Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus chiling overnight
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1¾cups graham cracker crumbs (made from 10 ounces of whole graham crackers)
- 3tablespoons sugar
- 4tablespoons melted nonhydrogenated margarine, melted coconut oil or canola oil
- 1tablespoon plain soy milk or almond milk
- ½cup whole unroasted cashews, soaked in water for 2 to 8 hours, or until very soft
- ¼cup mashed banana (about 1 medium-size banana)
- 1(12- to 14-ounce) package silken tofu, drained
- ½cup sugar
- ⅓cup dark brown sugar
- 3tablespoons coconut oil, room temperature
- 6teaspoons cornstarch
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 2½teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼teaspoon orange extract or 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1¼cups canned pumpkin purée
- ¾teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅓cup brown sugar
- 1tablespoon nonhydrogenated margarine
- Pinch of salt
- 1cup pecan pieces, roughly chopped
Graham Cracker Crust
Filling
Topping
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Preparation
For the Crust
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate or springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Step 2
In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Drizzle in the oil or melted margarine. Use a spoon to blend the mixture thoroughly to moisten the crumbs, then drizzle in the soy milk and stir again to form a crumbly dough.
- Step 3
Pour the crumbs into the pie plate or springform pan. Using your fingers or a flat-bottom cup, press crumbs into the the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until firm. Let the crust cool before filling.
For the Pie
- Step 4
Make the topping: In a mixing bowl, use a fork to mash together brown sugar, margarine and salt until crumbly, then fold in the chopped nuts and stir to coat with the mixture. Set aside until ready to use.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Drain the cashews and blend with the banana, tofu, sugar, brown sugar, coconut oil, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla and orange extracts, and sea salt. Blend until completely smooth and no bits of cashew remain. Add the pumpkin purée, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and blend until smooth, then pour it onto the crust.
- Step 6
Bake the cheesecake for 45 to 50 minutes, removing the cheesecake halfway through the baking period to sprinkle on the topping. Return to oven to continue baking. Cheesecake will be done when the top is lightly puffed and the edges of the cake are golden. Remove it from the oven and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to complete cooling, at least 3 hours or, even better, overnight. To serve, slice the cake using a thin, sharp knife dipped in cold water.
Private Notes
Comments
I could not find vegan graham crackers, but I did find vegan gingersnaps and that is what I use for this recipe.
1st time: Made this with fresh lemon juice (instead of bottled), orange zest instead of orange extract, and forgot to put in the banana. The cooking time was a lot longer than suggested. It sat for 2 nights in fridge before eating and it was DELICIOUS. People couldn’t tell that it was vegan. 2nd time: added the banana, used lemon juice from a bottle and orange extract, and ate it about 1 hr after baking. Result was not as good. I’d skip the banana again and definitely make a day ahead of time!
Why does the recipe call for making the crust in a 9" pie plate then in the filling portion have the crust in a springform pan? From the picture it appears the springform pan was used.
This was my first vegan baking and it turned out pretty nicely. I’m in England so had to order canned pumpkin purée and silken tofu over Amazon! I also replaced graham crackers with Ginger Nuts (very crunch ginger flavoured biscuit). Everything was great but the shell came out a bit too hard, just on the outside, so it was difficult to cut into. That was probably the Ginger Nuts. I was impressed by how this simulated the texture of cream cheese. I skipped the banana because everyone else seemed to be. Also used my tiny Magic Bullet, which did a fine job but I had to blend in batches. I really missed that richness in the FLAVOUR of cream cheese though - that lip-smacking, milky-creaminess. The lemon juice & orange zest was also a bit of a miss for me. It di
Seriously good! I’ve been making vegan pumpkin pies for years and this will now be my go to. Made as is except didn’t have coconut oil so upped corn starch by 3 tsp. Made thanksgiving morning and put in fridge. By 6 pm was firmly set. Feels decadent and rich, perfectly spiced. Non-vegans also raved.
Everyone loved this (all my non-vegan family and friends, too!). It is silky, fresh, and absolutely delightful. You can slightly taste the banana, but it’s not overpowering. Made exactly as the recipe called for until the bake time. I gave it an extra 10 minutes and it set perfectly.
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