A divine vegan Mango Cheesecake that’s creamy and delicious and infused with the scent of cardamom. The walnut-graham-cracker crust is deep and rich, and on top goes a vegan sour cream topping. Can be gluten-free.
To say this vegan Mango Cheesecake will make you feel like you’re biting into a slice of heaven might sound like a sappy overstatement, but just wait until you eat it before you decide.
This is one of my favorite dessert recipes, and one that has lived on this blog for a decade now. Like those of you who’ve made it before, Jay loves it and requests it incessantly. So I took some new photos this time I made the cheesecake and am bringing it back to the front for you.
If you’ve been missing cheesecake after going vegan — or even if you aren’t vegan but want to eat plant-based every now and then — this recipe will more than deliver to your tastebuds.
Summer for me is almost synonymous with mangoes, perhaps because that’s the way it always was when I was growing up in India. And although it’s easy to find mangoes, or mango puree, almost anytime of the year now, especially here in the United States, I find myself cooking all kinds of mango recipes, and especially desserts, this time of year because it just feels right.
And when I bake mango desserts, as you probably already know if you’ve made my mango cupcakes or mango bread, I love adding to it the one spice that complements the sunny flavor of mangoes perfectly: cardamom. In this cheesecake, they work their most potent alchemy together to absolutely bowl your tastebuds over.
There are three layers in this cake, but they’re not difficult nor time-consuming. At the bottom is a divine, buttery walnut-graham-cracker crust. In the middle goes the smooth, uber-creamy layer of cardamom-infused mango cheesecake filling. And on the top goes a layer of sour cream flecked with more cardamom.
It’s hard to top that kind of deliciousness. So let’s begin.
Ingredients for vegan Mango Cheesecake:
For the crust:
- Graham crackers (there are vegan versions, like Nabisco’s original, but check the label before you buy if picking other brands)
- Walnuts
- Vegan butter or margarine
For the filling:
- Mango puree (make this from fresh, very sweet mangoes like champagne if you’re baking here in the United States, or alphonso in India. You can also use canned, pureed mango. Make sure the puree is very, very smooth.
- Vegan cream cheese. I’ve always used Tofutti in this cheesecake because that was the only cream cheese on the market — or at least the only kind available to me — when I first started making this or any cheesecake all those years ago. You can use another brand, if that’s your preference.
- Sugar
- Raw cashews
- Nondairy milk
- Green cardamom powder
For the topping:
- Vegan sour cream. Again, I used Tofutti.
- Sugar
- Green cardamom powder
How to make the best vegan cheesecake ever:
- Start out by making the crust. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulse 1 cup of graham crackers with 1 cup of walnuts in a food processor with 2 tbsp of softened vegan butter. Press the crust into an even layer in the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside while you make the filling.
- To make the filling, blend 1/2 cup of cashews with 1/2 cup of any nondairy milk until very creamy.
- In a bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 20 oz of room temperature vegan cream cheese with 1 cup sugar until well-mixed. Add the cashew cream with 1 tsp green cardamom powder and 3 tbsp of cornstarch. Mix until you have a very smooth, creamy texture.
- Before you start baking the cake, place a small, ovenproof pan filled with water on a lower shelf of the oven.
- Pour the mango filling into the springform pan which should still be standing on a baking sheet (to make it easier to get the pan in and out of the oven). Place the pan and baking sheet into the oven and bake 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 degrees and continue baking another 30 minutes. When the cheesecake is done, the sides will look firm and the center might still look slightly jiggly, which is okay.
- About 15 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven, make the sour cream topping by blending 1 cup of vegan sour cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp of cardamom.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the pan, pour the filling on the cake and, using oven mitts, gently turn the pan around so the topping is evenly distributed over the cake. Return the cake to the oven and continue baking another 15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cook thoroughly on a rack. Once cool, run a knife gently along the edges to loosen the cake from the pan. Then, with the cheesecake still inside the pan, refrigerate it for several hours or overnight until thoroughly chilled.
- Unmold, slice and eat. You don’t need to decorate this cake, but if you want a pretty look, you can do what I did and scatter some crushed walnuts on the top.
***
Looking for more vegan cake recipes?
Vegan Squash Cake with Pineapple Frosting
Vegan Mango Cupcakes with Mango Buttercream Frosting
Vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Vegan Rhubarb Ginger Upside Down Cake
Vegan Zucchini Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze
Vegan Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake
Vegan Strawberry Bread
Cucumber Cake
***
Vegan Mango Cheesecake recipe:
Vegan Mango Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the nut crust:
- 1 cups walnuts (can use pecans)
- 1 cup graham crackers (crumbled)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 3 tbsp sugar
For the mango cheesecake filling:
- 20 ounces vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 cup nondairy milk
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups mango puree (use a very sweet, ripe mango for best results)
For the sour cream topping:
- 1 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Pulse 1 cup of graham crackers with 1 cup of walnuts in a food processor with 2 tbsp of softened vegan butter until the nuts are broken down but not powdery.
- Press the crust into an even layer in the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside while you make the filling.
- Make the mango cheesecake filling:
- Blend 1/2 cup of cashews with 1/2 cup of any nondairy milk until very creamy.
