This creamy baked vegan cheesecake is light and satiating all at once with a fluffy filling and buttery crust. Perfect served with tangy and sweet homemade cherry compote.
Preheat your oven to 170°C/340°F (fan oven) or 190°C/375°F conventional oven.
To make the crust, line the bottom and sides of a 9.5" springform cake tin with some parchment paper. Add the plain flour, vegan butter, brown sugar, soy milk, and vanilla extract to your food processor and blitz for a minute or so until it forms a dough.
Press the dough into the base and about 2 inches up the sides of the cake tin. Bake the crust for 15-18 minutes until it begins to brown slightly.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Add the soaked cashews, yogurt, maple syrup, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, lemon zest, salt, and cornstarch to your blender and blitz for a few minutes until smooth and creamy. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the baking powder.
In a separate medium-sized bowl, using a hand-held electric whisk beat the aquafaba for 5 minutes until stiff and foamy.
Use a spatula to carefully fold the aquafaba into the cheesecake batter, in ⅓ increments. Be careful not to over-mix.
Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top of the cake beings to brown very slightly. The cake should be slightly firm but still jiggly. Remove the cake from the oven, but allow it to sit in the cake tin for at least an hour.
Once at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from the tin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight works well).
To prepare the cherry compote, add the frozen cherries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan and cook for 10-15 minutes on low-medium heat.
Once the cherries have released their juices, strain them into a bowl. Add the cornflour to the bowl with the cherry juice and whisk well. Return the cherry juice/cornflour mixture to medium-high heat and simmer for 5 minutes whilst continuously whisking. Once the mixture thickens slightly, pour it over the cooked cherries, stir and allow the compote to come to room temperature for about an hour.
Serve the cheesecake topped with cherry compote.
Storage
To store the cheesecake, cover and refrigerate. Consume within 3 days.
Notes
Soaked cashews: Place the cashews in a bowl and soak them in boiling water. Allow them to sit for 30 mins to an hour.