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This Gluten and Dairy Free Double Chocolate Cheesecake was made for a family BBQ, I rarely do chocolate baking or puddings, I’m more of a carrot/fruit cake person myself. For example my Vegan Carrot and Pineapple Cake made gluten free or this Simple Apple and Blueberry Bake made gluten and dairy free.
However, these types of recipes always impress making them ideal for celebrations and gatherings. Having made this with white and milk chocolate (I had the kiddies in mind) I’m interested to do this again but with more adult flavours. I’m thinking 80% chocolate and an intense orange chocolate, or maybe even chilli chocolate? Let me know if you experiment and how it goes, I’d love to see pictures, you can post them to the Glutarama Facebook page or join my Facebook Group Gluten Free for Life by Glutarama.
Can I make this Chocolate Cheesecake with dairy?
Turning this Double Chocolate Cheesecake into a dairy filled cheesecake is very simple indeed. You just swap the plant cream for double cream and the plant cream cheese for your normal cream cheese such as Philadelphia Cream Cheese or any own brand.
As this dairy free recipe includes chocolate in both layers there is no additional fats to add (which would be an issue if you were going to do a straight swap for dairy products). This is why I can guarantee that swapping the non dairy for dairy will work on this occasion.
Can I make this Chocolate Cheesecake vegan?
Ready for a surprise? That’s right, this is vegan as well – at least the one pictured is. How? Well I simply make sure I use gluten free biscuits for the biscuit base that also happen to be egg free too. The rest of the cheesecake topping is easily made vegan as all you need is dairy free/vegan chocolate and the same again for the cream and cream cheese.
WHAT IS THE BEST DAIRY FREE CREAM?
Getting vegan bakes and desserts right takes time. You need to ensure that where dairy fat is removed, you replace it with something similar. Likewise, eggs are like the mortar of baking. Without these important building blocks you find that cakes are either solid or crumble. Desserts are too soft and unstable and generally success in the kitchen is a game of chance.
Here’s where I step in, I’ve done all the hard work, failed all the many fails so that you don’t have to. If you ever have any questions regarding gluten free, dairy free and vegan baking please do not hesitate to ask in the comment below or email me direct [email protected]
If you’re keen to find out more, head over to my post Ingredients and Simple Recipes for a Gluten Free Veganuary even if it’s not Veganuary when you read this, the post is packed with tips and tricks to help you to understand the ingredients I use in my baking and more importantly why. Once you understand what each element does, you’ll be far more confident to head off and make your own new baking discoveries
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.
What chocolate should I use for this Double Chocolate Cheesecake?
In the introduction I mention that this is a child-friendly flavour as I use white and milk chocolate to flavour the Double Chocolate Cheesecake layers. However, as stated above, I believe this to be a very versatile cheesecake when it comes to the chocolate flavours you use. I used chocolate drops/buttons as these melt quickly and evenly in the microwave.
TOP TIP: only melt in the microwave in short blasts of 10 seconds at a time. Dairy free chocolate in particular has a tendency to burn easily.
Other chocolate flavours you may wish to try (depending on if you are dairy free or not) are;
- orange chocolate
- chilli chocolate
- salted chocolate
- dark 70%+ chocolate
- ginger chocolate
What you CAN’T use is chocolate that has a fondant or caramel filling, it will argue with the cream and cream cheese.
What is the perfect biscuit for a cheesecake biscuit base?
This is a good question and the answer really depends on the end flavour result your aiming for. I also go for the good old fashioned digestive biscuit. The gluten free versions are often milk and egg free too (be mindful many have GF oats in them, I know many can’t tolerate oat, even gluten free ones).
This said, I have used chocolate chip cookies in the past to add another chocolate dimension. Other options are;
- ginger biscuits (would go great with a ginger flavour chocolate
- gluten free oreo-style cookies
- shortbread (makes a much richer base like millionaire shortbread)
- lemon biscuits
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Other No Bake Gluten Free Cheesecake Recipes
If you like this cheesecake then you will love these recipes too
I’m guessing you’re a fan of puddings and desserts right? Well dear reader, you are in for a treat because I have lots and lots of gluten and many dairy free dessert recipes too. How about this popular Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding and then there’s my Divine Gluten Free Salted Chocolate Tart. If you like that then you’ll be sure to want to check out my Chocolate Goo Puddings | gluten free and a vegan version too.
Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding Salted Chocolate Tart Chocolate Goo Pudding
Dairy Free Double Chocolate Layer Cheesecake
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.
Dairy Free Double Chocolate Layer Cheesecake
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
- 300 g gluten free digestive biscuit(s) this work out as approx. 2 packets
- 80 g butter melted, I used Flora plant butter
White Chocolate Layer
- 150 g whipping cream I used Heavenly sweetened cream on this occasion
- 200 g cream cheese I use a supermarket dairy free cream cheese
- 150 g white chocolate or dairy free alternative I use dairy free white buttons
- 4 tbsp icing/confectioners sugar you may want more or less to taste
Milk Chocolate Layer
- 150 g whipping cream I used Heavenly sweetened cream on this occasion
- 200 g cream cheese I use a supermarket dairy free cream cheese
- 150 g milk chocolate I use dairy free milk chocolate buttons
- 4 tbsp icing/confectioners sugar you may want more or less to taste
Instructions
- Bash the cookies in a bowl or a food bag with a rolling pin until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
- Add the butter that has been melted and mix to combine.
