This vegan raspberry cheesecake is bursting with fresh raspberry flavor. It consists of an easy no-bake cookie crust, creamy cashew-based raspberry filling, and juicy homemade raspberry glaze.
The filling reminds me of those raspberry petit filous yogurts I used to love growing up! it's creamy and full of flavor, just like my vegan blueberry cheesecake.
What to expect from this raspberry cheesecake
- Creamy and smooth filling.
- Easy to make and requires no baking.
- Easily adapted as gluten-free.
- Eggless and dairy-free.
- The perfect summer dessert for berry season.
- Great for special occasions (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Birthday parties, etc).
Ingredients overview
- Vegan cookies: I used digestive biscuits, but you can use any vegan cookies of your choice. Vegan graham crackers would also work well.
- Vegan butter: Vegan block butter is added to bring the crust together, you can use solid coconut oil as a swap for this.
- Cashews: Cashews add creaminess and that slightly tangy "cheesecake flavor" to the filling.
- Vegan cream cheese: For that classic cheesecake flavor, I recommend using vegan cream cheese. It's hard to beat it! You can however use full-fat canned coconut milk in its place, you'll find exact notes on that below in the recipe.
- Fresh raspberries: I recommend using fresh raspberries for this recipe as frozen berries have a higher water content which will affect the consistency of the cheesecake. The color of fresh berries often stays much more vibrant when cooked down also.
- Raspberry powder: Or freeze-dried raspberries. These are optional but add an intense raspberry flavor and pink color to the cheesecake.
- Coconut oil: This acts as a setting agent for the cake, as coconut oil solidifies once chilled.
- Pure maple syrup: This liquid sweetener is perfect for sweetening the filling for the cheesecake.
- Superfine/caster sugar: Used to sweeten the raspberry glaze, to keep this recipe refined sugar-free, use pure maple syrup to taste in its place.
- Fresh lemon juice: A dash of lemon is used to elevate that tangy cheesecake flavor. You can also use lime juice in its place.
- Cornstarch: Otherwise known as cornflour, acts as the thickening agent for the raspberry glaze.
- Vanilla: This enhances and adds another layer of flavor to the cheesecake. I love using vanilla bean paste as it contains little specs of vanilla. You can swap it out for vanilla extract or the seeds from half a vanilla pod if you have one to hand.
- Sea salt: Adding a little bit of salt to the crust helps to balance the sweetness and intensify the flavor of the cake.
- I also sweeten the crust with a little coconut sugar, but you can use white or brown sugar as well, depending on what you have at home.
How to make this recipe (with step-by-step images)
(Full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post)
Make the crust
The base for this vegan raspberry cheesecake is a super easy no-bake cookie crust. To get a nice even mixture for the base, start by grinding down the dry ingredients (vegan cookies, and salt) in your food processor until you get a light crumb consistency. Next, toss in the vegan butter and continue to blend until the ingredients stick together forming a dough consistency.
Now press the crust mixture into the base of a 7" cake pan. I highly recommend lining the base of the tin with some parchment paper to prevent sticking, and be sure to opt for a pan that has a removable base to avoid complications when getting the cake out of the pan once set! You can use a spatula or flat bottomed glass to get a nice even compact crust.
Cheesecake filling
Add all of the ingredients to your high-speed blender. Blitz for a few minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Be patient with this step, you don’t want any lumps in the mixture, it should be silky smooth. So keep blending until you reach that texture! If your blender or food processor is having trouble with getting the mixture to a silky smooth consistency, I’d recommend giving the equipment “breaks” in-between blending. Try blending for 3-5 minutes and then allowing the machine to rest for a few minutes before blending again.
How to make raspberry glaze
To make the raspberry sauce for the cheesecake, you're essentially making a raspberry coulis. Add the fresh raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Keep your whisk to hand and give the mixture a good stir every so often to prevent the raspberries from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Next, you'll want to remove the seeds from the mixture, so pass it through a fine-mesh sieve and press out all of the sauce.
In the same saucepan that you used for the raspberries, form a paste with the cornflour and water, whisking to remove any lumps. Add the cornflour mixture to the saucepan with the raspberry sauce and bring to a simmer whilst continuously stirring. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens, remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature before decorating the cake.
Decorating the cheesecake
Pour the room temperature raspberry glaze over the top of the cheesecake and use an offset spatula to gently smooth it over the edges. The raspberry coulis will pour down the sides of the cheesecake to create a drip effect. You will likely have a little extra coulis left, so keep this to pour over the cheesecake before serving.
