Just when I thought my cheesecake recipes couldn’t get any better!
Introducing Vegan German Chocolate Cheesecake!
Double chocolate and creamy NY style cheesecake piled with Coconut Caramel Pecan topping.
Many people are confused as to just what German Chocolate is.
And are surprised to find out it is merely referring to a combination of coconut, caramel and pecan.
It makes sense when you think about it though, because although I have never been to Germany I would wage a pretty hefty bet that there are no coconuts growing there!
The history behind this recipe and it’s name stems from German’s Chocolate.
Which is a brand of chocolate.
Way back in the 1950’s a Texas newspaper was running a contest for who could come up with the best recipe using German’s brand chocolate.
Thanks to Mrs George Clay for the recipe!
So if coconut, caramel and pecans are your thing~this will become one of your favorites!
I use this same topping as a filling for my German Chocolate Cakes too!
It is an amazing recipe that uses dates for the “caramel” so it is slightly healthier than the original recipe!
I’ve served my vegan cheesecakes to so many non vegans and they are all always stunned that it is not the “real deal”
Fear not for serving this to the masses!
You will win hearts with this one for sure!
Double Chocolate NY Style Cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust and a super easy caramel topping is a marriage made in heaven.
My Cheesecakes are so easy to make since you just throw everything into the food processor and whiz it up!
Notes for Success:
I will note that the only vegan cream cheese brand that has ever worked for me is Tofutti brand *not sponsored
Additionally if you are against dates for any reason you can absolutely make a traditional caramel sauce made with granulated sugar.
My best recipe for vegan caramel happens to be the one I made for my Snickers Brownie recipe.
Click through to that recipe if you want to check it out!
When measuring cornstarch I cannot stress enough that a kitchen scale is the best way to go.
Cornstarch is a very difficult ingredient to measure consistently with a volume spoons measure
So while I list both measures below I cannot stress enough how the grams measure with a scale is going to give you the best results.
Many times people have complained that their cheesecake is like rubber and they don’t know why!
This is from a heavy measure of cornstarch when using volume measuring spoon vs the 100% accurate scale measure in grams.
You may notice that my base recipes for cheesecake are always the same with some slight variations to the sugar or an added spice depending on what flavor I am making.
At times I add an addition of firm tofu in place of some of the cream cheese for a lightened up version and to cut some of the fat calories.
I do not find an extremely noticeable difference in the outcome of straight vegan cream cheese versus the tofu addition, so for me I like the tofu version.
Additionally I only use Tofutti Cream Cheese for my BAKED recipes.
*Not sponsored
I have not had success with any other brand in BAKED recipes.
For some reason the other more expensive brands I’ve tried have broken down into an oily mess when baked.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STEP BY STEP YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CHEESECAKE
- For the Cheesecake:
- Vegan Cream Cheese 2 package (16oz) (454g)
- Vegan Semi Sweet Chocolate 1 cup (6 ounces)
- Vegan Granulated Sugar ¾ cup (150g)
- Cornstarch 2 Tablespoons (20g)
- Cocoa Powder 2 Tablespoons (12g)
- Salt ¼ teaspoon
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Lactic Acid 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar 2 teaspoons
- Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)
- Milk Alternative scant ¾ cup
- For the Crust:
- Vegan Chocolate Sandwich cookies 12
- Vegan Butter 2 tablespoons
- For the German Chocolate Topping:
- Dates 6 ounces (approx 1 cup packed)
- Almond Milk ½ cup (120ml)
- Hot Water 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- Shredded Sweetened Coconut 1 cup
- Toasted Pecans ¾ cup
- For the ganache rosettes
- Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate 4 ounces
- Soy or Almond Milk ¼ cup
- First prepare the crust by grinding the cookies in a food processor until fine. Add the melted vegan butter and process to the consistency of wet sand.
