Vegan Cheesecake Recipe (No Bake) with Lemon & Raspberry

Creamy No Bake Vegan Cheesecake Recipe

Raspberries and lemons complement each other so well in summer desserts, don’t you think? Even a raspberry and lemon sorbet hits the spot just right on a summer day! This creamy vegan cheesecake recipe (no bake, might I add!) is one that I came up with for my mom’s birthday (a July baby)! Family birthdays always turn to me because I’m always up to make a healthier cake alternative and try out new recipes. For her birthday, I knew I wanted to make a no bake easy vegan cheesecake recipe. Summer fruits were in season and I had a bag of frozen raspberries sitting around. So I thought the best thing would be to make a tangy lemon cheesecake filling and completely top it with raspberries, inspired by the Cheesecake Factory! By the way, you might want to just eat this delicious cheesecake straight out of the pan rather than cut it into individual slices … (not that I already did that) …

If you aren’t familiar with this place, the Cheesecake Factory locations are all over the United States (and some international locations too). While they have a few vegan-friendly options in terms of meals and appetizers (like the Impossible Burger and vegan Cobb Salad, Korean Fried Cauliflower and Thai Lettuce Wraps with a vegan-friendly sauce … or avocado toast, french fries, green beans or sweet potato fries too), nothing from the Cheesecake Factory menu options for dessert makes the cut. No vegan desserts, much less vegan cheesecake option yet – which is a bummer! All their cheesecakes are currently made with dairy products. So that’s exactly why I needed to recreate this dairy-free cheesecake at home. There are no animal products or gluten in here, which makes it perfect for those with dietary restrictions, such as lactose intolerance, dairy allergies or Celiac disease.

What’s in This No Bake Cheesecake Recipe?

For baked cheesecake recipes, the vegan version filling option is to go with a dairy-free cream cheese to replace the dairy cream cheese, and add the rest of the cheesecake ingredients as they would be (might have to tweak the proportions a little to make up for the loss of the dairy). For the base, it would usually be a graham cracker crust with butter (or as a sub, vegan butter) crust, or maybe a shortbread cookie crust. You’d also have to bake it in a water bath!

But with a cashew-based non-dairy cheesecakes (and no bake), the ingredients are completely different than what is used in a classic cheesecake! It’s also easier to tweak proportions, since it isn’t going in the oven. With raw recipes, I don’t always use exact measurements because it’s easy to tweak! I always taste test my batter and add other ingredients as I see fit before I let it set.

This dairy free cheesecake uses three creamy cheesecake layers:

• Crust: The raw crust is a blend of coconut shreds, oats, dates, ginger powder and vanilla extract. The ginger powder is a good choice to add just the perfect hint of flavour!
• Middle Layer: The filling ingredients are based off a creamy layer based off of soaked cashews (which makes them soft enough to blend into a sauce-like consistency)! Then lemon juice is added to “curdle” the cashews, just like acid is added to milk to sour the milk (which is basically buttermilk). Coconut oil is added to help harden the cake while the cashews keep it creamy. Lastly, a sweetener and vanilla for flavouring!
• Topping: Frozen raspberries covering the entire top of the cake!

Why You’ll Love This Creamy Vegan Cheesecake Recipe

• No Baking Required: Who wants to turn the oven on in the middle of a sweltering summer day? Um, not me. I’m not the biggest fan of removing the entire contents of my oven when I want dessert. (Not that my oven is used as a storage unit of sorts … isn’t yours)?
• Healthy Dessert: When that sweet tooth hits, having healthy, plant-based options for dessert is the best! I love when I make a healthy dessert and can have a slice everyday. It keeps me looking forward to dessert, but also knowing I’m nourishing myself by choosing to make a recipe with all-natural and simple ingredients.
• Versatile Ingredients: The oats, nuts and coconut can be swapped out for other ingredients quite easily. The filling can also be changed with a variety of liquid sweeteners and still hold its texture, albeit the sweetness level may change. Feel free to add other mix-ins into the filling before freezing too, or swap out the raspberries with a bowl of fresh strawberries!
• Creamy Without Dairy: The first time I tried it, I couldn’t believe the fact that cashews were the culprit to making a vegan cheesecake creamy. Without any traditional cream cheese or vegan cream cheese substitute! It’s amazing to see how raw cashews can transform into a non dairy cheesecake texture without milk products, trust me on this! To keep the creaminess and richness of the cheesecake, full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream are also used at times, but cashew is almost always the base to supplement this.
• Gluten-Free, Soy-Free: This recipe is already gluten-free and soy-free by default. It can be made of all raw sugars by using raw date syrup too, but for optimum creamy texture I used pure maple syrup (which is completely pure sap from the maple tree)!

