Vegan Cheesecake: Lemon-Lime Cheesecake with Fresh Mango Sauce

What do you think of first when you hear “dessert”? Chocolate? Ice cream? Cake? … or … Cheesecake?!

I used to love cheesecake, but wow I felt awful after eating it.

With vegan cheesecake, it’s all pleasure!

This vegan cheesecake recipe comes from LTEV. While many raw cheesecakes use coconut oil, this one doesn’t.

This raw lemon-lime vegan cheesecake uses coconut butter, which is similar to nut butter – it is the whole coconut meat pureed into butter. It makes the magic in this recipe (and in many dessert recipes, imho).

I discovered Artisana Coconut Butter about 9-10 years ago, and have loved it ever since. Slowly it has become more available in stores (I used to order it online), and slightly more affordable.  While it’s not inexpensive, it is worth the food dollar for special desserts like a vegan cheesecake!

Also, you can make coconut butter at home with a good food processor or blender. See my tips in PPF for more on that.

This vegan cheesecake has a beautiful citrus combination of lemon and lime, and it’s topped with a sweet, fresh mango sauce. Fully flavorful and luscious.

For another vegan cheesecake recipe, see this post.

Hope you enjoy! x Dreena

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Lemon-Lime Cheesecake with Fresh Mango Sauce

Raw cheesecakes trump any tofu or soy cream cheese version. This one combines the tang and flavor of both lemon and lime juice, and has a tropical twist with coconut in the crust and a fresh mango sauce for serving. The recipe makes a fairly large batch of mango sauce. You can halve the batch or save the extra to top other foods, such as yogurt or waffles.

Course Dessert

Servings 8

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup raw almonds soaked preferably, this is about ¾ cup raw, unsoaked almonds, see note
• 1 cup pecans soaking not necessary
• ¾ cup pitted medjool dates
• ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Filling:

• 3 1/4 cups soaked raw cashews soak first, then measure – this is about 2 ½ cups unsoaked
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp raw agave nectar little generous; can substitute maple syrup but the cheesecake will be darker in color
• 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped out
• 1/2 cup coconut butter packed (I use Artisana)

Mango Sauce: (see note)

• 1 1/2 cups frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• ¼ cup raw agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp orange zest
• Pinch sea salt

Instructions

Wipe the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan to lightly oil (can use coconut butter or oil). Prepare the crust: Place the almonds and pecans in a food processor. Pulse until very crumbly, then add the remaining ingredients and process until the mixture will hold together when pressed. Transfer the mixture to the prepared springform pan. To prepare the filling, place all the filling ingredients in a high-powered blender (see note). Puree until very, very smooth and lightened in color. Pour the mixture over the crust and tip the pan back and forth to distribute evenly. Cover the pan with foil and pop into the freezer to set (you can freeze overnight, if you like, but freeze at least 3 to 4 hours so it can become firmer). Serves 6-8.

To prepare the mango sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth; refrigerate in a covered container until ready to serve.  To serve, remove the cake from the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour to soften slightly before slicing. Serve with the sauce.

Notes

If This Apron Could Talk: It’s helpful to make the crust a day ahead if you have the time; it spreads out the preparation work and makes for easier cleanup!