This easy vegan blueberry cheesecake is packed with blueberry flavor. It has an intense color that looks almost too good to be real!
Unlike a lot of blueberry no-bake cheesecake recipes, it's made using homemade blueberry jam which intensifies the taste and color without having to use any artificial colors or berry powder.
Just like my vegan raspberry cheesecake, it's perfect for making the most out of berry season and makes a delicious vegan summer dessert. But don't worry if blueberries aren't in season, you can easily make this recipe using frozen blueberries or even blueberry jam!
What to expect from this recipe
- An intense blueberry flavor and color.
- The creamiest cheesecake consistency thanks to a combination of cashews, vegan cream cheese, and vegan yogurt.
- Easy to make, with no baking required.
- Eggless, dairy-free, soy-free, and easily adapted as gluten-free.
- Can be made using frozen or fresh blueberries.
Why use blueberry sauce instead of fresh blueberries?
As mentioned above, this vegan cheesecake gets its intense purple color and blueberry flavor from a homemade blueberry jam. Reducing the blueberries into a jam consistency intensifies their flavor as well importantly, minimizes their water content.
Cheesecakes with a lot of fruit in them tend to have a higher water content which can result in a less creamy consistency. Because we'll be cooking them you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries, or even storebought blueberry jam!
I originally tested this recipe without reducing the blueberries and the result was an almost icy consistency due to the added water content.
Ingredients needed
Notes about the ingredients
- Cashews form the base of the filling, they add richness with their creamy consistency and slightly cheesy taste. You always want to presoak the cashews in water as makes them even creamier, and easier on your blender, while also improving their nutrition. Darn Good Veggies talks more about the benefits of soaking cashews. If you want to make this vegan blueberry cheesecake without nuts, simply soak sunflower seeds instead of cashews.
- Vegan cream cheese not only gives a beautiful creamy texture it also adds a tangy flavor to the recipe. If that's not available to you, you can simply use coconut cream or full-fat chilled coconut milk instead of cream cheese. Make sure you chill the coconut milk the night before to separate the liquid from the cream and use only the thick part from the top of the can.
- Vegan yogurt is something I add to pretty much all vegan cheesecake recipes. Yogurt adds lightness to cheesecakes that can sometimes be heavy without it, giving them an airy, creamy filling.
- Pure maple syrup is the sweetener for the filling. However, as the blueberry jam is already slightly sweet, you can add less maple syrup according to your taste.
- To enhance and compliment the blueberry flavor, you won't want to skip the lemon juice or vanilla extract. Plus a special ingredient that I love to add to blueberry desserts is cinnamon. I love it so much that there's even a vegan cinnamon blueberry ice cream recipe in my cookbook!
How To Make no-bake blueberry cheesecake
(Full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post)
Blueberry jam
To make the blueberry preserve, toss the blueberries and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Make sure you're stirring the mixture often to prevent it from burning to the pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot starch and 2 tablespoons of water to create an arrowroot slurry which prevents it from turning lumpy when added to hot liquid. This is the thickening agent for the jam. Add the paste to the blueberries and cook for 12-15 minutes until you have a thick blueberry sauce.
Cookie crust
The cookie crust is so simple and comes together in just a couple of steps. First, add the dry ingredients to a food processor and blend them down into a sandy consistency. In this case, that's ginger cookies and sea salt.
Once the biscuits are crushed, add the vegan butter and blend again. The mixture will start to stick together and you can then press it into a cake pan lined with parchment paper.
Blueberry filling
Add the blueberry jam and soaked cashews to a high-speed blender with the rest of the filling ingredients (that's vegan cream cheese and yogurt, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, lemon juice, and ground cinnamon).
Blend until the mixture is completely smooth without any lumps. Then pour it into the cake pan and either smooth out the top using a spatula or create a circular design with the tip of a spoon.