Ingredients and Substitutions: Vegan Cheesecake Crust

Here are the main ingredients in this Vegan Cheesecake Recipe (No Bake) as well as their substitutions. I haven’t tried these substitutions so I can’t vouch for them, but leave a comment below if one works for you!

Coconut: For the shredded coconut in the crust, you can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut. Usually sweetened coconut has added refined sugar, so I opt for large-flake unsweetened coconut. Depending on the type of coconut you get, at least in my experience I haven’t had the best experience with small flaked coconut. The tiny shreds taste a lot more oily than large-flake coconut, but this may just be the brand I have. Instead of coconut, you could sub an equal amount of raw nuts instead. Opt for a more neutral nut, such as almonds, cashews (no need to soak them here) or walnuts.

Oats: For the oats, use rolled oats or quick cooking. Steel cut oats have a different texture, so they would not work well here. As a substitute, try replacing the oats with a neutral nut, just as mentioned above for the coconut substitute.

Dates: Try using plump raisins instead on a 1:1 ratio. Make sure they’re plump and not dried out raisins.

Ingredients and Substitutions: Vegan Cheesecake Filling

Coconut Oil: Use refined, melted coconut oil, not virgin or extra-virgin. This should be the coconut oil that doesn’t smell like coconuts. Other oils don’t act in the same way refined coconut oil does, but coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk may do the trick. I recommend to try coconut cream first though, but if you absolutely have no other substitute, go for full-fat canned coconut milk. Once frozen, the coconut doesn’t really impart a flavour in my opinion. Also note that coconut cream is the fat that rises to the top in a thick white layer after you leave a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight!

Cashew Nuts: There is no substitute for cashews here. They make up the bulk of the filling! You will need to soak the cashews in advance to use them, or the creamy consistency just won’t be there. I like to soak them overnight in room temperature water. If you’re short on time, you can also boil them for some time to get them to the desired softness quicker. This recipe is not suitable for those with a nut allergy. More specifically, if you have a cashews allergy.

Lemon Juice: Lemon juice gives the acidity to the cashew mixture. The lemon juice is to give it a “cheesecake” type flavour, versus just plain cashew flavour. You could try using lime juice instead. Use fresh juice for best results!

Liquid Sweetener: I recommend using pure maple syrup or agave for this. Other liquid sweeteners are coconut syrup, date syrup, brown rice syrup and more. However, they all have varying levels of sweetness. For this recipe, I used agave syrup.

Notes

• Pro-Tip: Break apart frozen raspberries into the filling mixture and swirl them around before freezing (or even try it with other fresh berries, such as specks of blackberries)! This gives little raspberry chunks when you bite into the cake! Don’t use fresh raspberries inside the mixture or they will increase the water content of the filling and it can become icy rather than creamy.
• Use parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan, so the cake doesn’t stick to the base.
• Use a high speed blender or food processor to make the filling and the crust. It makes all the difference! I noticed that when I used a low quality blender, the chunks of cashews did not blend properly and it left pieces of nuts in the filling.
• Make sure to use a springform pan for this cake. That way, the sides can come cleanly off after wiggling the cake back and forth to loosen the edges.
• If the cashews are not soaked enough or the coconut oil is not melted, this recipe will not work like it should. These should be taken care of when preparing the filling.
• Lemon zest anyone? If you looove a good lemon flavour, add some lemon zest into the crust too!
• Use a rubber spatula to smooth over the filling, or gently shake the cake pan back and forth to let it settle into a clean layer. This is how it will freeze over, so you want to make sure it is smooth!
• Top this cheesecake with vegan whipped cream (Gay Lea, ReddiWhip and other brands offer a vegan whip you can find at the grocery store).

Meal Inspiration

I love to keep a lot of vegan cheesecake recipes on hand for when I want a healthy dessert but also to change up the flavour. If you’re looking to change it up (with a cheesecake or other dessert recipe), check these out!

Cookie Dough No Bake Cheesecake

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Pistachio Avocado Cheesecake

Raw Coconut Carrot Cake

Banana Cream Popsicles

If you make this Vegan Cheesecake Recipe (No Bake), leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!