When I decided to go vegan about 3 years ago, never did I think that I’d be creating a recipe with both the words “vegan” and “cheese” in the title! The “cheese” is actually mostly comprised of cashew nuts which when soaked surprisingly go so soft, allowing them to be blended into a creamy mixture.
My recipe calls for a “vegan crunchy biscuit”. I used a digestive biscuit but other great options are a hob nob or a ginger nut biscuit – just make sure to double check the ingredients on the packet to check if they’re vegan (you’re wanting to avoid milk and eggs which will be in bold font so it’s super easy to avoid).
My cake dish I use is an 8 inch circular one, but since we are not baking anything, you could technically use any size you want. Also, you could choose any types of berries depending on what you have in the house! Strawberries would be delicious for example.
Not only does swapping the cheese and cream for cashews allow vegans and lactose intolerant people to enjoy this classic dessert, but cashew nuts have a number of great health benefits.
Cashews have a high proportion of mono-unsaturated fats (which are associated with a decreased risk in heart disease), a good amount of magnesium (which assists calcium in protecting the bones) and zinc (which has a wide range of health benefits from improving the immune system to curing the common cold!). What a great excuse to indulge in cheesecake.
This dessert is beautiful – both in taste and appearance, and goes down a treat with all my family and friends who I’ve given this too, the majority of which are not vegan.