I spent ages looking around for a good, but easy to make, recipe for vegan cheesecake that used McVitie's biscuits (just like non-vegan recipes) and not nuts. I wanted to celebrate the fact that Mcvitie's have now re-launched their digestive biscuits in a vegan recipe. Just check the ingredients to make sure you have the new recipe batch!
The humble digestive joins a growing list of biscuits which - accidentally or by design - are free from animal products, many of which are available in UK supermarkets.
These include Oreos, Lotus Original Caramel Biscuits, Fox's Ginger Crinkle Crunch Biscuits, Crawford's Pink Wafers, Chocolate Chip Hobnobs, and Bourbon Biscuits among others.
You will see that the recipe here for Vegan Cheesecake uses Agar Agar. This is a vegan alternative to gelatine, agar-agar is the jelly that results from boiling several kinds of seaweed together. It’s dried and sold in powder form, flakes or bars and is also used as a stabiliser or thickener in many food products. It is useful if you want to make a jelly using pineapple, kiwi fruit or papaya, as these fruits break down the protein found in gelatine, preventing the jelly from setting.
Ingredients
200g/7oz digestive biscuits, crushed
75g/3oz butter or vegan margarine, melted
1 lemon, zest and juice
200ml/7fl oz limoncello liqueur
3 tbsp agar-agar
400g/14oz firm tofu
1 tbsp vegan cream cheese
400g/14oz coconut cream
A few drops vanilla essence
115g/4oz caster sugar
Method
In a bowl, mix the crushed biscuits with the butter or margarine. Press the mixture into the base of a 20cm/8in round springform cake tin.
In a pan set over a very low heat, add the lemon juice, limoncello, a splash of water and the agar-agar. Stir until the agar-agar has dissolved.
In a food processor, combine the tofu, cream cheese, coconut cream, a splash of vanilla essence, sugar and lemon zest. Blend until smooth.
Pour the tofu mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the surface. Chill in the fridge for an hour until set. Serve with fresh berries or a berry sauce.
This recipe is great. Its from Country Show Cook Off by Aldo Zilli.
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