This vegan cheesecake is the best ever! It’s rich and creamy and topped with a salted caramel fudge sauce. So much like the ‘real thing’ you will hardly believe it.
I am so excited to share this recipe for vegan cheesecake with you. It is so good, sensational really.
Topped with a salted caramel fudge sauce and some sprinkled sea salt it is the perfect contrast of salty and sweet with creamy and smooth.
So, this vegan cheesecake is definitely not my first go when it comes to making vegan cheesecakes. From the first time I made a vegan cheesecake (in around 2009) I fell totally in love, because honestly it’s better than the ‘real thing’.
The only caveat? It’s a little pricey. The ingredients, while quite simple, can get a little expensive.
So it’s probably not what you’re going to make every other week but it’s rich as heck so that’s another reason you’re probably not going to make it every other week.
Of course if you love a good cheesecake then also check out our delicious baked cheesecake recipe!
How To Make No-Bake Vegan Cheesecake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Spray an 8-inch round springform pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add macadamia nuts, pitted dates and dessicated coconut to a food processor and process into a sticky dough.
- Place into the prepared springform pan and press down firmly into a pie crust. Place into the freezer to set while you work on the filling.
- Add soaked cashew nuts to a blender jug along with water, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla and blend until very smooth.
- Pour this out over the top of the crust in the springform pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Place into the freezer to set (around 4-6 hours).
- When the cheesecake has set completely, remove it from the springform pan and place onto a cake stand while you prepare your salted caramel topping.
- For the topping, mix together melted coconut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt.
- Spread it out over the top of your cheesecake, add a few sprinkles of sea salt over the top and a few macadamia nuts to decorate and you have the perfect cheesecake.
- Let the cheesecake thaw on the countertop for around 30 minutes or so before serving.
The Caramel Fudge Topping
I was at first going to make a vegan dulce de leche for the topping, but at the last minute, had a change of heart.
I was thinking, why cook a topping when you’ve got this whole no-bake thing going on, why go and stand over a hot stove just for the sauce?
So I decided on a salted caramel fudge topping made from melted coconut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt and it turned out to be the perfect topping.
Recipe Tips
Soak your cashews. It’s important to soak your cashews for this recipe. Ideally, soak them overnight. Place them in a bowl, pour over water, cover and leave them to soak overnight. Then drain and rinse before using.
The reason it’s important to soak them first is that you use a ton of cashews for this cheesecake filling, once all your filling ingredients are in the blender jug your blender will be almost ⅔rds or even ¾ of the way full. It would be very tough for a blender to handle that much volume unless it’s an easy blend. So make it as easy as possible with soaked cashews.
If you happen to forget to soak them, then all is not lost. Place the cashews in a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave them to soak for at least an hour for this recipe. Soaking in hot water reduces the time needed. But any less than an hour will not be adequate because of the volume of cashews that you need to blend.
Be patient. The hands on time for this recipe is actually really short, a bit of processing, a bit of blending, a bit of stirring, really it’s too easy! The time consuming part is waiting for it to set, which takes quite a few hours in the freezer, and you need it to set completely before you remove it from the spring form pan. So you need a bit of patience with this pie, but otherwise it’s really easy and fun.
Vegan Cheesecake Q&A
Walnuts work extremely well for the crust too. Walnuts or macadamias are my usual favorites for a nut/date crust, but nut/date crusts are actually really flexible and forgiving, you can try other nuts or a combination of nuts and it will usually work well.
Yes you can! I like it because it creates delicious flavor and texture but I have definitely made pie crusts without coconut, you can simply leave it out or add more nuts to compensate.
Coconut butter is really the key ingredient in this caramel sauce. And just to be clear it’s nothing like any other nut butter and it’s also nothing like vegan butter. So you can’t switch it for either of those. If you can’t get coconut butter, you could switch the topping to something else completely, or you could make your own coconut butter from dessicated coconut (also known as finely shredded coconut or sweetened coconut flakes).
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cheesecake stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator and serve it cold straight from the fridge. It must set in the freezer but thereafter can be stored in the coldest part of your fridge for around 5-7 days.
You can also store it in the freezer, in which case you will need to let it thaw at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving. If you store it in the freezer then it will of course last much longer than if it is stored in the fridge.
More Delicious No-Bake Vegan Desserts
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Vegan Chocolate Tart
- Vegan Banoffee Pie
- Vegan Peanut Butter Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Pie
- Vegan Key Lime Pie
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 cup Macadamia Nuts (150g)
- ½ cup Pitted Medjool Dates (88g) Packed*
- 1 cup Dessicated Coconut (80g) Finely Shredded Coconut*
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- 3 cups Raw Cashews (450g) soaked overnight, drained and rinsed*
- ¾ cup Water (180ml)
- ¾ cup Maple Syrup (180ml)
- ½ cup Coconut Oil (120ml) Melted
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice (60ml) Freshly Squeezed
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Salted Caramel Fudge Sauce:
- ½ cup Coconut Butter (120ml) Melted*
- ½ cup Maple Syrup (120ml)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
For Decorating:
- Sea Salt
- Macadamia Nuts
Instructions
- Spray an 8 inch round springform pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add the macadamia nuts, pitted dates and dried dessicated coconut to the food processor and process until it starts to form into a sticky dough. It will start off crumbly, keep going until it starts to clump together in sticky clumps. Transfer to the springform pan and smooth it down into a pie crust. Use the back of a spoon to press it down into a neat flat layer. Place into the freezer to set.
