Easy vegan pumpkin chai cheesecake which is healthy, is gluten free and has no refined sugar.
To be honest, I've recently felt very conflicted with my cake business.
Due to the privatised nature of cake businesses, I haven't published the recipes of any of my raw cheesecakes. However, this clashes with my love for food blogging and sharing recipes with others.
I love allowing others to enjoy the same foods that I enjoy in my own kitchen. I love seeing other people get excited about being able to recreate my treats.
However, I'm breaking the rules this time. I made a cheesecake as a much-needed treat for myself and I am going to share the recipe with you!
It's quickly cooling down in Australia, so it only made sense for me to make a cake inspired by Autumn/Winter. If you love pumpkin soup and creamy chai drinks, you will love this cake!
I used a special Indian Masala Chai tea blend from West End Tea Co, a small tea company in Brisbane Australia. The tea blend contains cinnamon, star anise, clove, cardamom seeds, fennel seeds and nutmeg (everything is organic except the star anise). According to LiveStrong, cinnamon helps reduce blood-sugar levels and has powerful anti-bacterial properties. Star anise has similar benefits and nd also acts as an antioxidant which is great for the cooling weather!
The tea blend has much more personality than any other chai blends I've tried. It's robust yet delicate. It's slightly sweet, got a slight zing and is reminiscent of some exciting, mysterious and shall I say 'exotic' location overseas.
I've used other chai blends in cheesecakes before but they just don't have the same punch that this tea blend has. I've been using a lot of West End's tea blend recently. Sipping on a cuppa gives me the rare chance to take a break and practice some mindfulness during my 12+ hour days. They are the perfect way to ensure I hydrate myself and just give me zen.
After all, no one wants a cranky person making their cakes!
I paired the chai flavour with pumpkin to give it some extra robustness and depth. Plus, it makes complete sense to pair a wintery drink with a wintery vegetable. The base is crunchy and gluten free. The cake has 2 creamy layers of spiced pumpkin cheesecake and chai cheesecake.
The decorations look like a pixie's playground (just how I like it). However, they are all mysteriously carefully spiced to complement the chai flavour of the cheesecake.
The cake is topped with whipped cinnamon coconut cream, blueberry cheesecake swirls lightly spiced with ginger, colourful bliss balls spiced like gingerbread and a chai tahini caramel. The cake is colourful and playful yet reminiscent of a warm chai tea or a warm hug in Australia's cooling weather.
If you make this cake, you definitely don't need to have all of these toppings. I'd suggest just doing a couple of them or using anything in your pantry. You don't even need decorations! Either way, just enjoy it and remember to do lots of taste testing ;).
Did I say how beautifully creamy it was?
Chai and pumpkin (almost) raw cheesecake
Ingredients
Pumpkin cheesecake layer
- ½ – ¾ cup pumpkin, chopped into small cubes
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
- ¼ cup canned coconut cream
- ⅛ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut butter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder
- Dash of cinnamon and ginger, to taste
Base
- ⅓ cup dates, soaked in water overnight
- ¾ cup mixture of any nuts, seeds or coconut
- 1 tsp chai tea leaves, + ⅛ cup water
- Pinch any good quality salt
Chai cheesecake layer
- 1 cup cashews, soaked in water overnight
- 1 tsp West End Tea Co Indian Masala Chai leaves, + ⅛ cup plant-based milk
- ⅓ cup canned coconut cream
- ⅛ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut butter
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Optional toppings
- Whipped coconut cream: ¼ cup coconut cream, cinnamon to taste
- Colourful bliss balls: ¼ cup nuts and seeds, 2 tbsp rice malt syrup, natural colourings as desired
- Chai-spiced caramel: ¼ cup dates, soaked in water overnight, ⅛ cup tahini, leftover chai cheesecake
- Fruity chai frosting: Any type of fruit, leftover chai cheesecake
- Additional: Any chocolate with spices, nuts with spices, whatever is in your pantry!
