These vegan ackee cheesecakes are made using raw cashews. When blended, they become silky and luxurious. Add the ackees to that and ladies and gentlemen we have a rich and creamy vegan dessert which is quick and easy to prepare. It requires no baking and can be made ahead, kept frozen and served whenever you like.
Cashews as a dessert base
It’s interesting how roasting nuts gives them a completely different depth of flavour. Roasted salted cashews can be loud and you wouldn’t expect them to become a creamy base for a dessert and not overpower it. This is why raw unsalted cashews are used so we get the wonderful texture with a mild flavour. Likewise, the ackee flavour is present but not overpowering.
I’ve done two variations: Ackee & Vanilla Crumble Cheesecakes using vanilla sandwich cookies which would appeal to those with a bit more of a sweet tooth and Ackee Cheesecake on a Raw Cashew Crust with “Stagga Back” Caramel.
What is stagga back?
For some of my non Jamaican readers you’re probably asking Stag who?
Stagga Back or Busta is a Jamaican hard candy made from wet sugar, coconut and ginger (a not so distant cousin of Trini “toolum”). Traditionally they are cut into small cubes and sold individually wrapped in grease-proof paper. They are named Busta after Sir Alexander Bustamante (former Prime Minister and national hero of Jamaica). Said to represent his firm character. They are much firmer than a toffee candy and do require some healthy teeth, notwithstanding they are enjoyed by many in Jamaica.
Two ingredient vegan caramel sauce
I set out to make a simple vegan caramel sauce. When I tasted the final product I was transported back in time; my little fingers fiddling frustrated with the grease-proof paper covering the candy, I may or may not have eaten a few pieces of paper in my day 😂. The paper was a negligible sacrifice made for the satisfaction that the busta provided.
And so I decided to called the caramel Stagga Back since it tastes so much like it. It uses only two ingredients: cane sugar and coconut cream (a pinch of sea salt is an optional third ingredient).
It’s deceptively easy to make and you absolutely must keep an eye on it as the sugar can go from caramel to burnt in a split second.
Finally, making caramel of any kind a heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan is your best bet for success every time and it’s no different here.
Both sets of cheesecakes were made in silicone muffin molds. You could however, use a 6 or an 8 inch round pan or even a square pan. The larger the pan you use the thinner the cheesecake will be. Which would be fine if you wanted to make cheesecake bars or mini bites.
What do you think? As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from the site, be sure to #amazingackee so I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time. Thanks for stopping by.
Tool used for this recipe:
Ninja handled this one like a boss.
I would usually use my food processor for these tasks but since I was blending a small amount of everything for the filling and the bases I figured the blade would miss the ingredients in the processor.
The small chopping bowl was the perfect size and I was able to blend the cream in about 5 minutes giving the motor a rest every now and again as it did begin to heat up from all the work I was giving it to do.
Ackee Cheesecake Filling
Creamy ackees and cashews combine to create a silky and luxurious vegan cheesecake filling
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cashews* (soaked overnight and drained, see notes)
- 3/4 Cup Parboiled ackees
- 1/2 Cup Agave/Cane Sugar/Maple Syrup**
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil***
- Juice of half a lemon approximately 2 tbsps
- 1 tsp Vanilla optional
Instructions
-
Place cashews in food processor and blend till very smooth wiping down the sides at intervals.
-
Add the remaining ingredients and blend till completely smooth. This may take up to 5 minutes depending on the power of your processor’s motor. Give a couple breaks in between to prevent it from overheating.
-
Pour or scoop into prepared molds. Freeze until set. De-mold and keep in freezer until ready to serve.
-
To serve either set in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes before serving or at room temperature fo about 5 minutes. How long this takes will depend on your room temperature and how hard your freezer is able to set items.
Recipe Notes
* To make the cashews even easier to puree: pour off the water from the night before then pour over boiling water and let sit for 5 to 15 minutes. This will warm up the cashews and make blending them a breeze.
** I used 2 tbsps of agave and 6 tbsps of cane sugar (1/2 cup = 8 tbsps). You can use any one or combination that you like. Whereas I like having a liquid sweetener for chilled/frozen set desserts so they are silky, I don’t usually likek agave on its own; I have a quite robust flavoured maple syrup and thought that it took away from the flavour of the ackee thus settling on the combination mentioned. If you have a mild maple syrup or like the maple flavour any way you may want to go with that.
*** I used refined coconut oil since I didn’t want its flavour to take over. You can use unrefined if you prefer however, it will taste very coconutty (which isn’t a bad thing depending on what you’re going for)
Ackee & Vanilla Crumble Cheesecake
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this creamy vegan ackee cheesecake. It uses one recipe for crust and crumble, it takes less than 15 minutes of active prep.
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 Recipe Ackee Cheesecake Filling
For the crust and topping:
- 24 Vanilla sandwich cookies
- 3 tbsps Agave
- 2 tbsps Coconut Oil
- Pinch Salt optional
Instructions
-
Process all ingredients till they start to clump together.
-
Press evenly into the base of 10 silicone muffin molds reserving some crumbs for the topping.
-
Scoop prepared cheesecake filling over base and sprinkle with reserved topping.
-
Freeze until set. De-mold and keep in freezer until ready to serve.
-
To serve either set in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes before serving or at room temperature fo about 5 minutes. How long this takes will depend on your room temperature and how hard your freezer is able to set items.
Ackee Cheesecake on Raw Cashew Crust
Vegan ackee cheesecakes are mild in flavour yet rich and creamy. They’re easy to make and require no baking.
Ingredients
For filling:
- 1 Recipe Ackee Cheesecake Filling
For Crust:
- 1 1/4 Cups Raw cashews
- 7 Dates soaked briefly in boiling water
- 2 tsps Coconut oil
- Splash of Vanilla optional
- Pinch Salt optional
To serve:
- 1 Recipe “Stagga Back” Caramel
Instructions
-
Process all crust ingredients till they come together in a “dough”. If you would like a more textured crust, pulse until it just starts to hold together.
-
Press the crust evenly into the base of 10 silicone muffin molds
-
Scoop prepared cheesecake filling over base. Freeze until set. Demold and keep in freezer until ready to serve.
-
To serve either set in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes before serving or at room temperature fo about 5 minutes. How long this takes will depend on your room temperature and how hard your freezer is able to set items.
-
Serve with caramel if desired.
“Stagga Back” Caramel
This caramel sauce is made with two ingredients and so named after the traditional Jamaican hard candy which it tastes like.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Cane Sugar
- 4 oz Coconut Cream* warmed slightly
- Pinch sea salt optional
Instructions
-
Sprinkle sugar evenly into a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot and set over medium heat.
-
Have coconut cream and a whisk ready.
-
Once the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan gently to dissolve the parts that haven’t melted as yet.
-
Once all the sugar has melted, it will quickly begin to change colour, once it becomes a medium caramel colour, remove it from the heat and pour in the coconut cream whisking well. It will splutter a bit, just keep mixing. You may have some hardened pieces of caramel which is fine, return it to the heat and continue to cook just until the pieces have completely melted.
-
At this point the sauce will be a good consistency for drizzling, if you want the sauce to be even thicker, you can cook it for another 3 to 5 minutes to allow some of the water to evaporate but bear in mind that coconut milk thickens when cool.
-
Pour into a clean container, cover and place in fridge till needed.
Recipe Notes
*I used the Thai Kitchen brand as it only contains: coconut, water and guar gum. You could use homemade coconut cream; if doing so add very little water when squeezing the coconut so you have more of a cream consistency than milk.