The little girl inside is concerned.
She's been invited to play, without sufficient warning, as the adult regime is overturned. In a time of uncertainty, her childish creativity with sofa dens and dirt pies are a require comfort.
The grown woman has broken the first rule of adulting: order. Importance of routine, sensible decisions at the supermarket, working out, lunches with friends, nights out on the weekends and work, work, working for that career. Now, the world has turned upside down and here is the desire to make...cheesecake?
"Career? Her insecure inner voice sneers, "What career? Your 'talents' aren't needed, in fact they're worthless here. You're furloughed at least, but don't save me a piece when you bake a shit cheesecake, my dear."
The little girl inside pipes up with a gobby gusto:
"Cheesecake is great. In fact, we'll make eight and share them with the elderly man next door once they're baked."
So the grown woman puts aside her fears of routine and career and cleaning everything in sight to make cheesecake - for the first time - that night.
*
Vegan Cheesecake:
Filling:
Two tubs of vegan cream cheese
Three quarters of vegan double cream
Half a lemon (juiced)
Vanilla extract (as much as you feel is right)
Agave syrup (again, as much as you feel is right)
Mix all of these together with a whisk. You're in for the long haul here, so keep whisking until it is as stiff as you like your cheesecake mix. You might need a gin and tonic to subdue the arm pain.
Base:
Three quarters of a pack of vegan biscuits
A generous knob of butter (tablespoon, perhaps? As much as you feel is right)
Maybe vegan chocolate chips, if you're feeling fancy
Crush those biscuits with all the intensity of a witch stabbing a voodoo doll until they're pretty crumb-y. Add in the butter (melted) to the mix and then spoon into the cheesecake vessels. If you want to be fancy, then add some vegan chocolate chips to the mix and pat down with the back of the spoon.
Topping can be anything you have a craving for. A tasty one is mixing half a small carton of coconut cream and loads of vegan chocolate to make a creamy ganachey thing. It will set on top of the creamy part and be a chocolate delight. Add only after the creamy bit has had a chance to set properly in the fridge. Eat with a spoon, share with your neighbours (six feet apart pls), and enjoy. Cheesecake is a delight. Putting cashews in did not work for me; I don't know how the vegan baking wizards got the consistency right, but mine looks like concrete mix and doesn't taste much better. Vegan cream cheese all the way. I would have taken a picture, but I ate them. Enjoy.