This plant-based peach cheesecake is a perfectly light summer dessert and a great way to celebrate peach season.
It’s quick to make and healthy to boot!
As usual I use natural sweeteners and steer clear of dairy and eggs, making this dessert as healthy as they come.
For added richness you can serve this cake with a simple cashew nut drizzle, I have added the recipe for that in the recipe card below. But to be honest it’s perfectly fine without.
This recipe also works great with strawberries, raspberries (be aware of the added crunch from the seeds), blueberries, and mango. Simply swap the gram amount of peaches for the same amount of other fruit. If you are using berries I suggest you use defrosted frozen berries as these often contain more liquid than the fresh version.
Plant-Based Peach Cheesecake
All the flavor yet none of the guilt. A full flavored yet very light cheesecake-style dessert everyone will love.
Equipment
- A blender
- A spring form which is approximately 18 cm/7 inches in diameter.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the crust:
- 130 grams raw almonds about 1 cup (see note below)
- 40 grams desiccated coconut about 1/2 a cup
- A couple tablespoons unsweetened almond milk or water
- 4 Medjool dates
- Grated zest of 1 lime
Ingredients for the filling:
- 130 grams raw cashews about 1 cup
- 200 grams silken tofu I use firm or medium silken tofu for this
- 450 grams peaches peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoons palm/coconut sugar, maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
- 2½ teaspoons powdered agar-agar see note below if using agar-agar flakes
Ingredients for the cashew nut drizzle:
- 1 cup raw cashew nuts soaked in boiling water for 20 minutes
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or more if you prefer a thinner drizzle
- 1 1/2 tablespoons palm/coconut sugar, maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- Zest of 1 small lemon
Ingredients to serve (optional):
- Fresh mint
- Sliced peaches
Instructions
- Start by soaking your cashew nuts in boiling water for 20 minutes. While they soak continue with making the crust.
To make the crust:
- In a food processor, grind the almonds with the coconut, dates, and lime zest. Add just enough milk or water to make the dough stick together. Start with a tablespoon and increase the amount until the dough comes together. I use my hands for this.
- Cover the bottom of your spring-form with parchment paper and then cut out a strip or two to line the sides as well.
- Add the almond dough to the bottom of your form and spread it out evenly, pressing down as you go. Set aside.
To make the filling:
- Add the peaches, tofu, sweetener, and vanilla paste to a blender.
- Drain the soaked cashew nuts and add them to the blender as well.
- Blend everything until nice and smooth.
- These next few steps need to happen in quick succession because the agar-agar will start to set as soon as it begins to cool down. Here we go:
- Pour the almond milk into a small pot and whisk in the agar-agar powder. Heat the milk over low heat and let it simmer for about 30 to 45 seconds, whisking continuously, until it starts to thicken.
- As soon as this happens start up the blender with the peach mixture and, with the blender running, pour/scrape the agar-agar milk into the peach filling and blend everything until it is all nicely mixed. Then quickly pour the filling over your almond crust. Gently hit the spring form a few timed against your work top to get rid of whatever air pockets or bubbles may be hiding in the filling.
- Put your cake in the fridge and allow it to set, 45 minutes to an hour.
- Decorate with peach slices and fresh mint before serving, if you like, or serve as is.
To make the cashew nut drizzle:
- Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend well. Adjust the amount of milk if you want a thinner drizzle.
Notes
Almonds: You can use store bought almond flour if you don’t want to grind your own. But if you do then use the weight measurement, 130 grams, not the volume measurement of 1 cup. Agar-agar: I have always used powdered agar-agar but you can of course use the flaked variety as well. But if you do that there are a couple of things you need to be aware of:
- Firstly, you need to use more. Generally speaking you need to use three times as much of the flaked kind than you would the powder. So in this recipe you would need to use about 7 1/2 teaspoons.
- Second, it takes longer to activate the flakes so you will need to boil it for a few minutes instead of 30-45 seconds.
