another cheesecake and it was delicious. You can use any kind or oat, or if you don’t want to use oats, you can use quinoa flakes (these look very similar to oats). Coconut oil works really well in the base, and it really doesn’t taste coconutty (if that’s what you’re worried about, and if that’s even a word!).
The filling! Yum time! This is mostly made from cashews and silken tofu (lots more protein there) and coconut cream, which gives it a lovely smooth texture. You can use any kind of sugar you want, but if you’re going for that whiter look on the cheesecake, use caster sugar. For the lemon flavour, I’ve used both lemon zest and lemon juice. If you just want to do lemon cake, leave out the blueberries. Or if you want to try a new flavour altogether, like chocolate and strawberry, just add some cacao or cocoa powder, and some chopped / whole strawberries!
This scrumptious Vegan Lemon and Blueberry Baked Cheesecake is best enjoyed with vegan single cream or vegan vanilla ice cream!
Top Shopping Tips for Vegan Lemon and Blueberry Baked Cheesecake:
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- I love these easy to use cooking rings to easily mould the cheesecakes. They take the anxiousness out of removing them & are adjustable in size!
- Bulk buy quinoa flakes & cashews to save on packaging & time!
Vegan Lemon and Blueberry Baked Cheesecake (gluten free)
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
- 60 g oats / quinoa flakes ((use gluten free oats if desired))
- 65 g almonds
- 25 g coconut palm sugar / caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 20 g milled (blended) linseed/flaxseed
- 40 g coconut oil / vegan margarine ((melted))
Cheesecake Filling
- 180 g cashews ((soaked in hot water for an hour, then drained) )
- 100 g coconut cream ((can be bought in tins, or take a can of coconut milk and put in the fridge for a few hours, then scoop the cream off the top))
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot starch / cornstarch / tapioca starch
- 1 pack silken tofu ((~300g or 1¼ cups))
- 90 g coconut palm sugar / caster sugar ((use white sugar for a more white colour, coconut palm sugar makes it brown))
- 2 tablespoon melted coconut oil ((optional - adds extra creaminess))
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 380 g blueberries ((frozen works very well))
Toppings
- Zest of Lemon
- Fresh blueberries
Instructions
Biscuit Base
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- Make the base by blending up all the dry ingredients. Then blend with the melted coconut oil / vegan margarine.
- Use either a spring form cake tin to make one large cheesecake, or muffin tins (lined with paper muffin cases) or use bottomless ramekins greased with vegan margarine or coconut oil for several smaller ones. Spoon the crust mix into the ramekins / muffin cases and press down on the mix so it is compact.
- Cook the bases in the oven for 10 minutes (or a 15 minutes for a cruncher base!). Once done, leave to cool.
Cheesecake filling
- Keep oven at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- To make the filling, blend all ingredients in a processor, except the blueberries. Once blended put the mixture into a large bowl and gentle stir in the blueberries.
- Spoon the mixture over each mini base.
- Bake the cheesecakes for 30-35 minutes, or until they start to go a slight golden brown on the top.
- Once baked, leave to cool for 20 minutes or so, then remove from the ramekins.
- Decorate with fresh blueberries and lemon zest, and serve with vegan single cream or vegan vanilla ice-cream!
NITHIYA says
hi, im nithya here. i would to know when we baked the cheesecakes for 30-35 minutes, or until they start to go a slight golden brown on the top. we have to set the temperature on top only or both (up and down)side
Vanessa says
Hi Nithya. So you bake them for 30-35 minutes in the oven. They do not need to be flipped. You want to see the top of the cheesecake go a slightly golden brown.
When you say set the temperature on top, what do you mean? So make sure you are using your oven setting, not a grill setting.
Does that answer your question? Happy to help more
Vanessa
Riley says
How long should I bake it if I use one big tin (i.e. a 9" spring form pan)?
Emma says
These came out really creamy and delicious. I did the coconut sugar version, therefore left out the lemon as I am not a fan of coconut sugar with lemon; instead used a drop of apple cider vinegar (for acidity) and the seeds scraped from a vanilla pod + vanilla essence. As warned in the reciped, it was a bit brown, so I made a blueberry compote to hide the fact that mine weren't as pretty as the pictures on here! Would highly recommend this recipe 🙂
Also, poaching rings with greaseproof paper work really well for mini-cheesecakes.
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
So glad you liked the recipe! It's one of our favourites! x