in search of the BEST vegan cheesecake
hey all. i was wondering if ayone on here had a truly remarkabe & cheesecake-y vegan cheesecake recipe in their posession? my husband and i are doing dinner this saturday & we're entertaining a couple who isn't veg. the appetizers and main meal aren't a problem, but i was looking for something totally delish for dessert. the wife who'll be over also just recently stopped eating dairy (i think because of allergies, i didn't get the whole story) so i want to kind of show "hey, you don't have to give up the food you love because you can't eat dairy". that & i feel like i have the obligation to be an ambassador & represent the whole freakin vegan community when i cook for people. ::) any other suggestions would also be welcome. i put the menu down at the bottom so you can get a feel for the dinner & suggest for it better.
heres what's on the menu:
appetizers:
*roasted red pepper & fresh "mozzarella" roulades (c/o Vegetarian times Feb. 06)
*hot artichoke dip (c/o veg. times nov/dec 05) with fresh veggies & gluten free pretzels
main:
*baby greens with fresh strawberries, grapefruit & blackberry dressing (c/o veggie life feb? 06)
*provencal stew with roasted potato batons and rosemary aioli (c/o voluptious vegan)
dessert:
heres the gaping hole where dessert should be :) i was thinking a chocolate cheesecake. any other suggestions would def. be welcome as well!
I really like this recipe with the addition of 6 oz of canned pumpkin:
http://vegweb.com/recipes/sweets/3389.shtml
I usually have to bake it longer than it says and it needs to set in the refridgerator for a few hours.
Mmm, your menu sounds really good :)
If I were you, I'd make the "chocolate turtle truffle torte" from this website.
Good luck, and let us know how dinner turns out!
I second the chocolate turtle truffle torte!!
I have made this Chocolate Cheesecake Pie several times and it is easy as well as amazingly delish!
It all sounds great! Let us know how it turns out.
wow..your menu is very similar to one that I put together a while back...a girl after my own heart! :) Here is a good recipe for cheese-cake. It calls for an apricot glaze, which you can use, but I like to use fresh (not frozen if possible) strawberries, and sometimes I dip them in chocolate before placing them whole on the top of the cake! Also, anything LEMON is good to finish with. Here is a recipe from Vegan w/a Vengeance...for lemon cupcakes..they are lovely, elegant (yes, cuppies can be elegant little things..)and YUMMMY! I serve these with a chilled glass of lemoncello or proseco!
Cheesecake-
Crust- 1 1/2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
Filling-
2 12 oz pkgs of soft or silken tofu
2 cups vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon rind, fine grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
Glaze- optional
1 cup apricot fruit spread/preserves (or any other flavor you like)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Heat oven to 300. Oil a 9 inch springform pan. Mix all ingredients for the crust. Press into pan and set aside. In a food processor, combine all ingredients for the filling and process until very smooth. Pour into pan and bake for 75 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Cover and refridgerate overnight. To make glaze, place all ingredients in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over low-med heat for 4-6 minutes, stirring constantly. Allow glaze to cool before placing onto the cheesecake. Place cake back into the refrigerator and cool for one hour before serving.
Lemon Gem Cupcakes-
1 1/3 cups flour (use unbleached white, not wheat in these)
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1 cup soy or rice milk
1 tsp lemon juice ( I like mine really tart, so I added more)
1 tbs lemon zest
Heat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin tin w/ paper liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. In another bowl, combine oil, sugar, milk,vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Pour dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full and bake for about 15-17 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting-
1/4 cup soy or rice milk ( I actually used alot less than this)
1/4 cup vegan margarine
2-4 tbsp lemon juice(your taste)
2 cups confectioners sugar
whisk margarine until fluffy. add lemon juice and soy milk, a little at at time, but NOT all of the milk. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Depending on how thick or thin you like your frosting, add more milk or sugar accordingly. Frost cupcakes, and garnish with a lemon twist!
i love the torte! i actually made it for my mother in laws birthday a little while back & the whole family loved it. i'm making it in a sheet cake pan & cutting it into little pieces as part of a gift basket i'm sending to a lawyer friend of ours (i'll post the contents of that when i decide everything that's going in it, that 1 will be exciting!). i think i'm gonna try the cheesecake because that torte is just sooooo chocolately and i don't really want the leftovers sitting around the house or i'll eat myself sick until it's gone like i did last time ;D. it's actually in the oven right now. the batter tasted so good so i'm sure it'll be a hit. if it comes out well, like it should, i'm going to try & play around w/ it; maybe different marble combinations (plain/chocolate, plain/lemon, lemon/blueberry, etc) so thanks very much for it! also thanks for that cupcake recipe. i'm sure i'll end up putting that in the basket as well...maybe some cream filling in some of them as well who knows! i'll post again to let everybody know how dinner turns out.
ok, so the cheesecake was awsome. i tasted the batter before it went in the oven & it was good. i ended up baking it forlonger than 70 minutes...probably about 90 minutes, the last 20 minutes being at 200 degrees just to make sure it firmed up enough. i'l always paranoid that things like that won't set, it just seemed too jiggly. i HAD to try it right after it came out to see how it was because i am impatient & it smelled really good. when it was hot it was very creamy & i think if you tweaked it very slightly you could turn it into a baked custard or a creme brulee. you could also taste the lemon a lot more, it may have been because i added a little more peel or whatever but it was soo good. now i tried it this morning when i woke up (because cheesecake doesn't last long around me) & it fell slightly, so because it settled really well it has that cheesecakey denseness to it that's great. i used soft silken tofu, so i think that's why the texture was so smooth. i really like that texture (which was what made it so custardy when it was warm) but i think i'm going to try it with either firm or extra firm silken tofu next time & see what happens. i remember making a recipe on here using soft water packed tofu & although it had a nice flavor, it was a little too curdy. more like a ricotta pie than cheesecake, but good to remember if you should ever need/want to make 1 of those. i'm debating what kind of topping to put on it...i was thinking either mixed berry (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries) or lemon blueberry. what do you guys think?