Vegan Tiramisu (Nut-Free)

About a year ago, my wife and I had an Italian-themed dinner at our friend's house, where we were tasked to bring an appetizer and dessert. As of now, I am sure that it comes as no surprise that I happily took on the task of creating a dessert and was set on making tiramisu.

Tiramisu is a traditional coffee-flavoured Italian dessert typically made with ingredients of the animal-derived variety, including the ladyfingers and cream layer.

Up until that point, I have never had tiramisu before, let alone made it, and was hard-pressed to find an easy, cost-effective, nut-free recipe when scouring the internet. After countless hours of failing to find a recipe that fit these criteria, I decided to give up the search and pulled together certain aspects of several recipes to create the one I am sharing with you below. This recipe uses typical ingredients that you will likely already have stocked in your pantry, and if not, will be easy to find in local grocery stores.

I have to be honest and say that I was nervous the first time I made this recipe, as I didn't know what to expect (after all, I had never had tiramisu before). However, I was pleasantly (floored, speechless) surprised and have made this several times over (it was my birthday cake just a few days ago)! It is rich, moist, and flavourful, and without a doubt, will be making this again throughout the years to come.

Lastly, while this recipe is incredibly easy to make (it is!), if you are in a rush and need a dessert pronto, this is not it. Tiramisu requires about 4 - 6 hours to set in the fridge before serving (and definitely worth the wait!), so please keep that in mind.

I hope that you are as equally delighted and floored by this recipe as I am!

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Servings: 12

Ingredients

Ladyfingers (AKA - Vanilla Cake)

I cannot take credit for the cake recipe because Sam nailed a truly simple yet delicious recipe, but have referenced the exact ingredients that I used and will break it down for you here so you don't have to toggle between tabs.

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (350 g)

• 1 & 1/2 cups white sugar (285g)

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/3 cups non-dairy milk (I use soy or oat milk)

• 2/3 cup light oil (I used canola)

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cream Layer

This cream layer was pulled from Sophie and Paul's tiramisu recipe from Vegan on Board.

• 1/2 package of silken tofu (300 grams) or 1 & 1/2 cups of plain vegan yogurt*

• 1/2 cup coconut cream from canned coconut milk (150 grams)*

• 4 - 5 tablespoons of sugar

Additional Ingredients

• 3/4 cups strongly brewed coffee (very strong), cooled to room temperature

• 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

Directions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Lightly grease two 9-inch square baking pans or two 8-inch round baking pans (see notes below if using two 8-inch round baking pans)

3. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined

4. In a small bowl, add all the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined (you do not want to overmix the batter)

6. Evenly divide your batter between the two baking pans

7. Place in your oven and bake for 25 - 28 minutes until baked through (toothpick inserted comes out clean).

8. Allow both cakes to thoroughly cool before assembling the tiramisu

Cream Layer

1. Drain excess liquid from the silken tofu

2. Add all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.

Assembly

1. Cut your cake into 1-inch ladyfinger strips*

2. In a 9 x 9 baking dish, tightly line the bottom of the dish with one layer of ladyfingers.

3. Pour half of the brewed coffee over the ladyfingers, followed by half of the cream.

4. Sift half a tablespoon of cocoa powder over the cream layer (sift until you cannot see any of the cream).

5. Create a second layer by repeating steps 2 - 4 noted above.

6. Place the tiramisu in the fridge for 4 to six hours to allow it to set and the flavour to mingle.

7. Serve!

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NOTES:

• I don't have 9-inch square baking pans, only 8-inch round cake pans. If you are in the same position, don't fret! Simply cut the edges of your cake so that you have a square, then commence with cutting your 1-inch strips.

• For the coconut cream, I used a can of refrigerated coconut milk.

  • If you leave a can of coconut milk to refrigerate overnight (or better yet, longer) the milk will separate into two parts: a liquid part that settles to the bottom of the can and a creamy layer that solidifies at the top. I simply used the creamy layer as the coconut cream.

• I have used silken tofu and plain vegan yogurt to make the cream layer and both hold up perfectly.

Nutritional Breakdown per Serving

Note: Nutritional breakdown may vary based on the type of milk that you are using and should you sub any other ingredients. 

Calories: 358
Carbs: 51.8 grams 
Fat: 14.6 grams 
Protein: 5.4 grams