I’m not sure about you, but every time I see a vegan version of any popular dairy-based dessert, I get a little restless with excitement to make it myself at home. There’s certainly something unique about morphing a cheesecake into a vegan-friendly version. You’re truly in for a treat with this blissful vegan pumpkin version!
While many cheesecakes boast high sugar content, you’ll find nothing but guilt-free indulgence here! Unique to this recipe is the triple blend of detoxifying spices that count towards your daily intake of vitamins and minerals.
Cinnamon carries impressive disease-fighting antioxidants, cloves are a great digestive aid and cardamom has been used medicinally across the ages to help increase circulation.
I’m using tofu as one of the bases of the cheesecake, given its great texture and protein content. In tofu, you’ll find all eight essential amino acids, along with key minerals iron and calcium.
As you probably know, it’s important to keep an eye on your levels of these two minerals when embarking on a mostly plant-based diet. And what better way to up your intake than eating a delicious dessert!
Pumpkin also works with tofu to form that perfect cheesecake texture. The one cup of pumpkin used in this recipe, provides you with close to 60% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A, 26% of vitamin C and 23% fiber. Vitamin A is great for improving eye health and is also a powerful antioxidant.
Almonds create a great crunchy crust to enclose the creamy cheesecake filling. They are an ideal source of biotin, manganese and vitamin E. Biotin in particular, also known as B7, is great for us vegans as it’s commonly derived from animal products.
You’ll recognize a few coconut-derived ingredients including coconut milk, coconut flour and coconut oil. Pretty much anything coconut is known to carry health benefits. Even half a cup of coconut milk has over 50% of your recommended daily intake of manganese.
Manganese is a great mineral for healthy bones, an essential of the natural detox functions of our bodies, and also it works in unison with calcium. Coconut oil contains healthy fats to balance cholesterol and reduces any inflammation in the body. Again something you want to focus on implementing into your healthy diet.
Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
- The Filling
- 1 cup silken tofu crumbled
- 1 cup roasted pumpkin
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight
- 1/2 inch ginger piece peeled and grated
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp almond butter
- 2 tsp Erythritol
- The Crust
- 1 cup lightly toasted almonds
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1 tbsp almond milk
- Pinch sea salt
- To garnish: 4 oz dark chocolate melted
Instructions
- Prepare the crust first - add the almonds, cacao powder and coconut flour into the food processor and pulse two or three times, to obtain a chunky flour.
- Add the coconut oil, almond milk and sea salt, and pulse to incorporate.
- Transfer the crust mixture into a 8'' round pan, and spread it to form an even layer.
- Add the filling ingredients into the food processor and pulse to obtain a creamy mixture. (to obtain layers, mix the tofu and coconut milk first, and pour on top of the crust, then mix the rest of the ingredients and add them on top).
- Pour the pumpkin mixture and spread it evenly on top of the crust.
- Cover and freeze for 2 hours, then remove from the freezer and pour the melted chocolate on top.
- Let defrost for 15 mins, then cut and serve.
Notes
Looks amazing! Love how the pictures came out too thanks for sharing
Thanks so much, happy you like them! 🙂
This looks so delicious! Hard to believe it’s low carb!
Thank you, Bethany! Well, it really is 🙂