- Tip the crumble mixture into a loose bottomed cake tin that has been lined with greaseproof paper.
- Pop into the fridge for 30mins for the biscuit base to set.
to make the white chocolate layer
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of simmering boiled water, remove for heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Whip the cream to soft peaks
- In another bowl cream together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Pour the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and mix thoroughly to combine.
- Finally, fold in the whipped cream.
- Pour onto the biscuit base and tap cake tin on work surface to remove any air bubbles and pop into the fridge whilst you set to work on the second layer.
to make the milk chocolate layer
- Repeat steps 1-6 but with the milk chocolate
- decorate with your choice of chocolate chunks, swirls or sprinkles (or all of them!)
- Return to the fridge for at least an hour but preferably 2-3 to allow cheesecake to set properly.
Nutrition
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life’s a drama, gluten free doesn’t have to be….
I made this cheesecake for my newly intolerant to dairy/egg/gluten husband. I used ‘free from’ choc chip cookies for the base and left out the white chocolate layer- doubling up the milk chocolate layer as I was short of time. My family loved it and said it was the best cheesecake they ever had….. we had been worried that a gluten, dairy, wheat and egg free cheesecake would be strange tasting but it was absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend it. We loved it so much I am making another one today! Thanks for a great recipe.
Oh Helen, you made my whole week when I read your comment last night in my emails. Thank you so much for the feedback I am thrilled you and the family enjoyed the cheesecake. I have a tough audience here as my daughter is the Coeliac and I’m the one intolerant to egg/dairy – cheesecake is also Beth’s fav dessert so she very judgemental but it passes the taste test with her too. If it hadn’t I’d have gone back to square one! I do hope your husband is finding his transition okay to a challenging dietary need. There’s plenty out there to make if your confident in the kitchen. I also take requests so if there’s anything he’d like to be made to suit his needs I’ll accept the challenge xx
Oh I love the look for this, forget the fact it’s obviously delish, it’s so neat!
Got to love a layered cheesecake and great that you can now get so many vegan subs for dairy that they can be used as straight subs. Fabulous that no-one could tell the difference too. Looks delicious xx
Thank you lovely.
What a delicious looking cheesecake! I’m sure this would be a huge hit.
Thank you Cat x
I’m a huge fan of cheesecakes Rebecca, and when they look even more exciting with the different layers PLUS chocolate then I may well elbow people out of the way! Sounds gorgeous! Thanks so much for joining in with #BakingCrumbs, it’s lovely to have you there :-)
Angela x
It is a rather winning combination isn’t it Angela. Thanks for having me and keep up the wonderful work you’re doing on your jam-packed linky xxx
Ooooh yum! This looks AMAZING! I need a huge slice please! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
This is so unbelievably pretty Rebecca – your layers are just perfect!
Thank you Mandy, it was a bit of a work of art! :-)
Ooh I love how beautiful this cheesecake is with the layers and the decoration on top…and sounds like it must taste AMAZING!! Eb x
Thank you Eb, almost too pretty eat….almost ;-)
This looks so good! I made a layered cheesecake recently and they are so yummy!
Thank you Kat, is a favourite of my daughters x
lovely looking cheesecake and your layers are so neat too. Great that it is GF aswell. Thank you for linking to #Bakeoftheweek x
Haha, I know right? The layers play to my OCD tendencies!
I love cheesecakes – they’re my favourite desserts and this one looks gorgeous!
Aw thank you Corina I have to admit to being a wee bit impressed with myself here!
I LOVE LOVE cheesecake!! So hard to find a good eggfree one that could easily be made dairyfree too! Def LOVE the sound of a chocolate chilli one!
It’s Bethany’s all time fav. She’d have cheesecake everyday if I let her! ?
What a beautiful cheesecake! I found your blog through your guest post on my friend Vicki’s blog, The Free From Fairy. My mouth is watering at the thought of this yummy cake!
Thank you Mel, nothing wrong with a bit of mouth-watering! Lots of my bakes are, lets just say, comfort food and treats. I figure lifes to too short so yes, I’ll have my cake and eat it ?
I’ll right away take hold of your rss feed as I can not
find your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service.
Do you’ve any? Kindly permit me understand so that I may just subscribe.
Thanks.
Looks yummy & quite easy (needs to be for me to attempt it!). What did you use for the topping? And do you think it has to be full fat cream cheese & cream or will it work with reduced fat?
The topping was roughly chopped choc bits popped into a Tupperware pot and shaken to smithereens to round off the edges to look like pebbles!!! I had some light ‘philly’ to use up to make the white cho layer and full fat to do the milk choc layer and both worked just fine ? Enjoy!