… and all at once, summer collapsed into fall and everything became pumpkin-spiced, including this vegan pumpkin swirl cheesecake!
Oh hi everyone. I haven’t written anything since Leung and I were in Whistler together a month and a half back. Yikes, I am horrible. Now that autumn has arrived, my meals have consisted of pumpkin, cinnamon, pumpkin, cinnamon, and more pumpkin. I don’t know if autumn actually changes my taste preferences, or whether I just need justification to eat pumpkin spiced things… is anyone on the same boat? It’s like September hits and suddenly all you ever want in life is squash, pumpkins, and pumpkin-spiced baked goods. If you can relate, you’re in luck cause today we’ll be sharing our Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake recipe!
Canadian Thanksgiving came early this year, and you bet we celebrated with a turkey-less feast last weekend! Because my family is dispersed in different places, I didn’t have a family thanksgiving dinner so my main thanksgiving was just inviting some of the best company over to my house and celebrating them with a lovely plant-based Friendsgiving dinner. I’m seriously (SERIOUSLY!) so grateful for every one of them because they brighten up my life in the bestest of ways and they never fail to pick me up when I’m down. I am truly so blessed to have such wonderful people to live life by my side, to laugh until I can barely breathe, to smile until my cheeks hurt, to rant to when I’m feeling frustrated, and to cry just of pure joy. As they say, friends are the family you choose for yourself. It’s the people in your life that want you in theirs, the ones who stand by you, tell you what needs to be heard, and willingly do stupid things with you right by your side.
For our American friends, if you need some thanksgiving inspiration for your own plant-based feast later in the year, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we will be happy to provide you with some ideas/suggestions regarding your own turkey-less thanksgiving! For my own Friendsgiving, I made a spread of some recipes from one of my all-time favourite Canadian blogs Hot for Food. Lauren is so creative with her recipes and her creations never fail to amaze me when I try them out in my own kitchen. But of course, no meal is ever complete without dessert, and by dessert I should actually be typing the plural form cause you need at least 2-3 desserts for thanksgiving! Pumpkin pie, apple crumble, sticky toffee pudding, andddd this vegan pumpkin swirl cheesecake to impress the pickiest eater of your guests!
When Leung brought out this cake to another one of our friendsgiving feasts (yes, we had two friendsgivings!) that our good friend Shirley hosted, everybody ooh’ed and ahh’ed as the cake made its way to the table. Not only does it look extremely impressive on the table, it tastes just as good! I usually am not a big fan of nut cheesecakes, but I really did enjoy this one and so did the rest of the party. We gobbled it right up, and there was none left on the table way before people made their way to eating pumpkin pie.
For our Canadian friends, we hope you all had just of an eventful and abundant thanksgiving as we did! We are so thankful for everyone who takes the time to read our blog and try our recipes; it truly means a lot more to us than you think! And with that, Happy Fall y’all!
- CRUST
- ⅔ cup nuts
- ⅔ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 16 pitted small dates
- A pinch of salt
- FILLING
- 1½ cup raw macadamia nuts*, soaked overnight and then drained
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 (14 oz) can of coconut cream
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- For the crust, blend the nuts and coconut together until semi-fine. Add the dates and salt and blend until a dough forms. The mixture should hold its shape when pressed between two fingers. If it is too crumbly, add water 1 tsp at a time until the consistency is right.
- Press about ⅔ of the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of a lined removable-bottom cake pan (mine was 7" in diameter). Roll the remaining crust mixture into balls or decorative shapes.
- Wipe the food processor bowl clean and then blend the macadamia nuts until smooth. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, salt, coconut cream, and vanilla and blend until completely smooth and uniform.
- Transfer ½ of the filling mixture from the food processor into a separate bowl. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice to the remaining filling in the food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add the two filling mixtures to the cake pan one spoonful at a time, alternating between colours, until the whole pan is filled. Using a thin knife or a skewer, swirl the top to make a pretty design. Chill the cake in the freezer overnight until completely firm.
- Once firm, decorate the top and chill again if needed.
- Take the cake out of the freezer at least 1 hour before serving to let it soften a bit. Release the cake from the pan and cut with a hot, sharp knife.
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