Ultimate Guide to No-Bake Vegan Cakes (simple starter recipe + options)

Easy healthy no-bake cake recipes, using minimal ingredients and few recipe steps - healthy desserts are easy when you don't turn on your oven.

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Ultimate Guide to No-Bake Vegan Cakes (simple starter recipe + options).

Who doesn't love no-bake cake recipes? Few pans and bowls to clean, no hot oven (welcome during hot weather seasons), and easy to store, just refrigerate or freeze.

And healthy. Because when you make a plant-based no-bake cake, you use healthy nutritious fresh ingredients, and you don't break their nutritious structure with heat. So what you get is a dessert full of fiber, protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and many more benefits.

This particular post presents the bare bones of a basic recipe for a no-bake slice cake. Just 4 ingredients in the crust, and 5 in the creamy filling.

But if you want to add more bells and whistles, I provide you the options!

For instance, you can swap and add ingredients to the crust to increase bulk and nutrition and influence the texture.

And for instance, you can swap and add ingredients to the creamy filling to add to the flavor profile, and/or affect density or creaminess.

Also feel free to speckle that creamy layer with added chips or berries or seeds. Think of this recipe as a blank canvas.

Start with it, and then consider possible forks in the road.

Choices.

Because that's what makes life interesting, right? Choices.

Now, of course, you can make some radical changes to my crust recipe.

Such as, you can skip it completely and just use crushed graham crackers or even speculoos cookies, mixed with a bit of coconut oil.

And you can customize the creamy recipe as well, although I suggest you stick to the basics of my recipe somewhat to retain the texture and nutrition I intended.

One important ingredient I happen to include is coconut butter. I add it to most of my slice recipes because this delicious superfood not only makes no-bake cakes creamier, it adds nutrients that support digestion, battle disease and slow aging.

You can certainly change the flavor profile of the creamy recipe easily by swapping the lime (which is present in the base recipe to brighten the flavor) for lemon or orange or even an essence, such as peppermint.

And I recommend optional chips or berries or seeds to add texture and additional nutrition sometimes.

I personally made this recipe with poppyseeds recently because poppyseeds are a great source of minerals, specifically niacin, folate, calcium, iron and zinc.And, finally, the toppings!

I suggest thin fruit slices (figs or kiwi) or chocolate chips or a chia jam. You can take those suggestions or think of your own.

Since we are freezing to maintain structure, you can add almost anything that freezes! Although I wouldn't suggest straight ice. That could break some teeth.😂

I hope you make this basic no-bake slice and share it with me so I can see how you customized it!
You might be interested in my other No-Bake Raw Vegan Cakes:
Easy Chocolate Raw Slices
Raw Pink Cashew Cream Parfait Slices
Raw Pumpkin Turmeric Cake
Lavender Lemon Cashew Cream Slices

If you use my guide and make a cake, tag me on Instagram so I can share on stories! And use the image below if you want to share this guide on pinterest. Thank you!

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Ultimate Guide to No-Bake Vegan Cakes (simple starter recipe + options)

Created by Dee Dine

An easy basic healthy no-bake cake that you can make quickly as is, or customize it with your own ideas or the options I provide. This basic recipe makes 6 mini cakes or 3 (4-inch) personal cakes or 1 (8-inch) square cake (see links to pans below)

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 2 hrs 18 mins

Cuisine vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free

Servings 6

Ingredients

 

Basic Crust

• 1 cup almond flour or hazelnut flour, or coconut flour
• ½ cup almonds or more matching flour, or walnuts, or pecans, or cacao powder or buckwheat groats or quinoa pops
• 2 tbsp maple syrup or 3 medjool dates or nut butter
• pinch of sea salt

Cream Layer

• 2 cups soaked cashews
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼-1/2 cup nut milk or water or herbal tea
• ⅓ cup coconut butter
• optional brightener: 2 tbsp lime juice or swap for another juice or extract
• optional flavor enhancer: 1 tsp vanilla paste

Optional White “Candy” Ribbon Layer

• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• ½ cup soaked cashews
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp coconut nectar

Color it!!:

• BLUE or PURPLE: ¼ cup blueberries or 1 tsp matcha blue or butterfly tea flower
• PINK: ¼ cup raspberries or 1 tsp pitya powder or pulp
• YELLOW: ¼ cup mango or 1 tsp turmeric
• GREEN: 1 tsp matcha tea or ¼ cup baby spinach (although this last will leave speckles)

Optional Toppings

• Crushed Nuts
• Dark Chocolate Bar (chopped into shards)
• Chia Fruit Jam 1 cups frozen berries, 1 tsp chia seeds, 2 tbsp maple syrup, ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• Chocolate Cream melted chocolate bar, or healthy chocolate sauce = equal parts cacao powder, maple syrup, melted coconut oil

Useful Equipment to make No-Bake Cakes

• A mini food processor (I use this brand)
• 1 6-inch square pan w/ removable bottom
• 1 6 mini cake pan w/ removable bottoms (I use this brand)
• 3 4-inch round individual pans w/ removable bottoms (I use this brand)

Instructions

 

Prep Work

• Rub pan of choice interiors with a light sweeping layer of coconut oil and some like to add parchment in some way, for instance cut a circle or square and line the bottom of the springform or removable bottom pans. If you use a traditional square pan, fully line with parchment paper and overhanging edges.

Make the Base

• Process base ingredients until crumbly. Do not over process or it will become pasty. Press this coarse layer into the bottom of your pan. Use a spoon to carefully flatten the surface, making the crust layer even. Put pan in freezer while you make creamy layer.

Make the Creamy Filling

• Blend all ingredients until very smooth. Pour mixture over crust, cover pan loosely with a piece of parchment to keep it from drying out and cracking, and freeze 1-2 hours or until solid enough to cut.
  

  Or,if you intend to make the additional white ribbon layer, blend those ingredients and pour on either the crust before you add the main creamy layer or pour on the creamy layer after it has chilled enough to withstand the weight of the next layer, maybe 30 minutes.

  Then add your toppings and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze in an air-tight container for a month!

  If frozen, defrost 20 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Keyword healthy desserts, no-bake

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Dee Dine

Dee Dine is founder of Green Smoothie Gourmet, a plant based recipe blog, and author of the recent cookbook, Crazy Healthy with 4 Ingredients and another immunity-boosting smoothie shot book, 4-Ingredient Smoothies + Juices , due out in January 2021. On this blog you'll find incredibly easy recipes with hidden veggies for anyone wanting to eat healthier, regardless of diet. Dee has graduate degrees in sciences and  journalism, editor at The Feedfeed and a nutritional expert at WikiHow. More about Dee Dine here.