- Take your soaked and rinsed cashew nuts and place them into the blender jug. Add the water, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract and then blend everything together until very smooth. Stop and give your blender a break as needed as this is a lot of volume to blend up. Pour this over the macadamia crust and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Return to the freezer to set completely – about 4-6 hours.
- When the cheesecake has completely set, remove it from the springform pan and put it onto a cake stand to do your topping.
- Add the melted coconut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt into a bowl and stir it together into a caramel sauce. Spread this out over the top of the cheesecake, working quickly, as the sauce thickens and sets quite fast when in contact with the cold cheesecake.
- Decorate the cheesecake with sprinkles of sea salt and some macadamia nuts.
- Allow the cheesecake to thaw at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Once the cheesecake is thawed, keep it stored in the refrigerator or freezer*.
Video
Notes
- Walnuts work great as an alternative to macadamias for the crust.
- Half a cup of medjool dates (packed) is approximately 10 pitted medjool dates.
- Dessicated coconut is also called finely shredded coconut or finely shredded coconut flakes. It’s dried coconut that is shredded very finely.
- If you forget to soak the cashews overnight, then you can take a shortcut. Place the cashews into a bowl and pour over boiling hot water from the kettle. Leave them to soak for 1 hour. Soaking in hot water reduces the time needed for soaking. It is still more ideal to soak them overnight for this recipe though.
- The topping must be made with coconut butter and not coconut oil. If you can’t easily find coconut butter you can also make your own. It’s super easy and fun to make.
- Prep time does not include time spent setting in the freezer.
- If you know when you’re going to be serving this cheesecake, you can keep it in the freezer until you need to serve it and then let it thaw at room temperature and serve. From then on, if stored in the refrigerator, the texture can become a little softer, so you might prefer to let it firm up in the freezer again before serving.
- This recipe was first published in March 2018.
very easy to make and delicious
Thanks Nathan!
I made this cheesecake this morning as a try out for Christmas day. It was so nice and creamy. Beautiful texture. I didn’t make the caramel topping as I didn’t have all the ingredients. Will be making this for Christmas day. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thanks so much Julie!
Hi, could I make this cheesecake and keep it in the freezer for 3 weeks? I’m hoping to make it tomorrow and serve it on Christmas day. Many thanks, Danielle
Yes you can!
Does the caramel taste like coconut?
No, not in my view, but if you hate coconut, you can definitely try a different option for the topping.
I don’t have a springform pan, can you turn this recipe into mini cheesecakes with a cupcake pan?
I’m sure you can! Though I haven’t tried it.
My husband and I are both allergic to cashews and I am wondering if there is an alternative? Thank you.
Hi Teddi, sunflower seeds can be an effective replacement for cashews, but I haven’t tested them myself.
I am bringing this cake to the park for a birthday party. Can I add the caramel topping and then freeze all of it (crust, filling and topping) ahead of time? Or do I need to add the topping right before serving? Thank you!
Hi Jane, yes you can freeze it with the topping on. And since you’re taking it to the park, it would be ideal to take it frozen so that it can defrost on the way and be the perfect consistency when you need it.
I made the base with the ginger biscuit recipe from your website (omitted cloves because I don’t like them, and Allspice as it is not available here in the shops: what flavour does Allspice give?), mixed with your vegan butter recipe, and maple syrup. I made the crumbs too fine – next time I will leave them more chunky. Still tasted good though. My family doesn’t like coconut so I did not use your base recipe. Vanilla essence is really difficult to find in Siracusa, Sicily (and really expensive when it is available) so I never add it to any recipes, which is a pity. For the top, I used whipped vegan cream instead of the fudge sauce (to reduce the sugar content). So my cake was quite fluffy and light.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing and the awesome review Gail!
Not too difficult to make and so worth it!
I will be making this again sometime, when I need a great dessert!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! 🧑🏾🙏🏽💖
So glad it worked out great Kate! Thanks so much!
Is it 3 cups before soaking or after of raw cashews?
Before soaking.
What would be good replacement, if any, for coconut oil in cake part?
There isn’t a good replacement, you could leave it out but the cheesecake won’t set as well.
Would Agar powder possibly function as a thickener? I understand you can’t make any promises but I love this recipe but my son has MCADD so we’re supposed to avoid coconut oil if we can and I was thinking maybe agar agar could help with the setting conundrum. Thanks!
Hi Brit, agar could definitely work, if you did 1/2 tablespoon agar agar powder in 1/2 cup of water, bring to the boil, boil for a minute to let it get set up and then add it to the other blended ingredients and blend in quickly before pouring out over your base. That’s what I would do, and it could work really well! If you try it let us know how it goes!