Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
This whole food plant-based vegan Chocolate Cheesecake recipe has truly been a game changer for our family allowing us to enjoy the most decadent desserts on a plant-based diet. The chewy scrumptious crust and unbelievably delicious chocolaty filling drizzled over with an even more delicious chocolaty ganache is far better than any dairy based cheesecake I have tried in the past. This recipe is calorie dense but thankfully just a thin slice of this cheesecake is enough to satisfy the most intense chocolate cravings.
Ingredients
Crust
- ¾ cup walnuts or almonds
- ¼ cup raisins
- ½ cup deglet dates
Cheesecake
- 2 cups cashews
- 1 cup deglet dates
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup soy milk unsweetened, or plant based milk of choice
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Ganache
- ½ cup deglet dates
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup hot water
Instructions
Crust
- Add walnuts, raisins and dates to a food processor and blend until all is a uniform crumble size.
- Pour into the bottom of a 7 inch springform pan and press down firmly to create a crust.
Cheesecake
- Add all cheesecake ingredients to a blender and blend until very smooth and creamy. This may take some patience to get it really smooth but it is worth the effort.
- Spoon into the springform pan on top of the crust layer. Smooth the surface slightly and then tap the springform onto the counter to settle any air pockets. Then smooth the surface with a butter knife or the back of a spoon.
- Place cheesecake in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
Ganache
- Once the cheesecake is firmed up in the freezer, place all ganache ingredients into a blender and blend until really smooth.
- Remove cheesecake from springform and place it onto a plate or cake stand.
- Pour ganache over the cheesecake allowing it to run down the sides slightly.
- Keep in the fridge for up to a week.
- Garnish as you choose. I decorated mine with fresh strawberries and raspberries.
Nutrition
Calories: 321kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 9gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 14mgPotassium: 530mgFiber: 6gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 51IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 3mg
Could I make this in an 8″ springform pan? Would I need to make adjustments to the recipe?
You could make it in the 8″ pan. It would be more like a tart but that is ok.
This sounds delicious! I will make this for Easter.
Thank you Julie.?
Hi Jill, is the springform pan 7″ (per video), or 6″ (per picture below video)? Also, can you make a key lime cheesecake/pie recipe? Thx for all you do! Mary
It is a 7 inch. We need to change that 6″ inch photo.
One more question: if this chocolate cheesecake is left out at room temperature for awhile (after serving everyone), does it lose its firmness, and start to collapse? Thx, Mary
Hello Mary, It will be fine if left out for a while without collapsing. It will be more like a mousse texture.
Are the nuts raw or roasted? I’m thinking they are raw but want to be sure. I plan on making this for a friends get together.
They are raw
I just made this per the instructions except that I did not have a 7″ springform pan so used 6″. I did this as a test run for my wife’s Valentine’s Day surprise dessert. I must say that this is a very easy, very tasty chocolate dessert – and I will make this for Valentine’s Day. My taste testers were neighbors, all of whom loved the dessert. I would suggest one change to the recipe and that would be to add about 1/8th tsp of espresso powder to enhance the chocolate taste. That is a fairly common ingredient when one wants a very rich chocolate flavor. So I will try adding that. Second is the ganache. The presentation would be even nicer if the ganache were a much darker color and an even richer chocolate flavor. The ganache as I made it (following the recipe) was very sweet and not quite rich enough and almost the same color as the filling. I would like something that is clearly distinguished from the main body of the dessert.
Let there be no mistake though, even made just as written you have come up with a very delicious dessert that any chocolate lover will love!! And once again you show that whole food plant based cooking can be as impressive as any. Thank you!
Jus
Just like all your baking recipes that I’ve tried, this one did not disappoint. Absolutely so delish and chocolately!
This was amazing and so special for Valentines Day. I discovered a little hack I want to share. After seeing how nicely the crust ingredients became tiny and crumb-like in the food processor, I decided to run the cashews and dates through the food processor before putting them in the blender. This worked perfectly and made it easier on my blender which often struggles to achieve the desired creamy texture. I think I will try this in other recipes that involve blending dates and nuts and liquid until they reach a smooth consistency without little chunks.
Can more dates be substituted for raisins, or do you recommend using something else?
Also, could medjool dates be used in place of the deglet dates?
Yes, you can sub more dates for the raisins and yes, you can use medjool dates instead of deglet.
After 4 hours also I’m not able to slide it out of the springform, any advice?
Leave it overnight or maybe 6 hours. The temp on our freezer may be cooler than yours.
Thank you yes that helped.
Should a 7 cubic food processor suffice for your recipes or should I go for a 11 cup? (Family of 3)
The 7 cup processor should work fine for this recipe