This Vegan Russian Cheesecake is a popular German recipe that combines chocolate cake and baked cheesecake into one delicious dessert! It’s moist, creamy, rich in chocolate flavor and perfect for birthday parties or any occasion!

Vegan Baked Russian Cheesecake
This delicious cheesecake is a very popular baked treat here in Germany which we call “Russischer Zupfkuchen”, even though, this is not a traditional Russian dessert. Anyway, it is not surprising that anyone loves it because the classic combination of chocolate and vanilla flavor tastes just amazing! I’ve always loved this simple baked cheesecake, that’s why it was even one of the first recipes I published here on the blog.
However, in the past, I made the non-vegan Russian Cheesecake version with eggs according to my Grandma’s original recipe. So it’s definitely time to finally share the vegan cheesecake recipe without eggs or any dairy products! I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as I do!

Simple Vegan Cake Recipe
The recipe itself is super simple! You just have to knead together all the ingredients for the chocolate cake shortcrust pastry with your hands or in a food processor. Then, mix the cheesecake filling in one bowl until smooth and creamy. The chocolate cake spots on top are also made from the chocolate dough so you only have to prepare these 2 components.


How to make Russian Cheesecake
I prefer to use vegan butter and soy milk for the chocolate shortcrust pastry, but plant-based margarine or other non-dairy milk will do, too. Since the dough tends to be a little bit sticky, I roll it out between 2 layers of cling foil for an easier option. Alternatively, you can chill the pastry wrapped in foil for about an hour, so that the fat solidifies which makes the dough firmer. Once it’s firm enough to work with, you can roll out the dough on a floured work surface.




Once the dough is rolled out, transfer to a lightly greased cake pan. Feel free to line the bottom with parchment paper for easier removal as I did.


Next, fill the creamy vegan cheesecake mixture onto the prepared chocolate crust and bake it for 30 minutes. In the meantime, form the remaining pastry into chocolate cake spots. Then place them on top of the pre-baked cheesecake and bake another 30 minutes. That’s it!




Chocolate Cow-Spots or Streusel (Crumbles)?
Some people prefer to form the remaining chocolate cake pastry into streusel. However, my mom and I find these chocolate cow-spots look super fancy so we prefer making it that way in our family! Anyway, it’s totally up to you if you make chocolate cake spots or streusel or crumbles for the topping. Whatever you’ll create, I’m sure it will be as delicious!

This Vegan Russian Chocolate Cake Cheesecake is:
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free, lactose-free)
- Can be made gluten-free
- Easy to make
- Rich in chocolate flavor
- Creamy
- Moist
- Delightful
- Luscious
- Soft but crumbly
- So delicious!
- Perfect for a birthday party
- The best vegan cake for kids and adults alike!

Which baking pan can I use?
You can either make this Russian chocolate cheesecake in a springform pan as I did or on a sheet or square pan. I used an 8-inch springform pan, but the recipe also works if using a slightly larger pan, such as 9-inch. However, please take a note that the cake will be flatter if your pan is larger.
Anyway, if you’d like to use another pan, I highly recommend you to use my baking pan calculator to convert the recipe for your desired size.


Want more vegan cheesecake recipes? Then you will like the following ones for sure:
- Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake
- Best Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake
- Vegan Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake
- Vegan New York Cheesecake
- Poppy Seed Crumble Cheesecake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
- Vegan Cherry Crumble Cheesecake
- Baked Cheesecake with Plums
If you‘ve tried this Vegan Russian Chocolate Cake Cheesecake recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and rating. And if you take a photo of your delicious chocolate cheesecake, please tag me on Instagram @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka so I don’t miss your post! Have fun baking!

