As we are in the peak of strawberry season I really fancied making something with strawberries and eventually landed on a creamy vegan strawberry cheesecake, because who doesn’t like a good cheesecake.

Although making a cheesecake without dairy can be tricky, this recipe will convert you I promise. I arrived at it after a lot of experimentation and this is by far my favourite way to make a vegan cheesecake.

This vegan strawberry cheesecake is based on my previous two, one with lemon and jammy blueberries and this mango and lime beauty. It features only a handful of commonly available ingredients and is easy to make too.

The only time consuming thing is making a concentrated strawberry puree so if you are not keen on that step, I suggest you make the cheesecake vanilla and citrus zest flavour (I recommend zesting one lemon and one orange – it’s my favourite combo) and roasting some strawberries in the oven first, then topping the cheesecake filling with cooled roasted strawberries before baking.

The trouble with making strawberry flavoured desserts is that strawberries contain a lot of water so in order to flavour, say a cheesecake, with strawberries you want to cook out some of that excess moisture as that concentrates strawberry flavour. This is what I did, but don’t worry – it only takes about 20 minutes for this quantity. I blended my strawberries and then reduced them by half. I added some of that concentrated strawberry goodness to the cheesecake filling itself and saved some to make a pretty decorative swirls on top. That’s it, that’s all there is too it.

Thanks for the concentrated strawberry puree, this vegan strawberry cheesecake delivers a really punchy strawberry flavour. It’s delicious, plus gorgeous to look at too. It keeps well in the fridge and freezes well too. In fact, on a hot summer day, it’s delicious half frozen. I hope you will give it a go.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

VEGAN BUTTER:Vegan butter that comes in a block is one of my vegan baking staples. I used to be a fan of using coconut oil but because it turns rock solid in low temperatures, this can be annoying and a bit unpredictable so I’ve switched camps. I like Naturli vegan block, which in the UK is available in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, but other brands like (unsalted) Flora and Violife work well also. I used melted vegan butter in this vegan strawberry cheesecake to create a no fuss crust and I also added some softened vegan butter to make the filling richer and creamier and it works a treat.

STRAWBERRIES: As this is a vegan strawberry cheesecake, I employed a lot of fresh strawberries in this recipe to deliver potent strawberry flavour. I blended them and cooked them down byt 50% to get rid of excess water and to concentrate their flavour. I then split that concentrated strawberry puree between the cheesecake filling and the swirl topping. I suppose you could use frozen strawberries here as we are processing the fruit before using in this recipe, but as I have not tested with frozen strawberries I am unsure exactly how much you would need, my guess would a little more than fresh.

SUGAR: To sweeten the shortbread crust and the filling, I used superfine white sugar known as caster sugar, here in the UK. You could use any sugar technically, BUT its colour is going to affect the colour of the filling so I would stick to white sugar just in case, also superfine sugar means that it will definitely dissolve fully in the dessert so that’s why I am using it here. Icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar will also well, but I don’t like using it as it’s so messy.

ALMOND FLOUR: I added some almond flour to the shortbread base as it I like the texture it produces. You can use almond flour or (this is what I used this time, in fact) dried almond pulp leftover from making almond milk or vegan ricotta cheese. It works a treat.

PLAIN FLOUR: The shortbread can be made with regular plain flour or, if you are making it for someone who cannot have gluten, use a well balanced gluten-free flour mix (containing a high proportion of starches) instead. For gluten-free crust, I recommend either adding half a teaspoon of xanthan gum or one tablespoon of psyllium husk (or 1 tsp of psyllium husk powder) for binding.

CASHEWS: Raw (untoasted) cashews are what makes this vegan strawberry cheesecake creamy. Before you use them in this recipe, you need to soak them to soften them. You want to soak them either in boiling water for 30 minutes or in cold water for several hours (or overnight even). If you don’t want to use cashews, I am pretty sure that hulled sunflower seeds will work just as well (they also need soaking) as I’ve used them in many other dishes that call for creaminess to a great effect.

LEMON ZEST AND JUICE: To give this vegan strawberry cheesecake a little bit more tang (strawberries can be quite acidic already), I added a small amount of lemon juice and a zest of one lemon. If you want to cut down on your work and make this cheesecake vanilla only, use more lemon juice (about a third of a cup) and a zest of one lemon and one orange. It’s a wonderful combination.

VANILLA: This is an optional ingredient but aromatic vanilla makes all baking goods better so I recommend it. I ran out of it during my photoshoot though yet the cheesecake was still delicious so it’s not a deal breaker if you have no vanilla in your cupboards either.

HOW TO MAKE IT?

1) BLEND THE STRAWBERRIES

To begin with, destem your strawberries and blend them until smooth.

2) REDUCE THE STRAWBERRIES

Next, place blended strawberries in a small pot and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half. To help you decide when that is, weigh the pot you you intend to use before pouring blended strawberries in, then weigh the pot again. Subtract the weight of the pot from the weight of the pot filled with strawberry mixture. What you want is for that figure to halve.

3) BLEND THE FILLING

Place all the filling ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Start off with 1 tbsp of lemon juice, taste and add more if needed (it depends on how tart your strawberries are). Replace the remaining lemon juice with water so that the total amount of added liquid is 3 tbsp.

4) MAKE & BAKE THE SHORTBREAD BASE

Make a quick shortbread base by combing flour, almond flour, sugar and salt with melted butter. Scatter the mixture at the bottom of the baking tin, press down with your hands and prick with a form. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

5) ADD BOTH FILLINGS

Top cooled base with the cheesecake base, then spoon strawberry swirl mixture on top.

6) MAKE THE SWIRLS and BAKE

Using a toothpick or a chopstick, make decorative swirls on top of the cheesecake. Bake until the edges are set and the middle still a bit wobbly, about 25 minutes, but start checking at 20 minute mark. Once out of the oven, allow the cheesecake to cool down fully, then refrigerate for a few hours neatly looking slices. Cut with a sharp knife.