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STOP! Before you hit ‘Jump to Recipe’ check ‘Skip to the Good Bit‘ below. I may answer a query you have about this recipe.
The recipe for this Gluten and Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake is really quite simple. It’s an adaptation of my No Bake Dairy Free Vanilla Cheesecake but instead of the digestive base, this copy-cat style ‘Biscoff’ cheesecake uses Spekulatius biscuits by Schär.
I’ve called this a ‘Biscoff’ recipe simply to get that keyword in. I do explain later that Biscoff is similar to a version of the traditional Spekulatius biscuits (please do go read that bit, it’s fascinating). But, as we seem to be living in a prolonged ‘Biscoff Trend’ that never ends it’s a word more people may be familiar with?
Skip to the good bit
- Are Lotus Biscoff Biscuits gluten free?
- Where can I find gluten free ‘Biscoff’ biscuits?
- Different types of festive biscuits
- Which festive spiced biscuits are dairy and gluten free?
- How to make dairy free condensed milk
- Can I buy ready made vegan condensed milk?
- How to make your own dairy free caramel sauce
- Can I buy a readymade dairy free caramel sauce?
- Top tips for making a vegan cheesecake topping
- Other gluten and dairy free desserts
- Gluten and Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake Recipe
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Are Lotus Biscoff Biscuits gluten free?
Nope. Next question!
No seriously, Lotus Biscoff are not gluten free, they contain WHEAT but they are vegan. These sneaky little beggers can find themselves on top of gluten free brownies, blondies and baked doughnuts so PLEASE BE CAREFUL, I’ve seen it so many times and when I do, I contact the baker to educate them.
Where can I find gluten free ‘Biscoff’ biscuits?
The closest thing we have on the market here in the UK is the Schär Spekulatius that comes out for the Christmas period. I’ve yet to see them on sale all year round.
Different types of festive biscuits
Clove, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg: oriental spices give the Spekulatius its typical aroma. For many people, this spicy biscuit is as much a part of Christmas as Christmas trees and tinsel.
Your link to germany
I had so much fun researching this popular traditional biscuit and I’m so glad I did because I was always getting my knickers in a twist about all the different names for Christmas spiced biscuits.
If you have anything to add, maybe you’re Dutch or German and have some more history, please do share in the comments, I’d love to know more about your experience.
Spekulatius
Spekulatius is a German festive biscuit and as you can see from the quote above they are packed with exotic spices. Due to the expense they were normally enjoyed during festivities only but are more common all year round now.
The biscuits tend to come in all manner of shapes, often with dough pressed into moulds.
‘The intricate designs, often depicting scenes from biblical stories or traditional folklore, are not just for aesthetics but are imbued with symbolism and history’. – German Culture
Speculaas
Speculaas is a Dutch biscuit originally only made during the festive season but now enjoyed all year round. The Speculaas spice mix is a close guarded secret of many a Dutch baker, with many recipes being handed down generation to generation. Typically the main ingredients are cinnamon, clove and ginger but the spice mix used by Vandosht Family Bakers uses six more spices on top of these main three!
The traditional shapes for these biscuits are windmills and male and female figures. The biscuits are pressed into wooden moulds much like a traditional Scottish Shortbread.
Speculoos
Speculoos is a Belgium biscuit, and a direct descendant of the Speculaas however the ‘loos’ describes a ‘less'[er] version of the original recipe as it’s traditionally made with cassia which is a cheaper form of cinnamon. Historically Belgium was further down the pecking order in terms of spice imports and the spice that did get to Belgium shores were sold for far more money.
As the Speculoos is trying to be a Speculaas, they are often made in the same shapes such as windmills and figures.
I suppose the Lotus Biscoff is a Speculoos in this case, as it has less spice in it, more sugar and is cheaper to make?
Also notice the ingredients for the Schär Spekulatius above. May be as bold to say that what Schär have created gluten free is actually Schär Speculoos?
Which festive spiced biscuits are dairy and gluten free?
Obviously, for this Gluten and Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake, we need to make sure you are using a gluten and dairy free biscuit alternative. The wonderful news is that this recipe was made possible due to a change of ingredients by Schär Spekulatius. Until 2022, the biscuits had only been gluten free. They next graduated to become gluten and lactose free and now they are certified gluten free and vegan.
