Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait

This strawberry cheesecake parfait is a vegan version of the classic strawberry cheesecake. Made with filling cashews, fresh strawberries, and naturally sweetened with monk fruit!

Course Dessert, Holiday

Cuisine Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegan

Keyword Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 855kcal

Author Gina Marie

Ingredients

For Crust
1 cup walnuts
¾ cup dates
¼ teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan Sea Salt)
For Strawberry Topping
½ water water
3 tablespoons Monk Fruit Sweetener (or sugar of your choice)
1 cup fresh strawberries
For Filling
¾ cup cashews (soaked for a couple hours or boiled for 2 minutes to soften)
⅓ cup melted cacao butter (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plant based milk (any plant based milk will do)
4 tablespoons Monk Fruit Sweetener (or sugar of your choice)
¼ teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan Sea Salt)

Instructions

Start with making your crust

Add 1 cup of walnuts, ¾ cups of dates, and ¼ teaspoon of salt to your food processor and blend until fully combined. The walnuts and dates should be fully processed together so that it is sticky. Set aside.

Next make your strawberry filling and melt your cacao butter

Combine ½ cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Monk Fruit Sweetener sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved in water.
Mix 1 cup of strawberries into saucepan and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until strawberries sauce is thick and syrup like, for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
If using cacao butter, add ⅓ cup to a double boiler over medium high heat and stir till melted. (or you can microwave it.) If not using cacao skip this step.

Last make your "cheesecake" filling

Grab your ¾ cup soaked cashews (NOTE: if you don't have time to soak your cashews for a couple of hours you can boil them for a couple minutes to soften) and add to your high speed blender.
Next add ⅓ cup of melted cacao butter (optional), 2 tablespoons of squeeze lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cup of plant based milk of your choice, 4 tablespoons of Monk Fruit Sweetener, ¼ teaspoon of salt to your blender with cashews and blend till smooth. Add more milk if needed to fully blend but not too much. You want it to be thick so you can enjoy it as a parfait otherwise you will end up with a smoothie. (which can still be good!)
Now begin to layer your parfait. Grab 2 glasses and add your crust first (as little or as much as you desire), then cheesecake filling, and last top with strawberry topping. You can either serve immediately or put in the refrigerator to chill. Filling and syrup will keep for 24 hours. The reminding crust will keep for up to a month in the freezer.
Enjoy!

Notes

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories 748
Fat 64 g
Carbohydrates 32 g
Fiber 7 g
Sugar 16 g
Protein 12 g

Substitutes and Additions:

With the crust portion it can be optional. If you choose to make it you will have a significant portion left over. Roll these into snack balls and pop in the freezer. They will keep for month.
You can use almonds instead of walnuts for the crust
Raspberries or blueberries can work with this too.
Any plant based milk will do but coconut milk will give it more flavor especially if you are not using cacao.
You can used thawed frozen berries instead.
You could add protein powder to this if you like!

Nutrition