Caramel Biscuit Cheesecake (Vegan)

This recipe is the simplest vegan cheesecake I've seen, and my partner/baby daddy adored it, saying it was their favourite cheesecake (and they eat non-plant based desserts!). A rich buttery spiced biscuit base and smooth caramel topping, what's not to love?

For the base, you can use store-bought caramelized biscuits (Lotus biscuits in the UK), or make your own, which is what I did for this base. For the filling, I used the Lotus biscuit smooth spread - in the future, I may try making my own version of this as well, as now I have 3/4 jar of the most addictive spread in my house!!

This takes around an hour to prepare if you make the biscuits for the base. If not, you can prepare it in less than 20 minutes. It needs to set in the freezer for around an hour before it is ready to serve, and once it has set, you can leave it in the fridge for a few days (not that it will last that long). Beautifully caramel flavoured, and surprisingly, not too sweet, it's a firm favourite of our household.

Makes one 20cm cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the biscuits*:

• 150g plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 75g light soft brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp dairy-free milk
• 110g margarine or butter (vegan)

* Instead of making the biscuits, you could use 200g of lotus biscuits

For the base:

• 200g home-made biscuits (see above) or Lotus biscuits
• 60g margarine or butter (vegan), melted

For the filling:

• 100g Lotus biscuit smooth spread
• 600g vegan cream cheese (I used Violife)
• 45g granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. To prepare the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Stir together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and sugar. Cut the vegan butter into cubes and use your hands to rub it into the dry mixture. Add the dairy-free milk and bring to a ball.

2. Roll the dough out onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment - as the biscuits are going to be crushed for the base, you can just spread this out without cutting it into shapes. You want the dough to be around 1cm thick, and you can use a rolling pin or your hands to achieve this.

3. Bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly browned. Leave to cool completely.

4. For the base of the cheesecake, preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Crush 200g biscuits (homemade or storebought) until they are a fine crumb, then pour over the melted butter/margarine. Stir until well combined.

5. Grease and line the base of a springform 20cm round cake tin with baking parchment, and pour in the biscuit mixture. Smooth down so it is level using the back of a spoon. Bake for around 10 minutes, until browning on the edges. Leave to cool completely.

6. For the filling, whisk together the biscuit spread, cream cheese and sugar until you have an even light brown colour. Pour onto the cheesecake base and smooth the top.

7. Cover with clingfilm and place in the freezer for around an hour to set. If you leave it longer, no worries - just bring it out to room temperature around an hour before you want to serve, and it will defrost nicely in that time. 

8. Enjoy!