No Bake Lime and Spirulina Cheesecake

For me, spirulina is one of those ingredients you buy with good intentions, use a little of, and the rest lies at the back of the cupboard waiting to be discovered in some future archaeological dig. With that in mind I was faced with either writing a secret message for future generations to unearth, or create a recipe using some of it. I opted for the latter (though I do still have plenty left, so who knows… maybe I’ll put a post-it note with the secrets to the universe on the back) and have come up with this lime and spirulina cheesecake.

This is another one of those recipes that uses agar agar to create a set filling, which sits comfortably atop a ginger biscuit base. Natural vegan yoghurt mixed with maple syrup provides the topping, which sets a little softer than the average topping, so needs a good bit of time in the fridge. I found that making this cheesecake the day before and letting it chill overnight was perfect for producing great results.

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Prep time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: 5 minutes. Setting time: 5 hours to overnight.

Make 1 large Cheesecake.

Ingredients:

For the Base:

1 pack (300g) ginger biscuits (make sure they’re vegan)

50g toasted almonds

150g pitted dates

50g vegan butter, plus extra for greasing

For the Filling:

1 x 400g block firm tofu, drained

2 x 250ml cartons of coconut cream

Juice and zest of 4 limes

2 tsp vanilla extract

50ml maple syrup

300g unrefined caster sugar

2 tsp spirulina powder

125g natural vegan yoghurt

½ tsp vegan green food colouring (optional)

2 tsp agar agar

For the Topping:

250g natural vegan yoghurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

50ml maple syrup

Zest of 2 limes

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Vegging Out: The Taste of Plant-Based Eating

The Latest Vegan Cookbook by Richard Church

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Method:

First make the biscuit base by putting the biscuits and the toasted almonds into a food processor and blitzing until you have fine crumbs. Now put in the dates and blitz again, until they are incorporated.

Grease a large, loose-bottomed cake tin with butter and line the sides with greaseproof paper (this will make for easier removal from the tin later). Pour the biscuit and date crumbs into the tin and press firmly against the bottom. Chill or freeze for 1 hour.

Once the base is set, make the cheesecake filling by putting all of the filling ingredients into a blender and blending a few times until completely smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender between goes to make sure everything gets mixed in. Now pour the blended filling into a saucepan and bring to a gently simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes to activate the agar agar, whisking often, then allow to cool a little. Keep whisking periodically as it cools to prevent lumps from forming.

Once it is cooled a little, but still pourable, pour the filling on top of the base, leaving a space for the topping, and chill to completely set (up to 2 hours).

Make the topping by whisking all of the topping ingredients, apart from the lime zest, in a bowl. Pour over the cheesecake filling and once again allow to set. 2-3 hours is the minimum, but overnight is preferable. Once it is fully set, sprinkle on the lime zest, lift off the tin and serve when ready.