Toffee apple cheesecake

We do a vegan bake-off competition at my work each year. This year there were 21 of us taking part which meant two bakes being bought into the office each Monday through October and November – which made getting up on Mondays that much easier!

Here’s my entry, a toffee apple cheesecake, which seemed fitting just before Halloween and bonfire night. The cheesecake was adapted from Meera Sodha’s recipe and it worked really well after a disastrous first attempt with Violife cream cheese – which boiled like glue and set like candle wax. I am delighted to say this cheesecake went down very well and I made it into the finals!

Cheesecake

• 100g walnuts
• 100g pistachios
• 100g ginger biscuits
• 30g vegan butter, melted
• 2 tbsp maple or golden syrup
• Pinch salt
• 1 cooking apple, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp sugar (caster or light brown)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 750g vegan cream cheese (the best one to use is Sheese, don’t use Violife – it doesn’t work!)
• 300g silken tofu, drained (Clearspring is best)
• 150ml vegan double cream
• 200g caster sugar
• 30g cornflour
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract

Toffee sauce and apple and pecan topping

• Toffee sauce and apple and pecan topping300ml double cream
• 100g soft light brown sugar
• 75g butter
• a few drops vanilla extract
• two eating apples, very thinly sliced (not peeled)
• a handful of maple pecan nuts (drizzled with maple syrup and baked for 5 mins at 180C)

1. Heat the oven to 220C.
2. Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
3. Put the nuts, biscuits and melted butter in a food processor, add the syrup and salt, then pulse to a coarse crumb. Don’t overdo it!
4. Tip the mix into the tin and press it down evenly over the base of the tin.
5. Lightly cook the cubes of apple in a teaspoon or two of water with the sugar until they are just soft – don’t let them turn to mush. Add more sugar if needed.
6. Put the vegan cream cheese, tofu, cream, sugar, cornflour, lemon zest and vanilla in the food processor and blitz to a smooth cream.
7. Add the apple and gently fold it into the mix.
8. Pour this evenly over the nutty base and bake for 50 minutes, turning the tin once halfway through. When cooked, the cheesecake may have some darker patches on top and a gentle wobble.
9. Make the toffee sauce by melting the cream, sugar, butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt together in a pan.
10. Bring to a low boil and keep stirring until the liquid is a thick, golden toffee colour.
11. Spoon a thin layer of toffee onto the cheesecake. Core, slice and arrange the two apples on top. Use a pastry brush to thinly coat the apple slices with toffee sauce (this will stop them going brown).
12. Chill in the fridge for a few hours at least (or overnight) then unwrap and serve with the remaining sauce in a small jug.