Vegan Lemon Cheesecake

Happy Saturday! Today in my very BLACK household, we are treating today as a day of rest. This country has so much to work on in terms of injustice, police brutality, homophobia, racism and sexism that the Howard household felt like today was not a day to celebrate this country..it would be hypocritical. However, we are going to enjoy some vegan treats with our family and play some Marvin Gaye and Frankie Beverly outside..why? because we can 🙂 and we don’t take being alive for granted!

This morning I whipped up a very quick vegan dessert for our afternoon festivities. I got a chance to relax from work for a few days prior and found this recipe from pinterest. Now that my little one is a toddler and gets into EVERYTHING, I am more aware of how I spend my time. Literally, this recipe took 5 minutes to make. I did use a pre made crust and the vegan whip cream is not homemade ( I used Trader Joe’s coconut whip cream- AMAZING), so that cut the time in half. I did not use fresh lemon juice either but its your choice. Like I said, I love to cook but I also love my child, and I need to keep my eye on her at all times 🙂

Recipe is below pic. Put whatever fruit you like. I choose the colors of the PAN African Flag, red, black and green. Red for the blood we shed, black for black people and green for growth.

No Bake, Dairy Free Vegan Lemon Cake by Sarah Jane Parker of “The Fit Cookie”

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Daiya non-dairy cream cheese (or other brand of dairy free cream cheese)
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon natural yellow food color powder (I use McCormick natural colors)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3.5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 container So Delicious CocoWhip* (9 ounce container)
• MiDel gluten free graham crust (8-9 inches, or a vanilla homemade cookie crust)
• Fresh raspberries and mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, beat the non-dairy cream cheese with a hand blender to soften it and make it smooth. Then add the powdered sugar, natural yellow food color, and the lemon zest. 
2. Then beat in the lemon juice and vanilla, mixing well so the cheesecake mixture is smooth.
3. Add 1/2 of the container of CocoWhip to the bowl and beat together with the cream cheese mixture until it’s smooth and mixed thoroughly, then fold in the remaining CocoWhip by hand with a spatula.
4. Spread the cheesecake mixture into the pre-made or homemade cookie crust, spreading out to make it smooth on top. 
5. Chill for 4 or more hours, until it is chilled and has firmed up. 
6. Serve topped with raspberries or strawberries and mint leaves for garnish. Enjoy!