Now, I say vegan with a wince, this is because not all vegan food is safe for milk allergy suffers so always check for may contains. On this occasion however, Schär Spekulatius are now safe for Coeliac sufferers and those unable to eat dairy.
How to make dairy free condensed milk
Dairy Free and Vegan Condensed Milk Recipe (makes approx. 250-300g)
Empty a 400ml tin of coconut milk into a medium saucepan, add 150g caster sugar and stir to combine. Place on a high heat and stir until bubbling. Turn heat down to a gentle rolling boil and leave for 15 minutes. Don’t leave unattended and stir occasionally, the condensed milk will halve in volume and go a wallpaper paste colour! Remove from the heat, pour into a glass heatproof jug and cool to room temperature, this will take about an hour.
For the full recipe, method and top tips head to my Easy Dairy Free Condensed Milk recipe.
Can I buy ready made vegan condensed milk?
If you just can’t be bothered to make your own, then no judgement my dear, none at all. There are times we can and times we can’t find the energy to do this extra journey to make dairy free condensed milk. Just for you I’ve added an affiliate link to Amazon so you can buy your own ready made vegan condensed milk* ready for the next time you need it for one of my recipes. Simply click the link or the image below to go shopping.
How to make your own dairy free caramel sauce
I have a simple recipe here that I use as part of my Date Free Sticky Toffee Pudding. It’s super simple and you’ll have some left over so you can pop the leftovers in a jar and keep in the fridge to drizzle on Pancakes or other desserts.
Simply put, caramel sauce is made from three ingredients; sugar, butter and cream (or milk) in this case you need dairy free free butter and cream.
All three are melted together until the sugar has dissolved and then rapid boiled to thicken. You keep heating until you have the consistency you want. To go further and make a thicker toffee roll the sleeves up and beat the heck out of the sauce to add air as it begins to cool.
Can I buy a readymade dairy free caramel sauce?
These are a rare breed indeed! I have managed to find one by We Love Manfood who can often be seen at Allergy Shows in the UK. This is their Salted Caramel Sauce but I highly recommend you look at the other products they sell too.
Gluten Free Small Business Guide
Updated on a regular basis, this guide champions small gluten free producers in the UK who deliver awesome free from bakes, cakes and savoury goods.
Top tips for making a vegan cheesecake topping
These tips don’t just apply to this Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake, they apply to all my dairy free cheesecake recipes.
- You need a high fat plant based cream cheese, don’t use low fat versions.
- Use a dairy free cream that claims to whip well. Again, the higher the fat the better.
- Add extra fat by way of plant butter or solid white fats (Trex for example)
- Whip for way longer than you would a ‘normal’ cheesecake topping.
- Chill for longer than a ‘normal’ cheesecake
Follow all these top tips and I promise you will have a dairy free/vegan cheesecake that behaves itself.
Dairy Free / Vegan Creams
I get asked ‘what is the best dairy free cream to use’ a lot, so I’ve added some advice here.
Baked recipes
If using cream alternatives in baked recipes the type of cream matters less but care needs to be taken when cooking it as dairy free cream can still split like dairy cream. Therefore you are free to use any of the following brands; Elmlea (single or double), Alpro (single), Food Heaven – Heavenly (Sweetened or Unsweetened), Coconut Cream (any % or coconut extract)
No Bake recipes
Usually in a no bake recipe the cream you add is part of the building block to add structure. For example whipped cream in a Victoria Sponge Gateau. For this reason you need to use a dairy free cream that has the highest fat content so a double cream (Elmlea produce double plant cream) or a Coconut Cream that has 60+ of coconut extract. However, Heavenly also behaves well when whipped.
Ice Creams
I have made my ice creams with all the dairy free creams mentioned above, single, double, high fat, low fat and all work because I always add a little dairy free butter to stabilise the structure so you can use all types of plant/soya/coconut dairy free creams.
Gluten Free Christmas Gift Guide
Updated every year to give you the latest gluten free gifts perfect for a loved one or to gift yourself. The guide includes; Advent Calendars, gifts for Christmas Day, Hampers for a gluten free Christmas and much more.
