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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

No bake vegan cheesecake jars

March 17, 2017 by Ania - 18

coconut, easy, gluten-free, oil-free, raw, refined sugar-freego to recipe

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no bake vegan cheesecake jars close up

We’ve been down this road before, haven’t we? I swore that I was kicking sweet things to the curb and barely a week goes past and I’m at it again 😉 ! Oh well! I don’t think I’ve ever made my sweet tooth a secret, have I? Plus, to be honest, this particular dessert is a distant memory now anyway as I shot the photos a few weeks back, which is what I tend to do if I am in my well-organised mood, so technically I’m still TRYING to stick to my promise… Although I’ve just baked a cake…

Speaking of being well-organised, Duncan usually cleans up after our dinners as I tend to cook them. He is very diligent about it and sometimes, I try to corrupt him by saying ‘don’t worry about it, we will do that tomorrow – I will help you’ to which he replies ‘no, I’ve got to do that now ‘cos tomorrow’s Duncan will appreciate today’s Duncan for not having to wake up to a messy kitchen’. Awwww…Sometimes I wish I could adopt that philosophy when it comes to eating cake, for example. ‘No, don’t have another slice, Ania! Tomorrow’s Ania (or even an hour later Ania!) won’t appreciate feeling like a 2 tonne truck 😉 .

Anyway, I digress while there are important things to point out about the cheesecake situation. This recipe makes 5 small cheesecakes and believe me, that’s a perfect size! They seem pretty innocent on the account of consisting of healthy wholefoods and containing no refined sugar, but you can totally overdose on them too. Duncan found out the hard way after he demolished a double portion in one sitting 😉 .

The key to getting the cheesecake layer beautifully creamy and fairly firm is to add as little moisture to the cashews as you can, which is easier said than done if your blender is a bit rickety, like mine. Don’t worry, I have that bit covered. If you don’t panic and follow my instructions, you’ll end up with a lush cheesecake layer without the need for any agar agar or any coconut oil.

PS: If you make my no bake vegan cheesecake jars, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

no bake vegan cheesecake jars almond brittle

no bake vegan cheesecake jars

no bake vegan cheesecake jars top down

no bake vegan cheesecake jars top portion

5.00 from 2 votes
Print
  • serves: 4-5 portions
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 8 min

Ingredients

DATE CARAMEL

  • 240 g / 1½ cups dried dates, pitted and soaked in boiling water
  • pinch of salt, to taste
  • 1-2 tbsp strong espresso (optional)

GINGER CHEESECAKE LAYER

  • 225 g / 1½ cups raw cashews (soaked overnight)
  • 120 ml / ½ cup coconut cream (from a tin of full fat coconut milk, I use this brand)
  • 6 tbsp lime or lemon juice, adjust to taste
  • approx. 2½ tbsp finely grated ginger, adjust to taste
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

ALMOND BRITTLE*

  • ½ cup almond flakes
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • fine sea salt
  • 2 tsp olive oil (optional, SEE INSTRUCTIONS)
  • a pinch of ground cinnamon or ginger, for serving (optional)

Method

DATE CARAMEL

  1. Drain the dates and place them in a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. Add a trickle of coffee or water to help the mixture to process and season with a touch of salt to taste. Set aside.

CHEESECAKE LAYER

  1. Rinse the cashews and chop them roughly. If you own a very powerful blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec) this step may be completely redundant, but with my low range (and fairly old) blender this is the only way I can achieve smooth consistency without adding too much liquid.
  2. Divide the chopped cashews into roughly six portions. Chuck one sixth of the chopped cashews into a blender with all of the coconut cream, half of the lime juice and maple syrup. Process until super smooth.
  3. Once smooth, add another sixth of the chopped cashews. Process until smooth and repeat until you’ve used up all of the cashews. Towards the end, the mixture will become very thick and heavy and your blender may struggle to turn. To remedy this, start making circles on the surface of your mixture (in the direction of the turning blades) with a spatula to prevent air pockets forming under the mixture’s surface. Be careful not to dip the spatula in too deep as you don’t want to accidentally touch the turning blades. If you follow the technique I’ve described above, there should be enough moisture in this recipe (from coconut cream, lime juice and maple syrup if using) not to have to use any water, which means you’ll end up with a smooth and creamy cheesecake mixture.
  4. Adjust the amount of lime juice to taste and season the mixture with freshly grated ginger. I like a strong taste of ginger so I used a lot of it, but I recommended you adjust the amount to your taste. At this point the mixture should be quite tangy and gingery – a flavour which will mesh really well with the other two sweet components – date caramel and almond brittle.

