Vegan cheesecake with confit lemons
- Prepare
- over 2 hours
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 8
This plant-based dessert is packed with zesty lemons and a light and airy filling made from blended silken tofu.
Ingredients
For the confit lemons
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
- 1 small bunch fresh lemon thyme
- 3 lemons, very thinly sliced
For the cheesecake base
- 200g/7oz digestive biscuits
- 20g/¾oz caster sugar
- 50g/1¾oz coconut oil, melted
- pinch salt
- pinch ground cinnamon
For the cheesecake filling
- 700g/1lb 9oz silken tofu
- 180g/6¼oz caster sugar
- 40ml/1¼fl oz lemon juice
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
- 50g/1¾oz cornflour
- 14g/½oz plain flour
- 160g/5⅔oz vegan cream, whipped
To garnish
- 1 bunch lemon verbena
Method
To make the confit lemons, add the sugar to a saucepan along with 200ml/⅓ pint water, the vanilla and lemon thyme. Warm, then add the lemon slices, cover the pan, remove from the heat and leave somewhere warm to soften and infuse for a few hours.
To make the cheesecake, preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2. Line a 23cm/9in round springform tin.
Add all of the ingredients for the cheesecake base into a food processor and blend together, then tip into the tin. Wrap this tin in a double layer of kitchen foil and sit in a bain marie.
To make the cheesecake filling, blend all the ingredients except the cream together in a food processor, then tip into a chilled bowl set over ice and fold in the whipped vegan cream.
Pour the filling on top of the biscuit base and bake for 35 minutes in the bain marie.
After 35 minutes, turn the oven off and leave for another 10 minutes. Allow to cool then chill before serving.
To serve, arrange the confit lemons over the chilled cheesecake and garnish with the lemon verbena sprigs.
