I am officially hooked on Kite Hill products. Since my wonderful experience using their chive spread for our new Smoked Salmon Spread recipe, I got the idea to try making a cheesecake with their plain cream cheese. I made a grain-free lemon cheesecake “back in the day” for this blog, but I have never attempted a dairy-free one, because I just didn’t think it could be done.

For years, I had seen other bloggers using cashew cream to which they added probiotics for more of that tangy cream cheese flavor, but that didn’t interest me. Since I knew Kite Hill’s products were fantastic, I figured this was my opportunity to give it a shot.

It turned out better than I could have imagined! It even turned out better than my old recipe which used REAL dairy! I served this cheesecake to 4 adults who do not avoid dairy, and one child who definitely doesn’t avoid dairy, and they all wanted seconds! One of the adults even said, “I don’t usually like cheesecake, but this is good!” I’ll take that as a win.

For the crust I used our Gingersnap Cookie recipe (which uses our Gingersnap spice blend!) It was perfect.

I also used crumbled gingersnap cookies for the topping, along with whipped cream. I did use real cream for this recipe, because the coconut cream didn’t set up properly with the humidity we have been having (all the windows were open, and we were making pizza, so the kitchen was a bit steamy), so I had to use real cream for the purpose of getting a lovely photo. I wanted to make sure I mentioned that, because there is a difference in the color of whipped heavy cream, and whipped coconut cream, and anyone who has used both will be able to tell from these photos, and I have no intention of trying to fool anyone here!

I did a bit of “Googling” prior to making this recipe. I wanted to see what cheesecake flavors people were making with gingersnap crusts, and most of them were lemon. Some were pumpkin, but we are still enjoying Summer here, and DEFINITELY not ready for Fall yet. I found a recipe from Williams-Sonoma for an Italian style Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake, which actually did not sound appealing to me, but I liked that they used whipped egg whites for that recipe, so that recipe was the inspiration behind this one. I felt like whipping the egg whites, and adding more air into the cheesecake batter would increase my odds of it looking full and beautiful. I was worried it would be too flat otherwise.

The whipped egg whites worked out perfectly. I’m not sure I could be happier with this recipe. Now that I have a good base recipe for cheesecake, I will definitely be playing around with other flavor variations. My mom and my aunt used to make an oreo cheesecake that was TO DIE FOR, so I might try my hand at something similar to that.

 

Stay tuned for more cheesecake recipes, my friends! In the meantime, I hope all you dairy-sensitive lovely people enjoy this one from me!

xo,

Hayley

Dairy-free Lemon Cheesecake

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This cheesecake is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Made just as you would a regular cheesecake, but in place of the dairy, we used Kite Hill dairy-free cream cheese, and coconut cream. This dairy-free delicacy is so delicious, that even dairy lovers will be coming back for seconds.

Serves: 12

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 10 oz 10 oz 10 oz Gingersnap Cookies (click for recipe), plus additional for the topping
• 8 Tbsp 8 Tbsp 8 Tbsp Palm Oil Shortening, Organic [*Spectrum Brand, sustainably sourced]
• 16 oz 16 oz 16 oz Kite Hill "Cream Cheese" - Original
• 2/3 cup 2/3 cup 2/3 cup Coconut Cream, cream from a can of full fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Maple Sugar, granulated
• 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Lemon Juice, fresh, preferably meyer lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Lemon zest, zest from 2 whole meyer lemons
• 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt
• 4 whole 4 whole 4 whole Eggs, Pastured, separated

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a mini chop food processor, pulse the gingersnap cookies until they are in a fine meal.
3. Pour the gingersnap meal into a separate bowl, and add the palm shortening. Combine with shortening with the gingersnap meal until you have a crumbly dough.
4. Press the dough into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form cake pan, bringing the dough up the sides. Don't worry about it being even.
5. Bake the crust for 8 minutes at 325. When the crust is finished, turn the oven temperature down to 300.
6. In a high speed blender, or food processor, combine the cream cheese, coconut cream, vanilla, maple sugar, lemon zest and juice, salt, and egg yolks. Blend until smooth.
7. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
8. Gently fold the cheesecake batter into the egg whites, until just combined.
9. Place the crust on a baking sheet, then pour the cheesecake batter into the crust. Smooth the top.
10. Bake for 30 minutes at 300, then turn the temperature up to 325, and bake for an additional 40 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool. Once the cheesecake has cooled, place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
12. Top with whipped coconut cream and sprinkle with gingersnap crumbles.