- Press into the bottom of a greased and parchment lined 7" cake pan and freeze while you prepare the filling
- For the cheesecake combine the vegan chocolate and soy milk in a sauce pot over low heat and melt while stirring constantly, whisk smooth
- Add the cocoa powder and whisk smooth
- Combine all the cheesecake ingredients together in a food processor along with the chocolate mixture (no need to cool) and process smooth
- Pour into the prepared crust and bake in a water bath in a preheated 335°F oven for 1 hour
- Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake cool in the oven
- Refrigerate overnight
- The next day prepare the ganache by combining the chocolate and milk in a small saucepot and melt over a low heat stirring constantly. Allow it to set at room temperature to a pipe-able consistency.
- Then unmold the cheesecake and prepare the German Chocolate Topping by combining the dates, hot water, almond milk and salt in a high speed blender or food processor.
- Blend smooth then fold in the coconut and toasted pecans
- Top the cheesecake with the topping and serve
Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days
I just read that Oreos brand contain 23 different appetite stimulators.
I just started using Newmans brand sandwich cookies! thanks!
oh my?
hi, i’m wondering what is the recipe for the ganache frosting for the rosettes in this video, somehow I can’t seem to find it on the website. thank you.
Hi Sorry about that! thanks for letting me know I forgot that part! here it is:
Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate 4 ounces + ¼ cup soy or almond milk
prepare the ganache by combining the chocolate and milk in a small saucepot and melt over a low heat stirring constantly. Allow it to set at room temperature to a pipe-able consistency.
thanks so much.
Hi, not sure what the two items below mean and where can I buy them?
If I’m not a vegan but can’t have eggs, can I use regular milk instead?
Lactic Acid 1 teaspoon
Milk Alternative scant ¾ cup
Yes to regular milk, and the lactic acid makes the cheesecake have the characteristic tang that regular cream cheese does, you can sub in apple cider vinegar instead
where do you find lactic acid and can you make it without it?
I get it on amazon ( I ink to it in this blog post) but you can replace it with apple cider vinegar
What brand of cream cheese do you use?
I like Tofutti for cheesecakes and baking
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter in the batter part?
Yes!
Thanks for the quick response! Just made it and can’t wait to try it tomorrow once chilled!!
When you bake cheesecakes in a water bath, do you let the water bath preheat in the oven or do you put the cheesecake in it at room temperature? Thanks for all you do!
Looking for your answer to the water bath question. Do you set the cheesecake in it at room temp ? Or can you you place the water pan on the rack below the cheesecake?
I mix the cheesecake, put the batter into the greased parchment lined pan, set that pan into a pie plate or larger cake pan, then I add hot water to the bigger pan (the water bath pan) then I place it all into the preheated 350F oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave it in to cool for another hour.
You probably can place the water bath under the rack, but I prefer to keep it all together- the whole point of a water bath is to deflect the direct heat of the oven, it is a gentler baking environment as the heat has to travel through the water first before directly hitting your baking pan. I have baked cheesecakes all 3 ways- IN water bath, ABOVE water bath and NO water bath. This is my preferred method.
Hi There!
I love you and your blog and your recipes and had a huge success with the snickers cheesecake (omg!!!)
I know this might not be the ideal german chocolate cheesecake, but I was wondering if I could switch out almond milk and soy milk in this entire recipe to hazelnut milk. It makes me wonder if it’ll give the cake a more “nutella” kinda flavour, and will boost it like mad. I’d probably keep the pecans in the caramel topping, but I want to hear your opinion about this.
Thanks again!
Hi! Thankyou!!! Yes you can use whatever plant milk you prefer AND if you want to go FULL NUTELLA cheesecake, just switch out the BISCOFF Cookie Butter here for NUTELLA!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REPLY!!
But wait wait wait how do i switch it out?? I’d love a full nutella cheesecake!!! (vegan of course) Do I just not use the Biscoff cookie butter spread and instead add my own ganache+hazelnut milk?
Also in your Biscoff cheesecake is the tofu necessary anymore? You’ve moved to using Tofutti only with other stuff (like in the snickers cheesecake) and it makes it so good!! wondering about that too.
BTW I uploaded my snickers cheesecake on instagram and sent u a private msg on there with a pic of it in case u wanna take a look!!