Substitutions
- Vegan cream cheese: You can swap this out for coconut milk. You'll want the full-fat canned variety to get a rich creamy consistency. Reduced fat coconut milk and other plant milk will NOT work for this recipe. The fat content is vital for creating a stable emulsion that will keep your cheesecake nice and set!
- Vegan cookies: For a more wholefood crust you can use a combination of toasted coconut, cashews, rolled oats, pitted dates, coconut oil, and sea salt. Just follow the recipe for the crust as seen in these vegan strawberry cheesecake bars.
Variations
How to make raspberry ripple cheesecake (alternative filling)
For an alternative filling, you can create a vanilla raspberry swirl filling for the cheesecake, here's now:
- Double the raspberry glaze ingredients and set half aside for the topping.
- When making the cheesecake filling, leave out the raspberries and raspberry powder to create a vanilla cheesecake base.
- Transfer the filling to a large bowl and add the raspberry sauce. Gently fold the mixture using a spatula to create a ripple effect.
- Pour the filling into the cake tin and place in the freezer to set for 4 hours and garnish with the reserved raspberry glaze and fresh raspberries.
Storage instructions
Place the no-bake raspberry cheesecake in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, depending on how fresh the raspberries you used for garnish are.
Freezing instructions
You can also freeze the cheesecake in an airtight container for up to a couple of months. If you plan on freezing the cake, don't add the fresh raspberries on top until you are ready to serve it. Place the cheesecake in an airtight container either whole or cut into individual servings before freezing. To defrost, remove from the freezer and allow it to thaw at room temperature for 1 hour.
Tips for making this recipe
- 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!
- Remove the cheesecake from the pan whilst frozen. If you allow the raspberry cheesecake to thaw in the cake tin, it could get mushed as you try to remove it later. If your cheesecake isn't budging from the cake tin while frozen, you can use a damp warm dishcloth to carefully wipe around the sides of the tin which will help the cake to loosen from the edges.
- Defrost the cake for an hour or two before serving. This vegan raspberry cheesecake becomes amazingly creamy once thawed so be sure to allow enough time to defrost it.
Recommended tools
- Food processor
- High-speed blender
- 7″ cake tin with removable base
More vegan raspberry desserts
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Description
Ingredients
Crust
- 180 g (12 cookies) vegan digestive cookies, or other vegan cookies
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, or cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) sea salt
- 90 g (6 ½ tablespoons) vegan butter
Filling
- 200 g (1 ⅔ cups) fresh raspberries
- 200 g (1 ½ cups) cashews, soaked *see notes
- 300 g (10.6 oz) vegan cream cheese, *see notes
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) pure maple syrup
- 70 g (⅓ cup) coconut oil, solid
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 25 g (¼ cup) raspberry powder, or freeze-dried raspberries, optional
Raspberry glaze
- 120 g (1 cup) fresh raspberries
- 30 g (2 ½ tablespoons) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, (cornflour)
- 118 ml (½ cup) water
- 200 g (1 ⅔ cups) fresh raspberries, optional, for garnish
Instructions
Crust
- Line the base of a 7" or 8" cake tin (with a removable base) with some parchment paper.
- Add the cookies, coconut sugar, 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 all of the ingredients to your high-speed blender. Blitz for a few minutes until completely smooth and creamy.
- Pour the filling into the cake tin and place in the freezer to set for 4 hours (or overnight if preferred). Once set, remove from the cake tin whilst still frozen.
Raspberry glaze
- Add the fresh raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Whisk every so often to break down the raspberries and prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Add the raspberry sauce back to the saucepan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water, whisking to remove any lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan with the raspberry sauce and bring to a simmer whilst continuously stirring. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens, remove from the heat, and set aside to cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Once cooled, pour about ⅔ of the raspberry glaze over the cheesecake and use an offset spatula to gently ease it over the edges. Reserve the remaining glaze to pour over the cheesecake when serving.
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 raspberries you used for garnish are.
Notes
- 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
- Remove the cheesecake from the pan whilst frozen. If you allow the raspberry cheesecake to thaw in the cake tin, it could get mushed as you try to remove it later. If your cheesecake isn't budging from the cake tin while frozen, you can use a damp warm dishcloth to carefully wipe around the sides of the tin which will help the cake to loosen from the edges.
Nutrition
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