Baked Vegan and Gluten Free Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze

It was Toby's birthday this weekend and when I discussed the idea of making him a cake he had zero interest in fact he said if I made a cake he won't eat any. We are such opposites in some ways. Until Lisa on twitter suggested a tofu cheesecake and he suddenly become interested. So I made him this protein packed cake:

Baked Vegan and Gluten Free Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze

Base:

1 packet of gf biscuits- 175 grams, I used organ gluten free vanilla outback animal biscuit

60 grams dairy free margarine (nuttelex), melted

Place biscuits in food processor and process til they become crumbs, add melted margarine and press into base of 9 inch case pan. Place in fridge.

Cheesecake (from baking bites):

1-14 oz (390 grams) package firm silken tofu (I think the silken tofu I used was a little smaller)
1-8 oz (227grams) package Better than Cream Cheese
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup lemon juice (I used tiny bit of lime juice since I didn't have enough lemon)
½ tsp almond essence (I used vanilla)
2 tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place silken tofu and vegan cream cheese in the food processor. Process for 1 minute, then add sugar. Process until smooth and no sugar granules remain, 3-5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and almond extract. Whisk in cornstarch. Pour mixture into the food processor and process until very smooth. Pour into prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate overnight.

Strawberry Glaze:

1/4 cup strawberry jam

2 tablespoon of water

1 punnet of strawberries (you made need more or less depending on how you want to decorate it)

Heat jam and water until simmering and brush on cake, add strawberries and glaze more on top. Chill until ready to eat.

I put the strawberries in the shape of a 'T' in the middle. This was a pretty easy cake to make, it does make a small cake though and it does have a slight soy flavour. Everyone seemed to enjoy it though particularly the birthday boy!

Here is a not so great phone pic:

P.S: Planet VegMel is celebrating its third birthday this year with a picnic on Saturday September 15 at Edinburgh Gardens, starting at 1pm.  Check out the facebook event here. Come along and bring some vegan food to share. If you are up for a challenge or just wanting to feed me you can make it gf too :-)