No-Bake White Chocolate & Cherry Cheesecake

This recipe is a paid partnership with iChoc.

I am so excited to share with you my latest creation, the Vegan and No-Bake White Chocolate & Cherry Cheesecake.

A quick and simple biscuit base, with a delicious vanilla white chocolate cheesecake filling with ripples of homemade cherry compote, topped with even more cherry compote and white chocolate chunks.

This cheesecake is bursting with flavour from the sweet and sour cherries to the creamy, vanilla white chocolate!

Speaking of white chocolate, I have partnered up with iChoc to bring this recipe to life.

This is a paid post with iChoc. For more information about product placement and partnerships, check out my Disclosure Policy).

iChoc has been one of my favourite dairy-free chocolates for years now. I’ve always been amazed with their vegan white chocolate. It’s just DELICIOUS!

Their vegan range includes:

Almond Orange
Choco Cookie
White Nougat Crisp (A personal favourite)
Classic
Super Nut
White Vanilla (which is used in this recipe)
Sunny Almond

Their chocolate is 100% vegan, 100% organic ingredients and is palm-oil free. Check them all out here.

iChoc chocolate is extremely light and creamy, you could totally devour a whole bar in one sitting (I’ve done that many of times- haha!).

Good quality vegan white chocolate is quite hard to come by. I’ve tried and tested lot’s of dairy-free white chocolate bars / drops to find ones that work in recipes, melting and adding flavour. Some vegan white chocolate can be grainy, yellow, have too much oil or just don’t taste nice.

iChoc have nailed this vegan white chocolate! It melts perfectly, it has a tasty bourbon vanilla flavour which isn’t overpowering and is SO smooth!

It’s made out of rice milk, which is always a winner for vegan chocolate haha!

In order to incorporate the chocolate into a cheesecake, you’ll want to melt it prior to adding it into the blender along with the other ‘cheesecake filling’ ingredients.

With white chocolate, I always find it handy to melt it along with some coconut oil to loosen things up and make for an ultra smooth chocolate.

Did you know iChoc is plastic-free? Their packaging may look like plastic but is actually made from sustainable wood fibre. Check it out here.

This is another reason and addition to my list of why I love this company.

You can’t have a white chocolate cheesecake without some sort of berry, and in this case, cherries!

White chocolate and cherry is a dream combination! The sweetness from the white chocolate mixes perfectly with the sour and tangy cherry!

This cheesecake is a serious winner with anyone you’ll serve it too.

Why make this cheesecake?

It has a fruity burst
It’s easy to make
It’s no-bake!!
The white chocolate gives off a delicious vanilla flavour
It is ultra creamy
Can be made gluten-free, just change the base to gluten-free biscuits

[ Notes* ]

Where to find coconut cream?

Coconut cream is the thick white cream which comes from a can of coconut milk.

Chill a can of full-fat coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. This will make the milk fat separate and solidify on top.

– Use a spoon to skim the solidified coconut cream from the top of the can and place the amount of cream this recipe requires into a bowl.

My top tip would be to chill the can, and when you come to open it, turn it upside down and open it that way. This means the water should be at the top, so all you need to do is pour that away and all of the cream will be at the bottom. Its much easier that way.

How to prepare the cashew nuts

In order to get an ultra-creamy cheesecake, it’s best to soak the cashew nuts in water overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours.

– Fill a medium-sized mixing bowl 3/4 full with water, add in the cashew nuts, cover with a tea towel/greaseproof paper and set aside at room temperature.

This makes the cashew nuts easier to blend and makes for a smoother filling.

Before using/adding into the blender, drain them in a colander.

If you don’t soak them, it will result in a grainy and less silky cheesecake. it also might be harder to blend in your blender as well.

Looking for more vegan cheesecakes? Look no further:

Preparation time: Overnight

Serves: 8-10

Chilling time: 6 hours / overnight)

Level: Easy

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Ingredients for the base

200g of plain digestive biscuits
80g of dairy-free butter

Ingredients for the cherry compote

200g of frozen cherries
50g of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of corn starch + 1 tablespoon of water

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling

140g of iChoc White Vanilla Chocolate
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
200g of cashew nuts ( see notes*)
60g of dairy-free cream cheese
200g of coconut cream (see notes*)
1 teaspoon of good quality vanilla extract

Decorations

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Method (base)

1. Line an 8-inch loose-based cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Add the dairy-free butter into a small saucepan, place on the hob over low/medium heat and melt.

3. Place the biscuits into a food processor, blend until fine then pour in the melted dairy-free butter and blend until like wet sand.

4. Pour into the lined tin and pack in very tightly.

The tighter the mixture is packed, the less likely it is it will crumble when you cut the cheesecake.

Place into the fridge whilst you make the compote.

Method (cherry compote)

1. Place the frozen cherries into a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle over the sugar.

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water into a paste and add it into the pan with the cherries.

2. Place ontop onto the hob over a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. This will take around 5-8 minutes Keep stirring with a heat proof spatula or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from sticking and burning.

It will start to turn thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool before using. As it cools, it will thicken up even more and turn into a jellified sauce.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge before use.

Method (cheesecake filling)

1. Fill a small saucepan 3/4 full with water and place on the hob over low/medium heat. Add the white chocolate and coconut oil into a heatproof bowl and place the bowl on top of the saucepan creating a bain-marie. Allow the chocolate and coconut oil to melt together, stir to help them combine.

You want this to be smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

2. Drain the cashew nuts from the water (see notes*) and place them into a food processor/blender along with the melted white chocolate and coconut oil mixture, cream cheese, coconut cream (see notes*) and vanilla extract.

3. Whizz up on high for around 5 minutes until smooth. Add a spoonful at a time of more coconut cream if needed.

I use a ‘Kitchenaid Powerplus blender’. It’s best to use a high-speed blender if possible as the mixture is quite thick, and you want it as smooth as possible.

You might need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides a few times.

4. Spread a thin layer of the filling over the base, then spoon on some of the cherry compote. Repeat this until you have used up all of the filling. Leave some compote for the topping. Level the top of the cheesecake a spoon and pop back into the freezer to set.

Allow the cheesecake to set fully.

This will take around 4-6 hours (I leave mine to set overnight).

Store in a sealed container in the freezer and defrost fully before serving.

Once defrosted, save any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within a few days.