Two-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Cheesecakes Your Guests Will Love!

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Why do we eat dairy on Shavuot?

I’m going to give you the recipe and instructions for the Vegan Chocolate Cheesecakes. But first, I thought you might want to know why it is a custom to eat dairy on Shavuot.

According to My Jewish Learning,  After the Torah was given, they were obligated to follow its laws, including those governing dietary practice. As they returned to the camp from Revelation, they could not eat the previously prepared meat, which had not been done according to the laws of kashrut[dietary restrictions]. Since butchering and cooking fresh meat would take too long for the tired, hungry Israelites, they took the dairy food that was readily available. Symbolizing modesty, the dairy was also seen as appropriate for the occasion of receiving the Torah, which should always be approached with humility.

Why choose a dairy-free Shavuot?

If it’s your custom to eat dairy for Shavuot, I suggest you offset those menu items with parve/vegan Shavuot options that will leave you feeling lighter and more energetic than their heavy dairy counterparts. These individual vegan chocolate cheesecakes are a great start!

If you want to observe a dairy-free Shavuot, either because dairy doesn’t agree with you; you don’t like the factory farm system; or you believe dairy foods aren’t good for you; see my past Shavuot posts for more recipes and menu ideas.

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Why this Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake?

1. We can all use more two ingredient recipes in our life! These individual vegan chocolate cheesecakes are delicious, dairy-free, and only use two ingredients. I’ll also give you some garnish options, but they’re not even necessary because you can use the mini chocolate chips from the recipe for the garnish.

2. Maybe you have guests with allergies or intolerances to eggs or dairy.

3. The taste. This vegan chocolate cheesecake recipe uses really good quality chocolate chips. If you usually use cheap chocolate chips, you will taste the difference. Enjoy Life is NOT cheap, unfortunately for your wallet. But they are so much better tasting than any other chocolate chips I’ve bought. Also, using the minis means you don’t have to chop any chocolate for crunch or for garnish.

4. These individual vegan chocolate cheesecakes are easy to make and look so impressive. It is tempting to just buy cheesecake at the store, but if you are looking for something parve and vegan, providing your guests with their own individual vegan chocolate cheesecake in a cute clear plastic or gold foil container will make quite an impression. You can buy the containers at Party City or the dollar store.

How to make the Two Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Cheesecakes

So what are the two ingredients for your vegan chocolate cheesecakes? Tofutti Cream Cheese and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. First, whip up the vegan cream cheese (I only tried the chocolate cheesecakes with Tofutti brand vegan cream cheese. You are welcome to try another brand and report back, but I can’t guarantee the results.) using a hand mixer and a mixing bowl. Scrape down the sides with a flat spatula as needed.

Second, melt 8 oz of the chocolate chips. (Set aside the remaining two ounces.) I recommend using a 20 oz paper bowl because cleaning hardened chocolate off of a ceramic bowl is not fun and takes all the ease out of this two ingredient recipe.

You can melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Start with 30 seconds and then mix, mix, mix. Use 10-15 second increments after that. Each time you warm the chocolate, mix it with a plastic spoon (again, for cleaning purposes) until as much of the chocolate has melted as possible.

Pro-tip: If your chocolate looks like it all melted on its own in the microwave, it’s already burned. You have to mix the chocolate chips until they finish melting that way.

Next, pour half the melted chocolate mixture into the mixing bowl and combine it with the whipped cream cheese using the hand mixer. Again, use the spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Pour the rest of the melted chocolate in and use the hand mixer to finish mixing the chocolate and cream cheese together.

I recommend gently mixing one ounce of the chocolate chips you did not melt into the bowl. That way your little vegan chocolate cheesecakes will have a nice crunch. You can then save the last ounce for garnish.

Gather your small cute vessels and put in 1-2 oz of the chocolate mixture into each little pot/cup, whatever you have. Garnish options: fresh berries, clementine slices, orange zest, dried mulberries, chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles.

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