Every year, as the weather warms up, I begin to get hungry for rhubarb. Voraciously so.
I don't know how I spent all those years in India never knowing of the existence of this delicious, ruby-red stalk that stirs magic into desserts. But once I had my first taste of rhubarb after moving to the United States I became hopelessly addicted.
Rhubarb, like cranberries, tends to be rigidly seasonal, unlike most other fruits and vegetables, which are available year-round. So it's always a special treat when I can get my hands on some in the spring. This year I even found a rhubarb plant at the nursery. As you might imagine I grabbed it up and planted it in my backyard.
Rhubarb is said to be a notoriously easy plant to grow, and mine appears to be doing fine, thank you. But woe, every gardening article I read advised I wait a year before harvesting the rhubarb stalks. It stings to know I cannot eat all that deliciousness so close at hand.
For years now I've shared a rhubarb recipe with you each spring, and fortunately, I found some rhubarb last week at the grocery store. As I have already posted on the blog some scrumptious rhubarb goodies, like this Vegan Upside Down Rhubarb Ginger Cake and Vegan Rhubarb Crisp, among many others, I was at a bit of a loss as to what I could come up with that would be as good as, if not top, all of those other rhubarb recipes.
And then, a brainwave: rhubarb cheesecake. It was perfect, Jay loves cheesecake, and what better way to eat rhubarb than to encase it in the smoothest, creamiest filling possible?
For this vegan cheesecake I combined the rhubarb with a fruit it dovetails nicely with: strawberries.
Not only do the flavors of rhubarb and strawberry go together like a house on fire, the strawberry also helps give the rhubarb swirl a nice, pink color. Rhubarb stalks, if you're used to cooking with them, are not always bright pink, the way they appear in photos, and I find that the pink skin can also, at times, be stringy. When that's the case I prefer to peel the stringy bits of skin off, which has the unfortunate side effect of making the rhubarb less red. The strawberries make up nicely for that setback, however.
I used a ton of rhubarb in this recipe (did I say I love it? ;)) but you can certainly use less, this recipe is quite tweakable that way. Be sure to make it before rhubarb bids adieu to 2021. And if you do, you know what to do: leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me @holycowvegan on Instagram!
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this vegan strawberry rhubarb cheesecake
- It tastes heavenly. This is a true cheesecake, only made without any dairy products. And no one would know that if you didn't tell them.
- It is easy to make. So long as you follow the recipe, you will succeed. The rhubarb strawberry swirl quantity is tweakable, but the rest of the recipe needs to be made as is. I'll indicate substitutions where they are possible.
- It can be gluten-free and/or nut-free, so everyone can eat it.
Ingredients
- Rhubarb
- Strawberries
- Sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Graham crackers (use gluten-free graham crackers for a gf cheesecake)
- Vegan butter
- Vegan cream cheese
- Vegan yogurt (alternatively you can use raw cashews blended with water)
- Cornstarch
How to make the cheesecake
Make the crust: Process the graham crackers with the softened vegan butter and sugar in a food processor until you have a sandy mixture. Press evenly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan placed on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
Make the rhubarb strawberry swirl: Chop the rhubarb and strawberries into small pieces, about half an inch. Place in a saucepan with sugar and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat. The rhubarb and strawberries will express a lot of their juices. Continue to cook, stirring frequently (don't walk away) until the mixture becomes very thick, almost the consistency of jam. Stir in vanilla extract and turn off the heat.
Make the cheesecake batter: Place the vegan cream cheese in a stand mixer or food processor with sugar. Beat together until incorporated and smooth and then add the vegan yogurt, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well to combine.
Put the cheesecake together: Pour half the cheesecake batter over the crust in the springform pan. Dollop half of the rhubarb strawberry swirl over the batter, then pour the remaining half of the cheesecake batter on top. Repeat with the rhubarb strawberry swirl mixture.
Run a knife through the rhubarb-strawberry mix to make a swirl pattern. Don't take the jam too close to the edges (as I did) as it could burn in the spots where it touches the metal of the springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake: Put a water bath in the oven--a pan filled with water and placed on the lower rack of the oven. Place the baking sheet with the springform pan on the middle rack and bake 60 minutes or until the cake has set but the center is still slightly jiggly.
Cool thoroughly on a rack. Run a knife along the edges of the cake, but don't unmold yet. Place it in the refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight. The next morning carefully remove the springform pan rim or collar, slice and eat.
FAQs
I like using my vegan Instant Pot yogurt in this recipe, because it's really thick like Greek yogurt and has the perfect consistency for the cake. You can use a storebought yogurt that is nut-free, but try and use one that's quite thick. Otherwise replace the yogurt with a vegan sour cream.
