Delicious, festive, and cool in the July heat — this Red, White, and Blue Vegan Cheesecake is the perfect dessert for your Fourth of July barbecues and gatherings! No baking necessary, which is always my preference this time of year!
Remember how Michael and I aren’t eating desserts right now? LOL! Well, here I go again sharing another irresistible sweet treat! I’ve been waiting probably six months for July to roll around so I could share this cheesecake with you, so of course, I had to make it! I’m not sure what initially gave me the idea for it, but I love the colorful layers, illustrating the spirit of our holiday.
For the crust, we have a standard no-bake vegan crust of nuts and dates with a pinch of salt. I wanted to use pecans for this one but forgot to buy some (oops) so used almonds instead, both taste great! The crust ingredients you will mix in the food processor until you can press it into a dough on the bottom of a parchment-lined eight by eight inch baking dish.
It’s red, white, and blue but since you start from the bottom and work your way up, the first layer you’ll make is actually the blue one, made of blueberries, of course! Blueberries, with soaked cashews, coconut cream, coconut oil, lemon juice, and maple syrup. You can also add a little food coloring (vegan please!) to give it more of a blue color. Otherwise, it’ll look more purple than blue. Those ingredients are blended and poured over your nut crust. You will then want to immediately stick it in the freezer while you work on the next layer.
Since I’m already using coconut cream an coconut oil as a part of the base, I thought coconut would be the appropriate flavor for the white layer of this cheesecake. In addition to the cream and the oil, just like the blueberry layer, you will add cashews, maple syrup, and lemon. Rather than the strawberries, this time around you will need dried, shredded coconut and coconut extract. No food coloring is necessary because we will, of course, be leaving the coconut layer white! When you’re done blending these ingredients you next need to remove the cheesecake base from the freezer, pour in this white layer, and pop it back in the freezer.
There are so many delicious red fruits, which made it hard to pick one to use for the top layer, but I decided to go with an American favorite and use strawberries. Perhaps because they’re coming towards the end of their season, but where I live, strawberries also seem to always be on sale this time of year! The strawberry layer is pretty identical to the blueberry layer, only changing the berry and the color of food dye. Again, the dye isn’t really necessary. Without any, it is still pink, but you can add some drops if you wish for a darker color.
After the final layer is poured onto the cheesecake, it now stays in the freezer until completely frozen. I did mine in the evening and then pulled it out the next morning. After about an hour at room temperature, you can run a knife around the edge of the dessert and pull it out of the dish by the sides of the parchment paper. You will then want to transfer the cheesecake onto a cutting board and cut it into nine equal squares. Now place it into the refrigerator until completely defrosted (this could take up to three hours, so make sure to make it ahead of time!).
When the cheesecake is defrosted, you’ve only the fun part left! It’s fun for me anyway because I like to be creative. Taking strawberries slices, blueberries, and coconut flakes, decorate the tops of the squares. You can gently press the berries down so they stay in place.
The cheesecake is now ready to enjoy! I did, of course, have to have some (who can resist?!), but I gave a lot of it away to help us resist temptation and of course to get you non-vegan opinions of this delicious treat! This one got several thumbs up! That makes it, vegan-made and omni-approved!
If you enjoy it as we do, please leave a comment below, or take a pic of yours and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
Red, White, and Blue Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust...
- 1 cup pecans or almonds (approximately)
- 1 cup pitted dates (approximately)
- pinch sea salt
For the blue layer...
- 1 cup blueberries, plus more for decorating
- 1 cup *raw cashews soaked for at least 4 hours (overnight if not using a high-speed blender)
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup **coconut cream
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup or to taste
- blue vegan food coloring (optional)
For the white layer...
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked for at least 4 hours (overnight if not using a high-speed blender)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened, coconut flakes or shredded coconut, plus more for decorating
- 1/4 + 2 Tbsp coconut cream
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp coconut extract
For the red layer...
- 1 + 1/4 cup strawberries, plus more for decorating
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked for at least 4 hours (overnight if not using a high-speed blender)
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup or to taste
- red vegan food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Place all crust ingredients into the food processor and mix on high until it looks like crumbs. Test to see if a dough can be formed by pressing the "crumbs" between two fingers. If the mixture is too dry, add a few more dates — if too moist, add a few more nuts.
- Line a *deep 8" x 8" baking dish with parchment paper, leaving the paper long on the sides to grab and pull out later. If leaving two sides of the baking dish bare, make sure to oil them thoroughly. Transfer the crust mixture into the baking dish. Spread the mixture evenly and press down to form a crust. Place the baking dish into your freezer.
- Add all blue layer ingredients into your blender (preferably a high-speed) and blend on high until smooth. You can add a few drops of vegan food coloring to attain more of a blue color if you desire. I added a little at a time until I reached my desired coloring. Remove the baking dish from the freezer and pour your blue layer on top of the crust, spreading evenly with a silicone spatula. Transfer baking dish back to the freezer before continuing.
- Rinse out the carafe of your blender and next add in all white layer ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. Remove baking dish from the freezer, pour the white layer on top of the blue layer, gently spread the top to make it even and immediately transfer baking dish back to the freezer.
- Add all red layer ingredients into your blender (since the precious layer was white it's up to you whether you care to rinse it out this time). Blend on high until completely smooth. If desired, add drops of vegan food coloring to acquire more of a red color. Remove the baking dish from the freezer, pour the red layer on top of the white layer. Gently, smooth out the top with a silicone spatula and place the baking dish back into the freezer until cheesecake is completely frozen (I made this in the evening and left it in overnight).
- Remove cheesecake from the freezer and let it sit at room temperature until the edges look defrosted (about an hour). Take a knife and run it along all the edges to separate the cheesecake from the sides of the baking dish. Grab onto the parchment paper at each side and lift the cheesecake out transferring it onto a cutting board.
- Cut the cheesecake into 9 equal squares. Now place the cheesecake, on the cutting board (or in another dish but one that's big enough to leave a little room between each piece) into the refrigerator until completely defrosted. This could take up to 3 hours, depending on how frozen your cheesecake is and the temperature of your fridge.
- Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator and decorate with strawberry slices, blueberries, and coconut flakes. The berries can be gently pressed into place. The cheesecake can now be enjoyed or keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Happy 4th!