Vegan Mango and Ginger Cheesecake

Vegan mango and ginger cheesecake is a great no bake cheesecake celebrating summer flavours. It's easy and quick to make, gluten-free and oil-free too.

Ingredients:

Cheesecake base;

• 125g dates, pitted and soaked in boiling water
• 100g almonds
• 50g desiccated coconut
• Pinch of salt

Cheesecake layer:

• 185g raw cashews, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 3tsp agar agar powder
• 5 tbsp lemon/lime juice
• 5 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 tsp finely grated ginger 
• 1/2 cup water

Mango layer:

• 2 cup mango puree
• 2 tsp agar agar

Method:

Line the bottom of a 8" spring form tin with a baking paper and cut out a long rectangle to line the sides with.

CHEESECAKE BASE:

Grind almonds in food processor until coarse crumb. Take it out of the food processor and set aside. 

Drain dates, squeeze excess water out and chop them roughly. Place then into the food processor and process it into a smooth paste.

In a bowl, mix date paste with enough ground almonds and desiccated coconut to obtain a dough that isn't too sticky yet still holds together well. Season with a bit of salt to taste. 

Line the sides of the spring form tin and then mould the base mixture to the bottom of the tin. Press the mixture down well with your fingers so that there are no gaps. Put a bit of baking paper on top of the base and weigh it down with something heavy. Put into the fridge while making your cheesecake mixture. 

CHEESECAKE LAYER:

Just before blending the cheesecake layer, put agar agar and 1/2 cup of water into a small pot. Let the mixture come to boil and simmer on low medium heat, stir frequently until agar agar dissolve and the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). From that point onwards you need to work fast as agar agar sets as soon as it cools down. 

Put rinse cashew nuts, coconut cream, maple syrup, grated ginger, lime juice, warm agar mixture and extra 1/4 cup water into a blender. Blend, scraping the sides of the blender from time to time as the set agar likes to stay on those. You will need to work fast as agar sets as soon as it cools down. 

As soon as the cheesecake mixture is super smooth, take the spring form tin out of the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture on top the set base. Make sure you do it very quickly to get smooth finish as agar sets very quickly. Gently tap the filled spring form tin against your work top surface a few times to get rid of air bubbles. Allow this layer to set completely (about 10 mins) before pouring on the next layer.

MANGO LAYER:

Put 1/4 cup of water into a small pot and add agar agar. Let the mixture come to boil and simmer on low-medium heat, stirring frequently until the agar agar dissolve. Add agar mixture to the mango puree and blend until smooth. Pour over the cheesecake layer and allow it to set before decorating.