Vegan Matcha-Miso Double Cheesecake
This decadent Japanese cheesecake features two layers: a baked matcha layer topped by a whipped miso cream, with silken tofu as the secret ingredient.
Introduction
This vegan dessert is roughly inspired by the famous ‘double fromage’ cheesecake from Hokkaido’s Le Tao bakery, which features a rich baked layer beneath a silky whipped layer. This version uses a generous quantity of matcha in the baked layer and a touch of miso in the top one, to replicate some of the tang of cream cheese. The fundamentals for this recipe came from Philip Khoury’s A New Way to Bake, which is an outstanding resource if you’re looking to de-animalise your baking.
Ingredients
| FOR THE CRUST | |
|---|---|
| 50g (1¾ oz/3½ tbsp) | plant-based butter, melted, plus extra for greasing |
| 200g (7 oz) | digestive biscuits (graham crackers) |
| 25g (1 oz/2 tbsp) | sugar |
| a pinch of sea salt | |
| FOR THE BAKED LAYER | |
| 350g (12 oz) | firm silken tofu |
| juice of ½ | lemon |
| 70g (2½ oz/scant ⅓ cup) | sugar |
| 20g (¾ oz/1 tbsp) | maple syrup |
| 2 tbsp | matcha |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 25g (1 oz/scant ¼ cup) | cornflour (cornstarch) |
| 10g (½ oz/3½ tbsp) | plain (all-purpose) flour |
| FOR THE WHIPPED LAYER | |
| 150g (5½ oz) | firm silken tofu |
| 150ml (5 fl oz/scant ⅔ cup) | plant-based whipping cream |
| 90g (3¼ oz/¾ cup) | icing (powdered) sugar |
| 10g (½ oz/2 tsp) | smooth white miso |
| 1 tbsp | vanilla bean paste |
| 30g (1 oz/2 tbsp) | plant-based butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly |
| 4 | strawberries, halved, to decorate |
Method
For the crust, line the base of a 23 cm (9 in) springform cake tin (pan) with baking paper and lightly grease it with plant-based butter.
Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to make a fine crumb, then pour in the plant-based butter and sugar and process until well mixed. Stir in the salt, then spread this mixture out in the lined tin, packing it down firmly in an even layer with your hands.
Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300°F/gas 2).
Blitz all of the ingredients for the baked layer together in a food processor until smooth (there will be some tiny flecks of unblended tofu – that’s fine). Scoop the filling mixture onto the biscuit base and spread it out evenly across the tin. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill completely.
For the whipped layer, combine all the ingredients except the plant-based butter (or oil) and strawberries in a large bowl and whip with an electric beater until thick and fluffy, somewhere between the texture of a custard and a mousse – this will take several minutes. Pour in the melted plant-based butter, a little at a time, as you continue to whip, to distribute it evenly throughout the mixture before it solidifies. The finished mixture will be glossy and smooth and still semi-liquid. Pour the whipped tofu cream on top of the cooled matcha layer, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Serve cold and decorate each slice with half a strawberry.
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