Back to Basics: Baked Tofu Cheesecake

I’ve never made a true cheesecake but I’m pretty sure that I already made a tofu one a few years ago. After that, I prepared some raw cashew-based ones a bunch of times and, honestly, I haven’t seen a baked tofu cheesecake on the web for a while, do you?

Probably is because nowadays people try to avoid soy but I honestly find that it’s not a big health issue unless you have specific diseases or disorders. Eating a “normal” amount of unprocessed soy – like soy milk and yogurt, tofu, tempeh, miso, and edamame – could even be protective and prevent some types of cancer. You can read a lot of different articles about this subject simply by typing “soy cancer” on Google and restricting the research to the last year, so you’re sure to read the most updated information.

Why I prefer this cheesecake 100 times more than a raw cashew-based one? From a nutritional point of view, for the same amount of calories you can enjoy a slice that’s twice the size of the competitor – I know that this means a lot for other girls too – and contains a lot fewer fats and way more protein (just for reference, my 1/6 slice contains 270 calories, 13g of fats, 26g of carbs, and 12g of protein) . Not bad right? And the result is so creamy that I almost couldn’t believe it!

For the shooting, I was thinking about adding some fresh fruit or a compote, but then I thought to stay “basics” even in the photos. Minimalism is honestly my favorite style, that’s why Sasha is one of my favorite food photographers and I consider Simple Fare the most stunning cookbook ever. And by the way, the cheesecake was perfect without any topping for my taste.









THE RECIPE

I used some biscuits that didn’t come as I wanted, so I put them in the fridge after a few days, destined for this cheesecake.
Sub ghee with coconut oil for a vegan version and use gluten-free biscuits/cookies for a gluten-free one.
You can double the ingredients for the base if you prefer a thicker crust, but I love a deep layer of creamy stuff and just a little crunch at the bottom.

[ for 6 servings, a 6” cake ]

for the base
4.6oz stale biscuits (130g) – see notes
1 tbsp ghee (11g), melted
1 tbsp water (15ml)

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a cake pan – I sprayed some avocado oil.

Put the biscuits in a food processor and pulse until completely crumbled. Add ghee and water and pulse again until you obtain a mixture that stays together if pressed between two fingers.

Press it at the bottom of the cake pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn it down to 325°F.

for the filling
1lb silk tofu (450g), drained
10oz super firm tofu (280g)
1/3 cup coconut sugar (50g)
1/2 juicy lemon, juiced
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp potato starch (18g)

Blend both types of tofu, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Slowly add the potato starch whit the blender running.

Pour the mixture over the base and bake for 40 minutes. Let it cool inside the slightly open oven and transfer it to the fridge to set. It’s best eaten starting from one day later.

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  • Lo stile minimal delle tue foto è incantevole. :3
    Una domanda: volevo provare a fare questa torta per il mio ragazzo. Lui impazzisce per i dolci. Guardando i grammi di tofu e i grammi di zucchero, rimane leggermente “indietro” nella dolcezza?
    Il sapore del tofu prevarica?
    Grazie in anticipo 🙂

    • Grazie Barbara!
      Oddio, diciamo che il tofu si sente, essendo l’ingrediente principale! Potresti provare ad aggiungere un po’ + di aromi (vaniglia, cardamomo ecc) e aumentare lo zucchero, perché si, non è dolcissima. Puoi anche pensare di servirla con una glassa al cacao (cacao + sciroppo d’acero) o un coulis di fragole… ^_^

  • I made a tofu cheesecake years ago & was surprised by how good it was – good thing I didn’t try this one first. The coconut sugar has an odd taste not to my liking & the potato starch didn’t appear to do its job as a binder. Wish I hadnt spent the money on those ingredients – it was intended to be a surprise for my daughter who has to be dairy free for mothers day. Good thing I made a smaller sample for me to try before giving it to her – it all went went in the trash – truly an expensive fail in my opinion.

    • I’m sorry you don’t like the coconut sugar flavor and about the binding issue, it could totally be tofu’s fault – maybe it was too thin or wet – because it worked for me.

  • hello valentina, i love how minimal the recipe looks and that i can afford the ingredients 🙂 i don’t have potato starch on hand however and was wondering whether a flour could be used in its place, even finely ground oats? also, could 50g of coconut sugar be exchanged for a liquid sweetener or would that stop the cake from setting firmly? thank you.

    • Hi Michelle! You can use any other kind of starch – arrowroot, corn starch etc – and since I have never tried it with a flour I can’t promise a good result.
      Maybe some thick honey could work instead of coconut sugar, but you can also add some more starch to be sure it’ll settle 😉