This was supposed to be a vegan caramel cheesecake. Things with the vegan caramel cheesecake took a turn for the worse when I burnt the vegan caramel and made the house smell so bad that I had to burn three sticks of incense to make it bearable to be inside. So. When you can’t figure out vegan caramel cheesecake, it’s Peachy Keen Cheesecake to the rescue. Because local in-season peaches make everything okay.
You’ve had local in-season peaches, right? They’re soft, and juicy, and slightly tart, and they fall right off the pit. They basically beg you to eat them, calling out to you from their heaping fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. I dare you to resist their call.
Ripe local peaches are simmered to create thick, sweet preserves
You can’t go wrong eating seasonal peaches as they are. You can’t go wrong smothering them with a scoop of sweet, creamy, vanilla ice cream. You especially can’t go wrong simmering them into a sweet, thick preserve and swirling them through a cashew-based vegan cheesecake.
Sweet, juicy peaches make the perfect addition to vegan cheesecake
Yup, vegan cashew-based cheesecake. With a date-oat-walnut crust and a creamy, non-dairy filling. Without any processed sugars or need for baking. Isn’t life sweet?
Dates, oats, and walnuts are the basis of this wholesome crust
A house that smells like burnt caramel isn’t so bad when the result is a Peachy Keen Cheesecake.
- 3 peaches, chopped into ½" pieces
- ¼ cup water
- 1 T maple syrup, honey, or brown rice syrup
- 1 cup oats, toasted
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1.25 cups pitted Medjool dates
- 1.5 cups raw soaked cashews
- 2 T fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk
- ⅓ cup brown rice syrup or maple syrup
- Place cashews in a medium-sized bowl. Pour three cups of boiling water over the cashews and allow them to soak for an hour.
- Combine chopped peaches, water, and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow the mixture to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Place oats, walnuts, sea salt, pumpkin pie spice, and Medjool dates in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients together until they are fine. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan.
- Drain the cashews and add them to a high-speed blender with the lemon juice, vanilla, coconut oil, coconut milk, and brown rice syrup. Blend the mixture until it is smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture into the cake pan over the prepared crust.
- Spoon the cooked peaches over the cheesecake filling. Use a knife to gently swirl the peaches through the filling.
- Freeze the cheesecake for at least 4 hours. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer 20 minutes before serving.
- Store in the freezer.
Any good alternatives for coconut oil?