Other gluten and dairy free desserts
Gluten and Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake Recipe
If you make it and like the recipe I would be eternally grateful if you popped back and commented leaving a star rating as this will tell search engines that this recipe is worth checking out and others will get to find it in searches.
Gluten and Dairy Free ‘Biscoff’ Cheesecake
Equipment
- 20cm round cake tin with a loose bottom
Ingredients
For the biscuit base
- 300 g gluten free Spekulatius biscuits I use Schar (3 packets)
- 80 g butter I use Flora plant butter
For the cheesecake topping
- 400 g cream cheese I use own brand dairy free cream cheese
- 200 ml cream I use Elmlea Plant Cream
- 100 g dairy free white chocolate melted
- 50 g vegan condensed milk [see notes on how to make your own]
- 80 g dairy free butter, melted I use Flora Plant Blocks
- 5 tbsp icing/confectioners sugar or as much as you desire to taste
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
For the decoration
- 5 Spekulatius biscuits hold these back from the base biscuits
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 50 g butter or butter alternative I use Flora Plant butter blocks
- 50 ml dairy free cream
Instructions
To make the biscuit base
- Making the biscuit base could not be simpler. Crush the Spekulatius or blitz them in a food processor NOTE: this works out as three 100g packets of gluten free biscuits but HOLD BACK 5 BISCUITS for your crumble topping.
- Soften the 'butter' in the microwave for 30 seconds and then pour into the biscuit crumbs and mix or blitz again to combine.
- Pour the buttery biscuit crumbs into a 20cm loose bottom round cake tin. I use a circle to baking parchment to line the tin to prevent the biscuit base from sticking.
- Using the bake of a metal spoon press down the biscuit crumbs and smooth flat until you have a solid biscuit base – possibly the most satisfying thing to do ever!
- Pop the tin into the fridge to help the butter to harden and crack on with the cheesecake topping.
To make the cheesecake topping
- Pop the measured 'butter' and dairy free white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted.
- In a large bowl or food mixer add the dairy free cream cheese and 'butter' and beat well until you see no more fatty lumps in the mixture.
- Add the vegan condensed milk, cream and vanilla paste and whip with a whisk, hand whisk or food mixer for at least 5 minutes. You want the mixture to thicken so you have firm peaks.
- Now you can add your icing sugar to taste. 5 tablespoons should be plenty so maybe add 1 tablespoon at a time and test until you have the desired sweetness.
- Remove the cake tin from the fridge and pour the mixture into the tin smoothing flat with a silicone spatula.
- Pop back into the fridge while you make the caramel sauce topping.
To make the caramel sauce
- In a non stick saucepan, melt the 'butter' and sugar until the sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Add the dairy free cream and turn up to a rapid boil (constantly bubbling) stirring all the time.
- Continue this process until the caramel sauce has thickened, you want it to still be pourable, not a thick toffee.NOTE: the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools to take this into account.
- Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before removing the cheesecake from the fridge to decorate.
To decorate
- Simply crumble the remaining Spekulatius biscuits with your hands or light bash with a rolling pin (you want all sized lumps). Sprinkle these over the cheesecake and then liberally drizzle with your cooled caramel sauce.
- Pop back into the fridge for at least 1.5hrs or until you wish to serve it. This cheesecake will keep for 2-3 days no problem if kept in a sealed container in the fridge (to prevent soaking up fridge smells).
Notes
Nutrition
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*disclaimer: I use affiliate codes on my website, the vast majority are to Amazon. If you click on any of the links or images in the post and make a purchase my family will benefit from a small % of that purchase at no extra cost to you.
For full transparency, in 2020 I made my first £25, and in 2022 I reached my next £25 (Amazon don’t transfer the money until you reach £25). Recently I got paid a whopping £27.10 for 2023.
So to date I have made £78.58 since I first started the scheme in 2017. It won’t pay the bills, that’s for sure but it does help to pay for ingredients or little treats to cheer me up!
I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot of gluten-free recipes!! I own a carpet cleaning company and 3 out of 4 of my carpet cleaning techs are gluten free! We love to have a holiday pot luck but finding gluten-free baked treats is so hard. They will be so excited when they see that I’ve made this cheesecake for them!! AND that they can eat it! haha thank you for sharing!
Wow Kara, I’m so glad my recipes have made you feel like winning, that’s my work done now…I can retire :-D
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