Cheesecakes are truly my the most hated cakes. In the family meetings there always was some “delish” cheesecake that “I have to” try. Funny, there was never so many talking about other cakes, just cheesecake were so gloryfied. For me there were to heavy, boring and generally bad.
Still, I cannot understand what is with this cheesecakes, that people adore them so much. It’s not that I ate bad cheesecakes all my life, it’s just there were no single one which made me say ‘yum’.
The only one I can eat without a torture was no bake cheesecake made by my mum. Light and delicate. Maybe that’s why I love no bake cakes nowadays. I like those made of cashews the most. They taste so much better than traditional cheesecakes.
Due to my cheesecake hate, I was quite skeptic about tofu cheesecakes. Everyone on vegan diet loves them, but I didn;t even want to try, no to say about making one.
Few months ago I finally made one! First time in my life. Of course- no bake one.
My first tofu cake turns out to be delicate, creamy and not overwhelming with sweetness. I’m not sure it’s like cheesecake, but it’s delicious.
Making cake from tofu seems to be quite challenging. How to make that mild, but characteristic in taste tofu won’t dominate the cake? How to make it creamy enough?
First you need to add a lot of lemon juice, to provide enough acidity. Second, you need to drain tofu, because when it’s not soaked in own juices, easier absorbs other flavours. And finally, take time and blend it well. Longer you blend, more creamy tofu cake you get. In this cake, dates also add extra creaminess.
Tofu cheesecake
with blueberries
Ingredients:
for 22cm springform pan
16 servings
Crust:
120g vegan digestive crackers
1/4 cup canola oil
2-3 tbsp water
Filling:
500g tofu
1 dar chocolate bar (about 100g)
2 tbsp soy milk
1 cup dates
¼ cup (60ml) water
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
juice from 1 ½ lemon
few drop vanilla extract
1 ½ cup blueberries
Crust:
Using grinder or hands crush crackers to tiny pieces/powder. Add oil and mix well. Add water gradually until you get sticky consistency. Put it on the springform pan and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Filling:
Wrap tofu in papertowels and put something heavy on it. Set aside to drain for 10 minutes. Unwrap.
Melt the chocolate with soy milk. Chop dates and cook them with 60 ml water until they get jam-like consistency.
In large bowl blend tofu, dates, chocolate with cocoa, agave nectar, lemon juice and vanilla. It takes time to blend it well, so be patient.
Put the filling on the crust and blueberries on top. Put in refrigerator for about 2 hours.
Nutrition:
Tofu cheesecake:
2 647 calories
protein: 65,5 g; fat: 111 g; carbohydrates: 317 g, dietary fiber: 41 g;
iron: 26,8 mg; calcium: 1432 mg; zinc: 9,4 mg
1 serving:
165 calories
protein: 4 g; fat: 6,9 g; carbohydrates: 19,8 g, fiber: 2,6 g;
iron: 1,7 mg; calcium: 89 mg; zinc: 0,58 mg
