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Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake

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About this time of the year, I begin to hear a familiar sound.

Ring-a-ling-a-ding.

It’s the ice cream man out in the distance, tugging his string of little bells that are tethered to his cart. And just like Pavlov’s dogs, I respond. It’s time to revive my cravings for cold treats. (By the way, has anyone ever seen an ice cream woman before? I sure haven’t.)

Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com

Every year, I crave Neapolitan ice cream. Sometimes, a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich is good enough. Other times, I just want to stick my spoon into a tub of that stuff. Here’s the thing—I’ve developed a strategy for my Neapolitan ice cream consumption. Nothing complex, but I do have a method. First, I get my least favorite flavor out of the way. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s the chocolate. Why is it always SO bitter? Then, I ease my way into vanilla to clear the palette. Finally, strawberry heaven.

I feel like everyone has a strategy too. You just don’t realize it yet. Or maybe it’s just me.

Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com

A few months ago, I was struck by this 7-ingredient vegan cheesecake from Minimalist Baker. Now, I’m no stranger to vegan cheesecakes, but I’ve never made one with cashew cream.

Cashew cream. Do you know about it? Have you played with it before? It does remarkable things in vegan cooking and can be used in place of cheese in many recipes. (See Veganosity’s Vegan Spinach Lasagna.) Making it takes time. But it’s nothing that we can’t overcome together.

As I was experimenting the vegan cheesecakes, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I made a Neapolitan version of this? Yes, it is awesome, and it is easy.

First, we start with a crust base of blended medjool dates, walnuts, and coconut. If you don’t care for dates, you can also try my graham cracker crust.

Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake Crust

Next, we add the “cheesecake” layers, one at a time. You only need to freeze the cheesecakes for about 20 to 25 minutes before adding the next layer.

Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com

Give the cheesecakes about 3 to 4 more hours in the freezer, and they’ll be good to go. Dana at Minimalist Baker used a muffin tin to make her cheesecakes, but I found it easier to use silicone muffin liners. When I made these in a muffin tin, my cheesecakes wouldn’t budge, even when I used paper tabs like Dana did. It could be that my freezer is much to cold. With the silicone muffin liners, however, the cheesecakes came right off. You can also use paper liners, but make sure to insert the liners in a muffin tin so that the cheesecakes shape better. If you decide to use a muffin tin without any liners, and you find that your cheesecakes are stuck, just let it sit in room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, and run a butter knife along the edges. It should come right off.

Now, are you ready to make some of these lovelies?

Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com
Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com
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Servings: 12
Author: Lisa Lin

Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake

Makes 12. Prep time does not include the time for soaking cashews.
Prep Time5 hours 30 minutes
Total Time5 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1/2 cup (125g) medjool dates (about 8 to 9)
  • 1/2 cup (65g) walnut halves
  • 2 TBS shredded unsweetened coconut

Cheesecake

  • 1 1/2 cups (175g) raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours
  • 1/2 cup + 2 TBS, 150ml full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream
  • 1/3 cup (80g) coconut oil, melted
  • 1/3 cup (60ml) maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup sweet lime or lemon juice, about 1
  • 1 1/2 to 2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder, depending on your taste
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 to 4 hulled medium strawberries

Instructions

  • In a food processor, blend the dates, walnuts, and shredded coconut until everything is chopped to small pieces. The mix will be loose, but it should hold when you squeeze it together. Fill the bottom of each silicone muffin liner with about 2 TBS of the crust. Pack the crust firmly.
  • Drain the water from the soaked cashews and blend them with coconut milk (or cream), coconut oil, maple syrup, and sweet lime (or lemon juice). Stop when you get a creamy texture that looks like a thick soup. You should end up with around 20 fluid ounces of the mixture.
  • Scoop out 7 ounces of the cashew mixture (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups). Stir the cocoa powder with this mix. Top each crust with this chocolate mixture. Freeze for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the mixture is no longer runny.
  • Scoop out another 7 ounces of cashew mixture. Slice open the vanilla bean, scoop out the seeds, and stir seeds with the mixture. If you don’t have vanilla beans, just use vanilla extract. Freeze for another 20 to 25 minutes.
  • Blend remaining mixture with the strawberries and put it on top of the vanilla layer. Freeze cheesecakes for another 3 to 4 hours.
  • Pull the cheesecakes out of the freezer and enjoy immediately or let the cheesecakes sit in room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before eating. I like them thawed because the cheesecakes feel creamier.
  • To store cheesecakes, place them in an airtight container, like a gallon-size sandwich back bag, and freeze them.

