The Taste of Summer... Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake and Broccoli Pizza

After being off of my feet for far too long, I am finally getting back to (semi) normal walking. I've moved into a new apartment and finally have a kitchen to call my own again! First baked treat out of the oven? Definitely a vegan cheesecake. I also made pizza with broccoli, marinated mushrooms and garlic. Our first meal in our new place! Recipe and photos follow.

Start off by making the crust. It's super easy, but you can also just buy a pre-made one.

1 1/2 cups fine ground graham cracker crumbs (you can buy them already crushed)
5 Tbsp vegan butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the butter in the bowl and warm up in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until the butter is just melted. Add to it the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Mix until all dry ingredients are wet. Prepare a spring form pan and spread the graham crackers in a layer across the bottom. Bake in the oven for 5 min. Remove from oven and allow to cool before adding filling.

For the filling:
3 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk
24oz fake cream cheese (3 Tofutti containers. I know... it's expensive)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2 tsp lemon zest (extra for garnish if you want)

Take out the cream cheese as soon as an hour before making this to soften it up. Add flax seed and soymilk to a bowl and use a hand mixer or whisk with a fork until thickened. (About one minute) Fold in cream cheese and sugar. Add in other ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into cooled crust and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Remove from oven when slightly browned. Make fruit topping while you're waiting.

Rinse a pint of blueberries. Set half aside. Add the other half to a saucepan, as well as 3 Tbsp sugar. Heat on low with a lid, stirring frequently, until blueberries start to break down (about 5 min). Mash most of the blueberries in the pan. Stir in the reserved blueberries and a pinch of flour. Remove from heat and top with a lid.

When the cheese cake is done baking, allow it to cool a bit before adding the berries on top. Once the fruit topping is added, allow to cool thoroughly before removing the springform pan. Voila!