Method (shortbread)

1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees c fan and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream the dairy-free butter, vanilla and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Sift in the flour and mix to combine into a dough. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball, wrap in grease proof paper and place in to the fridge for 30 minutes. Chilling the dough will make it easier to work with, and the shortbread won’t spread out in the oven when baked! 
4. When the dough is firm to touch, roll out the dough until 1/2 inch thick, in-between 2 sheets of grease proof paper. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place into the lined trays.
5. Prick them middle of the shortbread with a fork and place into the middle of the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the shortbread is golden in colour. Repeat for the other tray, and allow the shortbread biscuits to cool fully before use. They will firm up as they cool.

Method (compote)

1. Place the strawberries into a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle over the sugar, cornflour / cornstarch and lemon juice.
2. Place on top 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 heatproof 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.
3. Store in a sealed container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. As the compote cools, it might go too thick to add into the cheesecake mixture. If this happens, give it a vigorous whisk before adding into the filling mixture.

Method (base)

1. Line an 8” loose base heart cake tin with grease proof paper.
2. In a blender, add in the digestive biscuits and blitz until fine and crumbly.
3. Add the dairy-free butter / margarine into a small saucepan, place on the hob over low heat and allow to melt.
4. Add the melted butter / margarine into the biscuit crumbs and pulse until the mixture is like wet sand. Test it’s ready my pinching some if the buttery biscuits together, and if it sticks together and hold’s it’s shape, it’s ready.
5. Compact the buttery biscuit crumbs into the base of the lined tin. The more compact it is, it’s less likely to crumble when serving. 
6. Place into the fridge while you make the filling.

Method (filling)

1. The cashew nuts will need to be soaked overnight in water. See notes* for more details.
2. Drain the cashew nuts from the water and place them into a food processor/blender along with the dairy-free cream cheese, coconut cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whizz up on high speed for around 5 minutes until smooth. Add some 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 mixture a few times and scrape down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated and smooth.
3. Pour half of the mixture into a separate bowl and add in a few tablespoons of strawberry compote. Stir to combine.
4. In stages, pour some of the plain cheesecake mixture into the tin, followed by some of the strawberry cheesecake filling, a swirl of compote topped with some crumbled shortbread (watch me make this cheesecake here). Adding the ingredients in stages will give you. Gorgeous ripple effect. 
5. Place into the fridge overnight to set. 
6. Once set, remove from the fridge, and push out the cheesecake (as the base is loose bottomed).
7. Place on a serving place and serve immediately or add on some extra decorations. 
8. I whipped up some Elmlea Plant Based cream, added it into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2D star tip nozzle and piped a swirl around the top edge of the cheesecake, followed with some more crumbled up shortbread and fresh strawberry halves.