Instructions
- The night before, soak the dates (for the base) and the cashews (for the pumpkin and chai layers) in enough water to cover. Steep the chai leaves in water (for the base) and in coconut milk (for the chai cheesecake later). Store in fridge.
- Preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking tray and 14cm cake tin with baking paper.
- Spread the pumpkin on the lined baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or the pumpkin has turned golden brown and reduced in size.
- For the base: Drain the dates and strain the chai leaves and water reserving the water. Add all ingredients to a food processor and whizz until combined. Press evenly into the bottom of the cake tin.
- For the chai cheesecake layer: Drain and rinse the cashews. Strain the coconut milk and chai leaves reserving the milk. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until extremely creamy. Remove and set aside.
- For the pumpkin cheesecake layer: Drain the cashews. When the pumpkin has cooled, add all ingredients to a food processor. Blend until extremely creamy and pour onto the cheesecake base. Smooth the top and put in the freezer to set.
- When the pumpkin layer has partially set, pour the chai cheesecake into the cake tin reserving a little cheesecake for decorations. Smooth the top of the cake and put in freezer to set.
- Optional Toppings: use any of the following toppings or use your own toppings to decorate the cheesecake as desired.
- Whipped coconut cream: Simply place the coconut cream in a bowl and whip with an electric beater until stiff. Gently stir through cinnamon.
- Bliss balls: Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and whizz until combined. Separate mixture in and add colourings if desired. Shape into balls or as desired.
- Chai caramel: Add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and whizz until smooth.
- Fruity chai frosting: Add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and whizz until smooth.
Hi there! This look amazing cake. I wonder, any other substitute for coconut cream and coconut butter. The smell of coconut is too strong for me.
Thanks ?
Aw thank you! Substituting coconut cream and coconut butter is a little difficult for this recipe. You can substitute the cream with medium-firm tofu and coconut butter for cacao butter. However, cacao butter has a strong taste and is very expensive. Also, you would have to put more cacao butter as tofu has less fat than coconut cream. To avoid coconut, here is a better recipe for you: https://rainbownourishments.com/creamy-mango-passionfruit-bars/
Oh I wonder if Turkish delight would go with this!
Yes, I don't see why not!
This looks amazing! What are the little pink bits between the blueberry chai cheesecake frosting, editable flowers, broken bliss ball?
Where abouts are you in Brisbane so we can buy your cakes?
Thanks Leanne! The little pink bits are indeed broken bliss balls!
Unfortunately I closed down my cake business, which you can read about here. I'm also not based in Brisbane (I'm based in Canberra but went to Brisbane for work a few years ago). However, there are many fantastic cake business owners in Brissy so I hope you find something delicious!
HELLO! Ummm I love everything you do and will be attempting this recipe tomorrow for Thanksgiving here in America! Thank you SO much for putting it up. I was wondering though, do I need to thaw it at all before serving or just serve it straight outta the freezer?
Aw, thanks for your comment! Ideally you'd thaw it before serving it but I think it can be eaten half frozen like many other cheesecakes (I haven't tried it with this one but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work).
Beautiful!!! I live in Italy: your cake is asbolutely amazing!! Love love love
Aw, thank you so much lovely xo
Hello!!
I'm new in raw baking/cooking and I was looking for a pumpkin cake and when i sow your, I just fall in love!!! They look amazing!! The taste must be incredible!!
I just wanted to say thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge.
I'm gonna definitely try this recipe and I'll let you know how it looks/tastes.
A big hug from your new follower from Mallorca, Spain!!
Hi Lorena! Thanks for your comment and kind words 🙂 I hope you enjoy making this recipe - I love pumpkin and it was delicious and I hope you enjoy eating it too. Much love xo
This is stunning! I am sad that I live in Toronto and cannot try your cakes in person.
Thank you so much Joy! I would love to travel more one day and offer my cakes to more people around the world 🙂