Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Recipe

Written by Lindsay Nixon

If you loved my traditional almost fat-free cheesecake recipe, you're in for a real treat with this variation! For starters, I used chocolate gram crackers for the crust. I pulsed them in my food processor until they were a consistency similar to bread crumbs. Then mixed the gram crack crumbs with about 8 tbsp of unsweetened applesauce. I poured the batter into my greased pie pan and baked it at 350F for 8 minutes. It smelled so heavenly.

cherry chocolate cheesecake

As for the cheesecake itself, I followed the original recipe, except this time I upped the almond extract to 1 tsp because Scott's really into almond-flavoring. Mmmm Mmmmm. For the cherry topping, I cheated! I whizzed a small jar of organic cherry jam (sweetened without sugar) and a little water in my little food processor (its similar to a magic bullet) until it had a consistency similar to syrup. (Speaking of which, I served it with a little vegan chocolate syrup too!)

i love cherry chocolate cheesecake

Like the original, this cheesecake is almost fat-free and is so unbelievably good. My parents and omni friend Blyth all gave it a two thumbs up and Scott and I... well, we're thankful for the leftovers to say the least! Now pardon me, I have cheesecake waiting to be eaten! Nom. Nom. Nom.

Vegan Cheesecake Recipe

Servings: 8

Description:

So decadent and amazing -- you won't believe it's vegan or low fat! You'll also need to use my recipe for a graham cracker crust (see "recipe" tab on navigation bar).

Ingredients:

14 ounces silken tofu
8 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
⅔ cup raw sugar
¾ tsp almond extract
2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare pie crust if you have not already done so. Place tofu and Tofutti in a blender and blend for 30 seconds. Stop, scrape the sides and blend for another 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and blend for 3 minutes, stopping periodically to scrape the sides. Once fully incorporated, pour into prepared pie crust and smooth top around with a spatula. Bake 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and place somewhere away from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 2-3 hours). Chill overnight or for at least 10 hours before serving.

For the blueberry topping pictured in the blog post photos, combine 1 cup frozen wild blueberries with 1/2 cup of water, 1 tbsp agave nectar, 1 tsp lemon zest, 2 tsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed into 2 tbsp of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Allow to thicken, stirring frequently. Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool. Chill in the refridgerator until serving.

Posted on March 26, 2009