ALMOND BRITTLE*

  1. Heat up the oven to 175° C / 350° F and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
  2. Put ½ cup of almond flakes in the middle of the tray and pour 2 tbsp of maple syrup and optionally 2 tsp of olive oil (I found that olive oil renders the brittle a litter crunchier) over the almond flakes and quickly mix the two liquids into the flakes. Season with a little bit of sea salt and spread the mixture in a single layer on the baking tray.
  3. Pop the mixture into the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. The edges will brown sooner then the middle (that’s normal) so you want to remove the brittle from the oven when the edges are lightly browned but not burnt. Take out of the oven and allow it to cool and crisp up.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Place date caramel at the bottom of each glass (I divided the mixture between 5 small glasses). Top up with the cheesecake layer and pop in the fridge for about 2-3 hours for the cheesecake layer to firm up.
  2. Top with shards of almond brittle or almond flakes (for raw version) and a dusting of cinnamon or ground ginger just before serving.

Notes

*If you want to keep this dessert 100% raw, skip this step and garnish the dessert with a small amount (1-2 tsp) of maple syrup and some untoasted almond flakes.

My recipe is inspired by this recipe.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Alison says

    March 17, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    Looks and sounds amazing! By the way, I think your blog is mis-named. You are by no means lazy! The number of gorgeous recipes you pump out each and every week! Love it.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2017 at 2:07 pm

      Ha ha, thanks Alison 🙂 No, it’s not me who is lazy, it’s my cat! You should see her – nothing but lying around and begging for food 😉

      Reply
  2. Sarah | Well and Full says

    March 17, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    Wow this almond brittle is gorgeous!! Bookmarking this recipe 😉

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

      Thanks Sarah 🙂 Just a word of warning – it’s pretty addictive! x

      Reply
  3. Stacey | Goodness is Gorgeous says

    March 21, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    This looks and sounds amazing Ania, I need to make that almond brittle!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 22, 2017 at 9:39 am

      Thanks Stacey! Yes, you must 😉 it won’t disappoint, promise! x Ania

      Reply
  4. Jeannie says

    July 14, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    I am definitely going to attempt to make this. Your recipes have never let me down. I took your fiancee’s suggestion and nominated you for the award. It would be well deserved. Thank you for being plant based!!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 14, 2017 at 11:11 pm

      Thanks so much, Jeannie, and thank your for your vote, that means a lot! Hope you’ll enjoy this dessert and thanks for following my food ramblings 😉 x Ania

      Reply
  5. Maja says

    July 21, 2017 at 11:14 pm

    What if I would want to add coco powder to the cheesecake? Would that work? And how much should I take? 😍

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 21, 2017 at 11:49 pm

      Hi Maja,

      Yes, it should work absolutely. It’s hard to know how much you should add, you need to go by your taste buds, but instead of putting lemon juice add more maple syrup to compensate for cacao’s bitterness (taste as you go along). You can always add a squeeze of lemon at the end, if you feel like it’s needed, but I would not have thought so. A squeeze of orange juice might be more appropriate. Good luck! Ania

      Reply
  6. Nanna says

    August 14, 2017 at 10:14 am

    This look lovely! Do you know If I Can make Them ahead and then freeze them? I need to make it for 30 guest on my birthday…

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 14, 2017 at 1:36 pm

      Hi Nanna,

      Yes, I think it should be fine to do that apart from the brittle – this element would be best to make on the day I think. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  7. Nnena says

    September 15, 2017 at 2:05 am

    These look amazing, thanks for sharing! Where did you find those cute jars?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 15, 2017 at 10:02 am

      Thanks! A small store in Athens 🙂 Ania

      Reply
  8. Catsie says

    August 14, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    Your recipes are most appealing and hit the nerve. Sometimes there is a distance between me and these new ideas like cashew cheese or date caramel or raw things and so on, but here I feel I can slowly go with it and get accustomed to these vegan taste. I was even able to like processed dates with espresso 🙂
    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 15, 2018 at 10:35 am

      Aw, thanks so much Catsie! I’m delighted to hear that the blog is inspiring you to try new things! x Ania

      Reply
  9. Steven McClay says

    March 18, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    Ania,
    Loving everything ive made on here, good collection and well laid out. How long do you soak the dates for for this no bake cheese cake?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 19, 2020 at 4:22 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that, Steven! I soak them until they are softened, which is usually 20-30 minutes max. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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