Pumpkin Cheesecake (vegan)

By jeenikeen

Ingredients

• Crust Ingredients:
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
• 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 7 tbsp pumpkin puree (I used 1 15oz can pumpkin puree in total for this recipe and took the 7 tbsp from that. You can also use your own cooked pumpkin puree but make sure it’s not too runny; strain the liquid out if necessary)
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3 tbsp tapioca flour
• White Layer Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, presoaked and strained {soak overnight for best results, or soak in boiling water for 20 minutes if in a rush}, at room temp
• 3 tbsp lemon juice, at room temp
• 2 tbsp non-dairy milk, at room temp
• 6 tbsp maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of your choice), room temp
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• Pumpkin Layer Ingredients:
• White layer mixture, minus 3/4 cup of it, which should be set aside (see step 4)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, liquified
• 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree, room temp
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 280mins
Adapted from unconventionalbaker.com

Preparation

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Oil a 6″ springform pan and set aside.
Place coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, pumpkin puree, salt, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and use an immersion blender to blend the mixture into a smooth consistency (note: if you don’t have an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients in a regular blender and then pour into a mixing bowl). Add coconut and tapioca flours and mix well using a wooden spoon until everything is thoroughly combined.
Scoop out the mixture into the springform pan. Use your hands to press the mixture down along the bottom and up around the walls of the pan forming a tall crust (should be about 1/16 – ¼″ thick everywhere). Use a fork to pierce some holes along the base of the crust to prevent bubbling during baking. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the crust to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
In the meantime, place all white layer ingredients into a high-speed blender (I used my Vitamix for this recipe) and process until mixture is smooth. Scoop out and set aside ¾ cup of this mixture.
Add pumpkin layer ingredients to the blender to the remaining mixture and blend until mixture is smooth and uniform.
Pour pumpkin cheesecake mixture into the crust in the springform pan. Smooth out the mixture a little using a spatula. Pour white layer ingredients (that were set aside in step 4) on top of the pumpkin layer, being careful not to mix the two layers in the process. Gently smooth out the surface.
Freeze the cheesecake for 4-5 hours (or overnight) to set, and then transfer and store in the fridge until ready to serve. You can also have it straight out of the freezer as a pumpkin ice-cream cake, but when you have it out of the fridge it has the consistency, texture, and flavor of a real cheesecake.