White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Cheezecake
This decadent white chocolate cheezecake is complemented by sweet, tropical passion fruit for a match made in heaven.
Photo: Christina Leopold
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Cacao butter gives this cake its “white chocolate” flavor. When selecting a brand of cacao butter, it’s best to go with a good-quality raw version as this will be the main flavor of the cheezecake.
Reprinted with permission from No-Bake Vegan Desserts by Christina Leopold, Page Street Publishing Co. 2020.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup (146 g) cashews
- 1 cup (96 g) almond flour or ground almonds
- ¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 5 Medjool dates, pitted
- ½ tbsp (7 g) coconut oil (solid)
White chocolate filling
- 1 ½ cups (219 g) cashews (dryweight)
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp (150 ml) maple syrup
- ⅔ cup (144 g) cacao butter
- 1½ cups (360 ml) vanilla soy yogurt (or plain soy or coconut yogurt)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Passion fruit jelly
- 8 passion fruits
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) maple syrup
- ½ tsp agar-agar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) water
Preparation
- Ahead of time, begin by preparing the cashews for the cheezecake filling. Soak the cashews in water for a minimum of 4 hours before rinsing with clean water and draining them, or quick soak in boiled water for 1 hour.
- To make the crust, put the cashews, almond flour and salt in your food processor and blitz for 1 minute, until it’s a fine crumb consistency. Add the dates and coconut oil and process for a couple more minutes, until the mixture starts to stick together and form a dough.
- Line the bottom of an 8 x 4–inch (20.5 x 10.25–cm) cake pan with parchment paper and press the dough evenly into the bottom using a rubber spatula or the flat bottom of a glass. Once even, sit the base in the freezer while you prepare the next layer.
- For the white chocolate filling, put all the ingredients for the filling into your high-speed blender, including the soaked cashews. Blend the mixture on high speed until it’s completely smooth and creamy. Remove the cake base from the freezer and pour the cheezecake mixture onto it, tapping the pan gently on your work surface to knockout any air bubbles. Place in the freezer to set for 6 hours or overnight.
- For the passion fruit jelly, slice the passion fruits in half and scoop out the filling. Squeeze the filling through a fine-mesh sieve to separate the juice from the seeds. Reserve the seeds and put the passion fruit juice and maple syrup in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, combine the agar-agar with the water in a separate bowl and mix well.
- Add the agar-agar mixture to the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, making sure you keep stirring to avoid the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Take approximately half of the passion fruit seeds and add them to the jelly mixture, and whisk well.
- Remove the jelly mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly for about 5 minutes before pouring it on top of the cheezecake. Put the cheezecake back in the freezer for another hour or so until completely set.
- Remove the cake from the pan while still frozen to keep the cheezecake from sticking to the pan. Allow to defrost for 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
- Store in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 3 to 4 days or freeze and defrost before serving
Related: Homemade Vegan Snickerz Bars