What's better than a delightfully creamy slice of cheesecake? One with lush, colorful, and oh-so-flavorful raspberry swirls in it.
Did I say, slice? I meant bar. Cheesecake bar. Because sometimes making mini cheesecakes even more mini is something I do just for fun :)
I made these little cakes using a silicone log mold (this one). Makes it easy to make neat little individual cakes and adds some quirkiness. But it's definitely not essential here.
You can easily make this recipe in a regular round mini springform cheesecake pan (a 4" or 5" would work best, 5" making a flatter cake of course). And you can just swirl wisps of the raspberry jam into the cake for a pretty little single cake if you prefer.
Note: If you do go the single round cake route, I recommend using a different crust (food processor: ½ cup almonds, 2 soft medjool dates, ½ tablespoon maple syrup, ½ tablespoon coconut oil). The crust I made for these single mold cakelets doesn't hold together well like a typical raw cheesecake crust would, but works perfect for these little cakelets in a very minimalist crust sort of way.
Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Delightfully creamy no-bake vegan mini cheesecakes with lush, colorful, and oh-so-flavorful raspberry swirl worked in.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3 mini cakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: no-bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Almond Crust
- 2 tbsp toasted almonds
- ½ tbsp coconut sugar
Cheesecake Filling
- 3⁄4 cup raw cashews, pre-soaked*
- 3 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, softened (I used a de-scented kind)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
Raspberry Swirl
- 1 tbsp raspberry jam**
Toppings
- 1-2 tablespoon melted chocolate of your choice***
- dried edible rose petals OR dehydrated raspberries, crumbled
Instructions
- Place the silicone mini cake mold on a small metal tray (or flat plate), with the cavity openings facing up. Set aside.
- Grind the almond crust ingredients down into a fine crumble (either using a mini food processor or a mortar and pestle). Set aside for now.
- Blend all cheesecake filling ingredients together into a completely smooth consistency in a power blender. Spoon half this mixture, divided evenly, between 3 cavities of the mold. Try to spread it around the bottom of the cavity evenly.
- Carefully pipe the raspberry jam in a thin line running length-wise along the center of each mold cavity (on top of the filling you already spooned in there), dividing it evenly between the three molds.****
- Carefully spoon in the remaining cheesecake filling on top of the jam, dividing the mixture evenly between the three molds.
- Sprinkle the ground almond mixture lightly on top of each filled cavity, dividing the mixture evenly. Press it in very lightly with your fingers to ensure it will be held in place by setting into the cheesecake filling.
- Place the metal tray with the cake mold on it in the freezer and freeze for 5-6 hours or overnight to set.
- Once the mini cakes set, remove them from the mold and place them on a piece of parchment paper on the metal tray. Place back in the freezer while you prepare the drizzling chocolate. When ready to drizzle, remove the mini cakes from the freezer, drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with your desired toppings (optional).
- To serve the cake, thaw it out at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes until it softens a little and enjoy! Otherwise keep the cake frozen until ready to eat.
Notes
*To pre-soak nuts: place in a glass bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak for 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Then strain and discard the water. For a quick pre-soak, cover with boiled water and soak for 15 mins, then strain and discard water. (Note: this technique doesn’t preserve the nutrition of the recipe as well as the traditional soaking technique above). Additional Note: the purpose of soaking the nuts is to re-hydrate them and plump them up for blending into a smooth, cheesecake-like consistency. Proper soaking techniques also maximize nutrition and digestibility. If you’re interested in learning more about nut soaking and other dessert prep tips and tricks, I delve into these subjects in detail in my book Unconventional Treats.
**For the jam, feel free to use a thicker jam of your choice. St. Dalfour works well. Alternatively can use a homemade jam, like this recipe. Or if you prefer to make the recipe "raw"use a raspberry chia jam for the swirl (and also use raw agave instead of maple syrup and raw almonds instead of toasted to make the recipe truly raw).
***Can either gently melt (double boiler or microwave) a bit of your favorite non-dairy chocolate. Or can use this magic shell recipe (that's what I used, since it's a bit runnier so looks more elegant on this type of dessert).
****If you don't have a piping bag, you can always just carefully spoon the mixture in, just try to keep it running along the center of each mold, as it will naturally spread itself to the edges in the next step. Use about a teaspoon for each cavity.
Lissette says
Audrey, I can no longer have coconut oil. What oil can I use in its place in all of yours delicious raw cakes? Thank you.
Audrey says
Hi Lissette. I think it depends on the recipe. Sometimes you can use a bit of melted cacao butter in place of coconut oil, but it adds a slight chocolatey flavor to the cake (which works great sometimes, and maybe other times not so much depending on the flavor).
Alternatively I have lots of oil-free (or coconut-free) cake recipes which you can find here: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/all-recipes/ --> just select the "oil-free" tab at the top (+ "cake", etc.) to find them.