I love Valentine’s Day. It’s not that I’m crazy about making a huge deal over it with Eric and I, but I love all the hearts, red and pink, etc. I love making treats for friends and family. It’s like having a second chance to show your love to them after Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. That’s such a busy time of year and although I often want to do more for people I run out of time. Luckily Valentine’s Day always comes so quickly and I get to make up for it then. This year I’ve had fun making heart shaped blueberry muffins, chocolate mint cupcakes and mini cheesecakes!
The cupcakes are of course from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, the blueberry cupcakes are from an old non vegan muffin book where I simply substitued with egg replacer and coconut milk and the cheesecakes were from VegCooking. The only thing I did differently was I also added a little lemon zest and I skipped pie filling on top and garnished with fresh kiwis.
This was my first attempt at vegan cheesecake and I must say it was fabulous!! I made them for Eric’s birthday since it’s really the only sweet thing he’ll eat. I will tell you that you must be patient and allow them to cool over night. I didn’t make them until his actual birthday so since we were stranded on vacation with the storm so I didn’t have time to allow them to set enough. It was still delicious but the consistency was far better the next day. The only thing I wasn’t happy about was the crust was a bit gooey. I’m not sure if my spring form pans allowed the water to leak in a bit or if it has to do with the recipe. I have always baked my cheesecakes in a water bath but maybe next time I’ll try skipping that to see if the crust turns out crunchier.
Over all, I’d highly suggest this very simple recipe for those of you who are missing cheesecake from your pre-vegan days
