Vegan Tiramisu
I decided to try to recreate my all-time favourite dessert: tiramisu. I absolutely LOVE this dessert and have not had it since changing my diet. A true tiramisu lover’s heart would be breaking for me right now. On our island, we really do not have many options for plant-based desserts and I really wish there were more to be found. When I was at lunch the other day there was a beautiful dish of tiramisu staring at me through the dessert case window and I decided then and there that I needed to try to make a plant-based version to make my soul happy. We all know a good dessert is good for the soul. I poured over many non-vegan and vegan recipes, tried things that I thought may work well together, and finally settled on this one. I am happy to report it is pretty legit!
I know I usually post recipes that are quick and simple to make however, this my friends is not one of them. This one takes a bit of planning but I promise it is worth it in the end. There are two things that need to be done the night before you want to make this: soak the cashews and put the coconut milk in the fridge. You can use freshly made coconut milk or a good quality canned coconut milk for this recipe. Once refrigerated coconut milk will generally separate into two layers: a thick white cream at the top and a liquid watery bottom. We will only be using that lovely cream for this recipe. Do not skip soaking the cashews overnight. Boiling them or soaking them in hot water works fine for some recipes but I wouldn’t recommend it for this one.
The next step is to make a cake that can play the role of ladyfingers in this dessert. I used a simple vanilla cake recipe and it worked nicely for this purpose.
Once the cake has cooled completely you will need to slice it into pieces about 1 1/2″ wide. My cake recipe made about 24 “fingers”.
Whilst the cake was baking I made the coffee sauce. All you need for this is strong black coffee or espresso, Kahlua or other coffee liqueur and brown sugar. Mix to dissolve sugar and place in the fridge to get cold.
Now it is time to make the delicious cashew cream which takes the place of mascarpone cream in the traditional Italian version. Carefully take the coconut milk out of the fridge without shaking up the can. You want to scoop off the cream that would have formed on the top overnight without getting any of the watery liquid mixed in when measuring it out. Add this and all of the other ingredients for the cream into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Place in the fridge to keep cool. On a side note, this cream is so yummy that you could use it as a dip for a fruit platter.
Now it is time to assemble this bad boy! You can soak the cake fingers in the coffee sauce or cover the bottom of a dish with a layer of cake fingers and then pour about half of the coffee sauce over the fingers. Either way works!
Next step is to cover these coffee soaked cake fingers with that scrumptious cashew cream. Time for the next layer of cake fingers, coffee sauce and cashew cream. Once it is all assembled place the cocoa powder in a sifter or strainer and sprinkle it all over the top and place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Be prepared for your tastebuds to be happy and know that you have a pretty spot on recipe to replace the traditional Italian classic.
Enjoy!
Vegan Tiramisu
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 1 3/4 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Almond Milk
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Coffee Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Strong Black Coffee or Espresso
- 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 3 tbsp Kahlua or other Coffee Liqueur
Cashew Cream
- 1 1/2 Cups Cashews soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Cream chilled overnight
- 4 tbsp Coconut Oil refined
- 4 tbsp Agave or Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Tiramisu Topping
- 1 tbsp Cocoa Powder
Instructions
Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a small bowl combine almond milk, oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and mix to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir to combine. Do not overmix this.
- Place into a lightly greased 9×9 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave in pan until completely cool.
- Once cool slice into 1"-1 1/2" slices. This recipe should make about 24 "fingers"
Coffee Sauce
- Brew strong black coffee or espresso
- To this add the brown sugar and Kahlua
- Mix to dissolve sugar and put in fridge to get cold
Cashew Cream
- Soak the cashews overnight
- Place the coconut milk in the fridge overnight to separate the cream from the watery liquid
- Rinse the soaked cashews and add to your Vitamix or high powered blender
- Carefully remove the coconut milk from the fridge without shaking and scoop the coconut cream off of the top without mixing in any water from below. Add the cream to the blender
- Add all remaining ingredients to the blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge until ready to use
Tiramisu Assembly
- You can either soak the fingers in the coffee sauce or place a layer of fingers into the bottom of a dish and pour half of the coffee sauce over them.
- Once the first layer of fingers is in the dish top with half of the cashew cream.
- Repeat the first two steps.
- Place the cocoa powder into a sieve, sifter or fine mesh strainer and sprinkle it all over the last layer of the cashew cream.
- Place in fridge until ready to serve.
- Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days
Vegan Crepes