Notes

1. Adapted from Minimalist Baker. [br][br]2. If you use the muffin tins instead of silicone cups, your cheesecakes will be slightly bigger.[br][br]3. The lemon juice gives the cheesecake more tang, while the sweet lime adds subtle sweet flavor to the cheesecake.[br][br]4. I’ve used full fat coconut milk and coconut cream to make these. The coconut cream yielded the creamiest results (no surprise there).
Did you make this recipe?Tag @hellolisalin or leave a star rating and comment on the blog!
Category: Dessert, Vegan

Looking for more cheesecake recipes?

No Bake Soy Pumpkin Cheesecake | healthynibblesandbits.com

No Bake Soy Pumpkin Cheesecake

Delicious and creamy Vegan Neapolitan Cheesecake - the perfect healthy dessert! by @healthynibs

Lisa Lin Head Shot

Hello! I’m Lisa Lin

Here, you’ll find well-tested Asian recipes, pantry guides, and recipes from my sassy mother, Mama Lin. Through my recipes and cooking videos, I hope to honor the food and traditions that surrounded my Chinese American upbringing.

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  1. Linda @ Veganosity says

    These are gorgeous Lisa! I haven’t had Neapolitan ice cream in forever. It was my dad’s favorite so this post brought back so many good memories of him. 🙂 This is a must try. Pinning for later.

    Thanks for mentioning my lasagna! Agreed, cashew cream is amazing.

    Reply

  2. Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says

    My hubby and I were just laughing the other day because we heard the ice cream man! It is the season!
    I recently fell in LOVE with cashew cream and was thinking about cheesecake-i-fying it, but you did all the work for me! loving these girl – pinned!

    Reply

  5. Maggie says

    Indeed a pretty healthy recipe. I love the idea of using Cashew Cream in replacement for cheese. Loving your recipe so much I wanna try it soon. 🙂

    Reply

  12. Joanne says

    Oh Neapolitan ice cream..the best of all ice cream worlds. Although, I feel you on the chocolate. It is SO not my favorite. THese little vegan cheesecakes are positively adorable! I need to satisfy my neapolitan craving with these next time it strikes.

    Reply

  13. Robyn @ simply fresh dinners says

    A fabulous recipe, Lisa. We should not be without ice cream and I eat mine in the same order that you do, lol. I wonder why there are no women ice creamers? hmmm…is it possible that we just don’t trust ourselves around it for 8 hours at a time? lol
    These are beautiful. Sharing on FB and pinning 🙂

    Reply

  17. Traci | Vanilla And Bean says

    Love your first shot, Lisa! And cashews? I get it! I discovered their versatility about a year ago and am super impressed with everything I’ve been able to make with them. So I know, these cheesecakes are creamy and delicious!

    Reply

    • Lisa says

      I’m quite surprised how creamy it turns out! Can’t wait to try more recipes. If you have any that you think I should try, let me know!

      Reply

    • Lisa says

      Cashew cream is awesome, and I can’t believe it took me so long to figure it out. Let me know if you try this!

      Reply

    • Lisa says

      Thank you so much!! It’s funny, under normal circumstances, I would never buy a scoop of strawberry ice cream, but when it’s in a neopolitan…something just takes over!

      Reply

  23. Jordan @ The Balanced Blonde says

    These are GORGEOUS and look absolutely delicious. I am so stoked I came across this post via Arman’s vegan recipe lineup post… Dayummm!! I am going to be making these very soon, and when I do, I’ll tag you. 🙂

    Xox,
    Jordan

    Reply

  24. Lynn Zoske says

    looks great. Don’t know if I missed it, but I would like to know the nutritional breakdown of these cheesecakes. Thank. Lynn

    Reply

    • Lisa says

      Hi Lynn! At the moment, I don’t do nutritional breakdowns of any of my recipes, but just input the ingredients into MyFitnessPal’s recipe creator, and you should be able to get it! Hope this helps!

      Reply
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