No Bake Vegan Cheesecake - Chocolate and Hazelnut Flavour!

5 from 6 votes

No Bake Vegan Cheesecake - Chocolate and Hazelnut Flavour!

Insanely smooth no-bake vegan cheesecake packed with dark chocolate and hazelnut praline. It's like a vegan nutella cheesecake but with extra class!Insanely smooth no-bake vegan cheesecake packed with dark chocolate and hazelnut praline. It's like a vegan nutella cheesecake but with extra class!

Total Time8

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: no bake vegan cheesecake

Servings:

Calories: 479kcal

Author: Richard Makin

Equipment

High Speed Blender

Ingredients

For the Crust

85 g hazelnuts (raw)
130 g digestive biscuits (or vegan graham crackers)
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch flaky sea salt
90 g vegan butter

For the Filling

65 g cashews (raw unsalted, soaked in boiled water for at least 30 minutes)
130 ml water
400 g vegan cream cheese
240 g caster sugar
100 g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon hazelnut praline paste
250 g vegan dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

For the Ganache

1 can coconut milk (the 15oz/425g variety - and make sure it's full fat!)
400 g vegan dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To Make the Crust

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan. Swirl the nuts constantly and watch like a hawk to make sure they don't burn. Once toasted, remove from the pan and add to a food processor.
To the food processor, add the digestives/graham crackers, sugar and salt.
In the frying pan you used for the hazelnuts, add the vegan butter. Place over medium heat and melt the vegan butter. If you're using a butter which browns (naturli or miyokos) then keep cooking after the butter has melted, stirring constantly. After the butter becomes foamy, it will start to turn slightly golden and may pick up a few flecks of nutty dark brown specks. Don't let it burn, you only want a little colour on the butter.
Add the vegan butter to the food processor and blitz until everything is coarsely ground.
Line the bottom of a 21cm spring-form cake tin with baking parchment. Add the base mixture and press into one flat layer with a spatula. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

To Make the Filling

Drain the soaking water off the cashews. Place the cashews into the cup of a high speed blender (nutribullet, ninja or magimix). Add 130 ml water to the cashews and blend until very smooth.
To the smooth cashew cream, add the vegan cream cheese and blitz until smooth. Once smooth, pour out into a bowl. Add the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and hazelnut praline paste.
In a double boiler, or in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, place the chocolate and melt while stirring constantly. Add it to the filling mix and stir to combine until completely smooth.
Once the filling is completely smooth, pour it into the cake tin with the hazelnut base and place in the fridge. Leave to set for at least five hours.

To Make the Ganache

Pour the can of coconut milk into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Gently bring to the boil.
As soon as it boils, remove from the heat and add your chocolate. If your chocolate is in a bar or large chunks, chop it finely. Leave for ten minutes.
After ten minutes is up, whisk the ganache vigorously until very smooth and glossy.
While still warm, pour the ganache over the chilled cheesecake (while still in the tin). Place back in the fridge for 30 minutes and allow to chill before slicing and serving.

Nutrition