Thursday, July 31, 2014

Apple Crisp Cheesecake - Vegan

It has been quite a while since I have posted something sweet, so today is the day.

About a month ago, when the weather wasn't so warm, I baked a cheesecake.  It turned out super yummy.  It made enough that I took half of it in to the office.  Even the omnivores loved it.

There are a lot of apple crisp cheesecake recipes on the net and most of them have eggs, milk, and regular cream cheese.  I adapted this recipe from one found on One Green Planet, I believe originally posted by Vegan Heartland.  I did change it up a bit, mostly by changing the base from graham wafers and cutting out the extra sugar in the base.

This is not a health food by any means, but is nice for a once yearly indulgence.  I usually do not use too many processed foods or recipes with this much sugar, so this was a rare treat for us.

I have full intentions of using this idea and changing it up into a healthy no bake version.  My plan is to get creative and use a cashew cream cheese filling and a raw nut/date base, and no refined sugars. Maybe I'll get started on that.  The out-takes until I master it should be tasty.

Note:  If you cannot find Speculoos cookies for the crust, use a vegan graham wafer, gingersnap cookie, etc.  If you use graham wafers you may want to add a little sugar to the crust mix.


APPLE CRISP CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:
Base
1 pkg Speculoos Cookies, processed to make 1 cup
3/4 cup Rolled Oats
6 Tbsp vegan Margarine, such Earth Balance - melted
Filling
2 - 8oz pkg vegan non-hydrogenated Cream Cheese
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer, whisked with 4 Tbsp warm water
2 tbsp Corn Starch, whisked with 2 tbsp cold water
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground Ginger
2 tsp Vanilla extract
Topping
1/4 cup Rolled Oats
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Unbleached White Flour
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
2 tbsp vegan Margarine, melted
1 medium Apple, peeled and sliced thin

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F.

2.  Blend together the cookie crumbs and oats until fine.  Add melted margarine and mix until combined.  

3.  Press the base mixture into a large glass pie dish.  Press up the sides to form a complete bottom crust.  Set aside.

4.  In a food processor or Kitchen Aid Mixer combine cream cheese, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla until smooth.  Add egg replacer mixture and corn starch mixture and blend again.

5.  Pour cream cheese mixture onto base.  Feel free to take the time to lick the beaters and the bowl from mixing the filling.

(Cream Cheese filling on the cookie base)
6.  In one even layer, place the apple slices on top of the cheesecake mixture.

(Apples on top of cream cheese filling)
7.  For topping - in a small bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Stir in melted margarine.  Sprinkle all of the topping on top of the apple slices.

(Yumm!)
8.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until topping is dark brown and the filling seems set.

Let cool, then refrigerate overnight.  You can let it chill for a few hours then eat a piece, but it won't be quite as firm as it is the next day. (We ate some after just a few hours of refrigeration - still tasty)

Warning, the apples can be a little tricky to cut through so don't worry if your slices are a little messy, just use a sharp knife.


- Bon Appetit

" Because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to go without cheesecake." - Hedy Lamarr
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2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious, could you e-mail us a couple of slices please?

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    Replies
    1. Hmmmm, think I could scan it through the copy machine?

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