Vegan Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Chocolate Dough
- 1 ⅔ cup (200 g) all-purpose or spelt flour or gluten-free flour (*see notes)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- ⅓ cup (40 g) cocoa powder
- ½ cup (120 g) + 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ cup (120 g) vegan butter cold
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk cold
Cheesecake Filling
- ⅓ cup (75 g) vegan butter or margarine
- ⅓ cup (40 g) cornstarch
- 3-4 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 17,6 oz (500 g) soy quark drained yogurt or sub tofu (*see notes)
- ½ cup (120 ml) coconut milk full-fat (or sub another non-dairy cream)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 g) + 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice optional
To Decorate (optional)
- powdered sugar
- fresh raspberries
Instructions
- For the best results, I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams. Simply click on the word "metric" right above the ingredient list.
Chocolate Dough
- Lightly grease an 8-inch springform pan* and line the bottom with parchment paper. Then, place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes while you make the dough. (It's easier to press the dough into a chilled pan).
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold vegan butter into small pieces, then add to the flour mixture and knead everything with your hands (or use a food processor) until a dough forms. Add the non-dairy milk as needed.
- Reserve about 1/3 of the dough for the spots on top. Roll out the remaining dough as shown in the step-by-step photos above and place it in the springform pan. (If the dough is very sticky, you can wrap it in cling foil and refrigerate for 1 hour, so the butter solidifies and the dough gets firmer).
Cheesecake Filling
- Preheat the oven to 356°F (180°C).
- Slowly melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan (but don‘t boil it).
- In a cup, stir the cornstarch into the non-dairy milk to dissolve.
- Place the soy quark (drained yogurt*), coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and mix with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Then mix in the melted vegan butter, lemon juice, and the cornstarch mixture.
- Spread the cheesecake filling on the chocolate crust and smooth it out evenly. Place the cake in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
- Form the reserved 1/3 chocolate dough into cow-spots (or streusel) and place them on top of the pre-baked cheesecake. Put the cake back in the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge overnight to set completely.
- Dust your Russian cheesecake with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh raspberries if desired. Cut into pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- Baking pan: Feel free to use another baking pan (e.g. muffin tin, baking sheet or square pan). I recommend using my cake pan calculator to adjust the recipe fitting to your desired baking pan.
- The baking time may vary, depending on the baking pan and amount of dough you use (a flat or smaller cake is done sooner.) Muffins take only about 35 minutes.
- Flour: Instead of all-purpose flour or spelt flour, you can also use a gluten-free flour blend 1:1. If you do so I recommend adding an additional flax-seed egg for a better binding (stir 1 tbsp of ground flax-seeds into 3 tbsp of hot water and set aside for about 5 minutes).
- Soy quark: I like to use soy quark which is called "Alpro Skyr", but another non-dairy quark will do, too. You can also make it at home by draining non-dairy yogurt (check out this recipe for instructions). Alternatively, you can substitute creamy blended silken-firm tofu which has a similar consistency to quark.
- Sugar: Instead of regular sugar, you can also use Erythritol, coconut sugar or another sugar variety you like. Depending on which kind of soy quark you use, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar to your taste.
- Storage: This cheesecake keeps up to 4 days in the refrigerator and also freezes well.
- You can find more information on this recipe in my blog post above.


©Bianca Zapatka | All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post for the recipe. More info here. Thank you for supporting biancazapatka.com!

This page may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. You can find more information here.
Super Rezept und einfache Umsetzung ! ♡
Der vegane Schoko-Mürbeteig hat mich total begeistert. Bei der Füllung habe ich Alpro Vanille Skyr genommen und er ist super gelungen und hat allen geschmeckt. Immer gerne wieder. Ich freue mich auf die nächsten Rezepte die ich ausprobiere.
Das freut mich wahnsinnig. Ich danke dir für dein Feedback und bin gespannt, was du als nächstes ausprobierst. 🙂
Simple yet super delicious! Can’t wait to make it again 😀
I am so happy that you loved this recipe! 🙂
Many thanks for your amazing feedback! ♡
Much love,
Bianca ❤️
I have made this cake here in the US and I used the Silken Tofu instead of yogurt/quark. I divided the flour (1/2 spelt and 1/2 all purpose). It was perfect. 🙂 Thank you so much. I will definitely make it again.
That’s awesome! I am glad you loved this recipe! ♡
Thanks for sharing your feedback! 🙂
Ein super leckeres und einfaches Rezept, das sogar meine nicht-veganer Eltern widerstandlos überzeugt hat 😀 ich habe Birkenzucker verwendet und beim nächsten Mal probiere ich mich mal an einer anderen Mehlsorte (vielleicht glutenfrei oder lowcarb). Vielen Dank für deinen wundervollen Blog! <3
Das freut mich wirklich sehr, liebe Paula!
Vielen Dank für dein super Feedback! <3
Ich bin gespannt, wie dir der Kuchen mit den anderen Mehlsorten gelingt!
LG, Bianca
Hi, I would love to make this for my daughters birthday. Can I sub the Quark/Tofu for Vegan Cream Cheese ?
Yes! 🙂
Oh my god, please try this recipe, it’s crazy good. Everything is amazing about this recipe but the chocolate base is especially great. I tried it in the cheesecake, as a simple biscuit and I plan to put it raw in a vegan ice cream as soon as the kitchen aid ice cream maker add-on.
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! So glad you love this vegan cheesecake! Thank you! ♡
Wow Bianca this looks beautiful! I just stumbled across your blog and want to make everything!! I lived in Germany for two years, too, so wanted to say hi.
All best,
Heather from Brooklyn
So glad you visit my blog to say “hi”! Thank you so much! 🙂
This turned out so well! I used silken tofu blended up in place of the quark and used a mix of vegan cream cheese and a splash of almond milk in place of the coconut milk. The brownie crust is amazing and I could probably eat a whole pan of it!! I also subbed arrowroot powder for cornstarch.
The end result is so delicious and decadent! It is amazing and definitely perfect for a special celebration (or just a random Saturday!)
Thanks!
So glad you love this vegan cheesecake! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! 🙂
I made this for my daughter’s birthday. I’m normally not a great lover of cakes but this was delicious, not too heavy, not too sweet. I was fretting a lot because the chocolate crust was so soft before it was baked, and I definitely had to use cling film to roll it out, but it worked out amazingly well.
Mods: My daughter is allergic to fresh fruit, so I made a butterscotch cream sauce to go with it. I also cut the spots out into heart shapes. I used soy cream instead of coconut milk and soy yoghurt. I’m guessing you could also use cream cheese and blend it for a cheesier taste.
Will definitely make again. Thank you very much for this great recipe.
Thank you so much for your feedback! ❤️