Vegan Recipe of the Week - Mandarin Cheesecake

This week's recipe is perfect for a dinner party. You can make these the night before or in the morning and just decorate them before your guests arrive. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Base:

8 digestive biscuits

55g vegan butter - I used hard Stork

1 Tbsp golden syrup

For the Filling:

100g icing sugar

1 tub Tofutti Cream Cheese - plain

1 small orange/tangerine

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp corn flour

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1 Tbsp almond milk

For the topping:

1 small tin of mandarins in juice, drained

Method:

Take the digestive biscuits, break them into quarters and put them into a food processor.

Pulse for around 20-30 seconds until crumbs.

Pour the biscuit crumbs into a mixing bowl.

Next, take the butter and golden syrup and warm over a low heat in a saucepan. Stir until melted and combined.

Pour the melted butter mixture into the mixing bowl with your digestive crumbs and stir to combine all of the mixture.

Take four deep ramekins and divide the mixture evenly between them. Press down with the back of a teaspoon until the mixture is firmly packed into the bottom of each dish.

Place the ramekins into the fridge for half an hour.

In a mixer bowl, place the icing sugar, vegan cream cheese, the zest and juice of a small orange, the vanilla extract, corn flour and almond milk. Warm up the coconut oil in a saucepan until liquid and add to the bowl. Starting off slowly with the whisk attachment, whisk the ingredients together until they are fully combined and a thick paste consistency.

Spoon the mixture into your chilled ramekins on top of your biscuit base. Smooth over the top and chill in the fridge for 5-8 hours or overnight.

Once chilled and set, remove the cheesecakes from the fridge and drain a small tin of mandarins.

Lay the mandarins on top of each cheesecake in an overlapping circle with a small mandarin piece in the centre.

Eat straight away or return to the fridge until ready to eat.

Eat and enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share it with your friends and comment below. Click here to see more of my recipes.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Essential Vegan Cookbook by Vanessa Almeida

This week on VVR I am reviewing Essential Vegan Cookbook by Vanessa Almeida. On Tuesday, Vanessa shared her Chocolate Cheesecake recipe with us here at Vegan Vox Blog and this book is full of more delicious recipes which are just as simple and tasty.

Vanessa Almeida is an accomplished Brazilian vegan chef based in London. Having moved to England with her husband Neni in 2007, Vanessa spent the last few years responding to the diverse range of cuisine peppered across the UK capital by crafting a sumptuous collection of plant-based dishes. With a background in nutrition studies (specialising in veganism), Vanessa thrills in educating her blog readers on how they can incorporate healthy and hassle-free food into their everyday lives. Her Essential Vegan site is a popular destination for vegan recipes and preparation tips.

Essential Vegan Cookbook is a visually stunning collection of over 60 tasty and delicious recipes inspired by the author’s colourful life experiences. Satisfying her desire to educate and inspire others in the kitchen, Vanessa likes nothing more than combining healthy ingredients to create delicious recipes, proving that vegan food needn’t ever compromise on flavour. A unique component of Essential Vegan is the inclusion of health tips listed by ingredient, featured throughout the book in easy to find, miniature chopping board graphics.

With dishes ranging from vegan versions of Brazilian staples to luscious dairy-free cheesecakes, Essential Vegan Cookbook is the perfect companion for both seasoned vegan eaters and those looking to include more plant-based eating in their lives. This world-class collection of easy-to-prepare, healthy meal ideas is sure to be a hit in any kitchen. 

There are some lovely recipes in the book which Vanessa has shared with me including Marinated Aubergines, Chocolate Cheesecake and Tofu Minced Meat. I have tried a couple of these recipes so far and they are easy to follow and taste fab! This would make a great Christmas gift for the vegan in your life. 

Essential Vegan Cookbook is available to buy online at essentialvegan.co.uk. Images used with permission from essentialvegan.co.uk/Vanessa Almeida.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Chocolate Cheesecake by Vanessa Almeida

This week's VROTW is not one of mine, it is from the Essential Vegan Cookbook by Vanessa Almeida. Vanessa kindly sent me a guest recipe for my blog and I will be reviewing her book on this Thursday's Vegan Vox Reviews.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Base
• 13 vegan digestive biscuits crushed
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine melted
Filling
• 420g firm tofu
• 250g dark chocolate melted
• 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
mixed with 100ml water (blend it
together well to make a paste)
• 4 tbsp agave syrup
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 70g shredded almonds for topping

Method:

This “cheesecake” is so delicious that you won’t quite believe it’s vegan. A sophisticated dessert that melts in your mouth, it’s rich, chocolatey and rather heavenly. Indulge yourself!

Base

Grease an 8 inch round springform baking tray.

Crumble the biscuits in a food processor.

Mix it thoroughly with the melted margarine and spread the biscuit base mixture evenly across the baking tin, pressing it down firmly with your fingers.

Filling

Put the tofu in the food processor and blend it until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and beat it until all the ingredients are nicely blended in.

Using a spatula pour the filling onto the base and sprinkle the chopped almonds on top of the cheesecake.

Cover with tin foil and place in the fridge overnight, or alternatively in the freezer for about 3 hours, before serving.

So a huge thanks to Vanessa for this week's recipe and if you want to see more of Vanessa's delights click here. For more of my recipes, click here. Come back on Thursday for a review of the book.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Recipe and photos used with permission from essentialvegan.co.uk/Vanessa Almeida (2013)