So, I was on the horns of a dilemma — it was the proverbial 11th hour and I had to come up with a vegan dessert for a “FakesGiving” (a.k.a. early Thanksgiving). I did happen to be near a Trader Joe’s and thought that they surely would have something pre-made that was vegan. No such luck! After circling the same aisles about 10 times (what’s the definition of insanity: trying the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome…) I came to the conclusion that I was just wrong. “Back to the dairy counter,” I thought! And sure enough, they had vegan butter, vegan cream cheese and coconut creamer. I already had some vegan flax eggs in the freezer. I knew I could do something with those ingredients.
Once at home, I looked up cheesecake recipes and found one on the KRAFT website that was adaptable (at least I hoped it would be).
So, I combined:
Filling
3 8oz packages of vegan cream cheese
3 flax eggs (1 flax egg = 1 tbsp flax egg powder and 3 tbsp cold water)
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp triple sec
Crust
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
1.5 cups gluten free flour
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Heat oven to 325
Butter (vegan butter) a springform pan
Put crust in the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes
After the pan has cooled own, add the filling
Bake at 325 for one hour
Remove from oven and once the cake has cooled, refrigerate for at least one hour (longer is better).
Take sides off of pan and remove the cake using a large spatula.
I made a ganache by combining a large amount of vegan butter with 2 large chocolate bars (broken into bits), some triple sec and a little salt in a large metal bowl and then poured scalded coconut creamer over the mixture. Just as with any ganache, you stir til it is cooled and all the pieces are incorporated.
Et Voila! Let them eat cheesecake!