Yes. Just use gluten-free graham crackers, which are easily available now. You can also just make a walnut crust, using walnuts instead of the graham crackers.
You can store the cheesecake in the refrigerator for up to a week and it tastes best, in fact, chilled.
For longer storage freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. To freeze the cheesecake, chill thoroughly in the refrigerator without taking it off the base of the springform pan. Wrap tightly in cling wrap, then in aluminum foil.
If freezing individual slices, wrap each slice in cling wrap, then foil, and freeze.
Expert Tip
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature before you use it. Using the cream cheese straight out of the refrigerator will create unsightly lumps or graininess and the batter will not be creamy. If you do see lumps in the batter, place it in a microwave for a few seconds and then mix again. That should take care of those annoying lumps!
More vegan dessert recipes
- Vegan Rhubarb Ginger Upside Down Cake
- Vegan Rhubarb Bread
- Easy Vegan Rhubarb Galette
- Vegan Mango Cheesecake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
- Low carb or keto? Try this fabulous Vegan Low Carb Cheesecake
Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Saucepan for making swirl
- Small oven-safe pan for water bath
- 9- or 10-inch springform pan
Ingredients
For the graham cracker crust
- 2½ cups graham crackers (break the crackers into small pieces and measure)
- 3 tablespoon vegan butter (softened, at room temperature)
- ¼ cup sugar
- A pinch salt
For the strawberry rhubarb swirl
- 3-4 cups rhubarb (cut into ½-inch dice and measure. You can use more or less, depending on how much of th e swirl you want flavoring the cheesecake. Four cups will make quite a lot)
- 1 cup strawberries (cut in ½-inch dice. Measure after cutting)
- ¾ cup sugar (you can use more of less of this based on how sweet you want the swirl to be. Rhubarb is quite tangy so keep that in mind)
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the cream cheese filling
- 24 oz vegan cream cheese (I used 3 tubs of Tofutti)
- 1¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup Instant Pot Vegan Yogurt (alternatively use ½ cup of cashew pieces combined with ¼ cup water into a very thick, smooth cream)
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the graham crackers in a food procesor with the butter and sugar and process until the mixture is sandy.
- Press evenly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. You don't have to butter or oil the pan first.
Make the strawberry rhubarb swirl
- Place in a saucepan with sugar and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat. The rhubarb and strawberries will express a lot of their juices.
- Continue to cook, stirring frequently (don't walk away) until the mixture becomes very thick, almost the consistency of jam. Stir in vanilla extract and turn off the heat. Set aside to cool.
Make the cheesecake batter
- Place the vegan cream cheese in a stand mixer or food processor with sugar. Beat together until incorporated and smooth and then add the vegan yogurt, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well to combine.
Put the cheesecake together
- Pour half the cheesecake batter over the crust in the springform pan. Dollop half of the rhubarb strawberry swirl over the batter, then pour the remaining half of the cheesecake batter on top. Repeat with the rhubarb strawberry swirl mixture.
- Run a knife through the rhubarb-strawberry mix to make a swirl pattern. Don't take the jam toward the edges as it could burn in the spots where it touches the metal of the springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake
- Put a water bath in the oven--a pan filled with water and placed on the lower rack of the oven. Place the baking sheet with the springform pan on the middle rack and bake 60 minutes or until the cake has set but the center is still slightly jiggly.
- Cool thoroughly on a rack. Run a knife along the edges of the cake, but don't unmold yet. Place it in the refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight. The next morning carefully remove the springform pan rim or collar, slice and eat.
Amy Doo
Can the cheesecake itself be water-baked in the Instant Pot? If so, what amount of time/pressure do you recommend, and how much would I need to reduce the ingredients for a 6-7" springform pan (which fits in the Instant Pot)?
Vaishali
Hi Amy, you can make this in an Instant Pot but I think you'd need to cut down to 16 oz of cream cheese and scale other ingredients accordingly to fit into a 6-7 inch springform pan. I haven't made this recipe in an IP so can't be sure but I would guess that around 25 minutes on high pressure should work.
Noemi
Thank you so much for the recipe! I used approx. half of the amount of sugar and it still turned out great. Since we do not have graham crackers where I live, I used other cookies as a base which are already quite sweet.
Vaishali
Awesome, so happy to hear Noemi! Thanks for letting me know.
TofuAnnie
I'm glad to see others that love, love, love rhubarb! Thank you so much for the recipe and the push to try this. Rhubarb shows up in my grocery for about a week and if I miss that window, it's try again next year. I'll have to look for frozen.
Vaishali
Wow, where do you get frozen rhubarb? I've never seen it at my supermarket, but something to keep an eye out for! Nice to meet a fellow rhubarb lover. 🙂