The best way to get the "swirl" effect on the top of the blueberry cheesecake is with a turntable like this rotating cake stand. Place the cheesecake on the turntable and use a spoon to make a swirl print on the surface of the cake whilst spinning the turntable. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
How to decorate blueberry cheesecake
Although completely optional, I love to top this no-bake blueberry cheesecake with a layer of whipped coconut cream. Lastly, decorate with fresh blueberries, and add some violets or pansies if you're feeling extra fancy!
Storage Instructions
Place the cheesecake in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, depending on how fresh the blueberries you used for garnish are.
Recipe Tips
- Quick soak your cashews. As with all of my cheesecake recipes that use cashews, they'll first require soaking If you're caught for time, instead of soaking them in water for 4 hours you can quick-soak them in boiling water for an hour! I've also used them after soaking for about 30 minutes and they've been just fine. It really depends on the quality of your blender and what it can handle.
- Use a pan with a removable base. This makes it so much easier to remove your cheesecake, if it's a spring-form pan, even better!
- Make a small batch of vegan blueberry cheesecake bars by halving the recipe and instead use a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use soaked macadamia nuts instead, or soaked sunflowers seeds to make it completely nut-free.
You can swap the cookies for gluten-free ones to make the cheesecake gluten-free.
Yes, you can freeze the cheesecake in an airtight container for up to 2 months. I'd recommend slicing it into individual portions before freezing so that you can thaw them for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge out as needed. If freezing the cake, I would leave off the blueberries on top as they can go mushy when defrosted.
More Vegan cheesecake recipes
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Description
Ingredients
Crust
- 160 g (5.64 oz) gingernut cookies or digestives, or other vegan cookies
- ½ teaspoon (teaspoon) sea salt
- 50 g (4 tablespoons) vegan butter
Filling
- 250 g (1 ⅓ cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar, *Organic if US based, see recipe notes
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) arrowroot starch, or cornstarch
- 200 g (1 ½ cups) cashews, soaked *see notes
- 300 g (10.6 oz) vegan cream cheese, *see notes
- 60 g (¼ cup) plain soy or coconut yogurt
- 75 ml (⅓ cup) pure maple syrup, or less to taste
- 50 g (¼ cup) coconut oil, solid
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon, optional
Topping
- 200 g (7 oz) whipped coconut cream, optional
- 125 g (¾ cup) fresh blueberries
Instructions
Crust
- Line the base of a 7.5 or 8" cake tin (with removable base) with some parchment paper.
- Add the cookies and sea salt to your food processor and blitz for about 30 seconds until evenly finely ground. Add in the vegan butter and blend again until evenly combined and the mixture sticks together between your fingers. Press the cookie mixture into the base of the cake tin, and smooth it out with a ¼ cup measure or flat bottomed glass, making sure it is compact. Set aside in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
Filling
- Add the blueberries and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Add the arrowroot to a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of water and whisk well to form a paste.
- Add the paste to the blueberry mixture and whisk well. Allow the blueberries to cook down to a jammy consistency for 12-15 minutes. Make sure you stir or whisk the mixture often to prevent it from burning. Once cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
- Add the blueberry mixture to a high-speed blender with the cashews, vegan cream cheese, vegan yogurt, maple syrup, coconut oil, lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend for a few minutes until completely smooth and creamy.
- Pour the filling into the cake tin and place it in the fridge to set for a minimum of 4 hours (or overnight if preferred). Once set carefully remove the cake from the tin.
Serving and storage
- Add whipped coconut cream and fresh blueberries on top of the cheesecake before serving.
- Place the cheesecake in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, depending on how fresh the blueberries you used for garnish are. You can also freeze it in an airtight container for up to 2 months, and defrost it for an hour at room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Granulated sugar: Some white sugar is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.
- Soaked cashews: Soak the cashews in water for 4 hours, rinse and drain.
- Vegan cream cheese: Can be subbed for full-fat canned coconut milk. refrigerate the tins of coconut milk overnight, then only use the thick cream from the top of the tins.
Nutrition
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