Mmmm cheesecake. The one thing that has potential to throw me off the vegan wagon, with its delicious sweet creamy yuminess. And as I’ve only been vegan for 6 months now, I swear I can still taste the last salted caramel cheesecake that touched my lips…and hips!

But for me, that sweet satisfaction of a cheesecake doesn’t justify the continuous and unnatural impregnation of dairy cows –to extract milk which was made for their babies, not for adult human consumption – so I am happy with this trade of my desires for the ethics I believe so strongly in.

So lucky for me, vegan cheesecakes are – in my cheesecake connoisseur opinion – equal (if not more) delicious and “creamy” than the dairy counterpart. And my Lemon and Ginger Tofu recipe is extra special as the base is made with my nans homemade ginger biscuit recipe. In fact, it’s been tried and tested on my granddad, who is a wonderful and traditional northerner who likes meat on his plate everyday of the week, and thinks veganism is a load of nonsense. He had two slices and could easily have had more…..enough said!

Vegan Lemon and Ginger Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the cheesecake

• 1lb of silken tofu
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tbs corn flour dissolved in 2 tbs of soy milk
• 1 tbsp tahini or nut butter
• 1/s tsp salt
• zest of 2 lemons
• ½ tsp vanilla or almond extract

For the biscuit base

• 100g self raising flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp sugar
• 50g dairy free spread (to make the biscuits)
• 75g of golden syrup
• 1 cup of melted spread

Method

To make the ginger biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 180
2. Sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl, and in a separate pan melt the butter and syrup.
3. Combine the two mixtures together and leave to set for 10 minutes in the fridge.
4. Remove from the fridge and roll into small dough balls.
5. Place on a lined baking tray
6. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes before taking pleasure in crushing them up into small breadcrumbs. You can either the lazy way and use a food processor, or have a bit of fun with it and crush them in a freezer bag using a rolling pin.
8. Keep the oven on at 180 for the next bit…

For the cheesecake

1. Cut the tofu into rough chunks and blend in a food processor with the nut butter, sugar, milk and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the lemon juice, zest and salt to taste.
2. Next, melt the extra cup of spread and mix with the crushes biscuits
3. Grease a round cake tin and line the bottom with your biscuit base. Put aside in the fridge to set for about 20 minutes or so.
4. Once the base is set, top with the tofu mixture and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the top begins to brown
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 45 minutes, or until it stops wobbling like jelly!!
6. Before serving, top with a little more lemon zest or grated ginger