- In a bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 20 oz of room temperature vegan cream cheese with 1 cup sugar until well-mixed. Add the cashew cream, 1 tsp green cardamom powder, 3 tbsp of cornstarch and the mango puree. Mix until you have a very smooth, creamy texture.
- Before you start baking the cake, place a small, ovenproof pan filled with water on a lower shelf of the oven. Pour the mango filling into the springform pan which should still be standing on a baking sheet (to make it easier to get the pan in and out of the oven).
- Place the pan and baking sheet into the oven and bake 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 degrees and continue baking another 30 minutes.
- When the cheesecake is done, the sides will look firm and the center might still look slightly jiggly, which is okay.
- Make the sour cream topping:
- About 15 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven, blend 1 cup of vegan sour cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp of cardamom.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the pan, pour the filling on the cake and, using oven mitts, gently tilt the pan around so the topping is evenly distributed over the cake. Return the cake to the oven and continue baking another 15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cook thoroughly on a rack. Once cool, run a knife gently along the edges to loosen the cake from the pan. Then, with the cheesecake still inside the pan, refrigerate it for several hours or overnight until thoroughly chilled.
- Unmold, slice and eat.
Notes
- To make this cake gluten-free, use only walnuts for the crust -- so you'll need two cups of walnuts in all.
- You don't really need to decorate this cake, but for a pretty look scatter some crushed walnuts or peeled, chopped, ripe mangoes on top.
Nutrition
If you read carefully, you’ll see that it’s vegan butter.
Hi Laura, use cornstarch. Should work! 🙂
Solaripedia, thanks for letting me know! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
We made this yesterday and it turned it out perfectly! Great recipe – thank you. Very tasty.
Hi Avantika, Cornstarch or arrowroot powder would work as fairly decent though not perfect egg substitutes in most recipes requiring egg substitute powder.
Margarine would be a fine substitute for butter in any vegan recipe.
If you’re using fresh mangoes, puree them first and you should have a consistency similar to that of tinned mango puree.
Yogurt and lemon would not work as a sour cream substitute. If you don’t have access to sour cream, just leave out the topping. The cheesecake would still be delicious.
A water bath is a pan filled with water that you place the cake pan in. Cheesecakes have a tendency to dry at the top when baked and crack down the middle, but a water bath keeps that from happening by creating a moist atmosphere around the cake. To make a water bath, place the cheesecake pan inside a wider, shallower pan, then fill the outside pan with enough water so it comes about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan. Place it in the oven, being careful not to splash the water into the cheesecake batter.
Krista, a cheesecake center has to be jiggly when it’s done– it’s in the recipe. The cake continues to set and firm up as it stands. If your cake remained runny, it was perhaps because something was off with the ingredients. Maybe you used mango puree with a different consistency? Since you used a different egg replacer did you make sure you used it per the instructions on the package? Anyway, baking a cake until the top is black is an absolute no-no.
You said this was your first time trying a cheesecake. I would advise that as a new baker you follow every instruction to the letter or the chance of something going wrong is huge. Baking is all about science and getting your proportions and ingredients just right.
This was my first attempt at making a vegan (or any) cheesecake. I bought a new springform pan and all the ingredients and went to bake it today. It started off bad, when I accidently made walnut butter when I processed it, but I continued on anyway. I baked it 10 mins, didnt seem to firm up, so I kept baking it longer (big mistake). Then I mixed the filling, which went well. I used egg replacer (but a different brand than the ener g one) So I put that in the over, baked it for the hour, still was giggly, so kept baking it longer, to the point where the crust was totally black, and the filling was still very running, pulled it out and gave up, so I put it on the cooling rack, which i decided to lift up for a second to see if the crust was really that burnt, well somehow the pan slid off the rack, flew onto the counter and all the filling ended up all over the wall and toaster… total mess! I scooped up whatever filling I could and put it back in the pan. The filling and topping ended up being mixed into one big mess, The I ran to the store and got a premade graham cracker crust, and poured the filling into that. It’s currently chilling outside (its like -40 out), so I’m hoping that after all this mess, it ends up tasting somewhat good. I really hope to try this recipe again and make it right. I don’t get why the filling didnt set up though…
Vaishali, I was a happy receipient of this cheesecake made by Mints. One word – unbelievable. One couldn’t tell it is vegan, and it was just amazingly delicious. It feels so rich that a tiny sliver is enough!
Love this Cheesecake recipe- it turned out excellent! Just had a suggestion that probably could be tried where available- substituting pureed frozen mango slices from Trader Joe’s which is from India.
Mints, Thanks for your feedback on the mango cheesecake– glad you liked it.
I wonder what may have gone wrong re the cracked top– the water bath always prevents that from happening. One possibility is the oven temperature could have been too high. Ovens are almost always temperamental and it is possible that even if your temperature reading was perfect, your oven may be getting hotter than mine. That would also explain why the center didn’t cook.
A solution might be to keep the temperature slightly lower, about 15-25 degrees or so.
Better luck next time! 🙂
Vaishali, I just tried making this and boy it was good.
AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I tried with the topping and all. I did put water with it as you have suggested but still got cracked top and jiggly centre. But I guess that needs bit of getting used to making it.
I am going to make it often now 😉