Vegan Tiramisu

As a coffee lover, the Tiramisu is one of my favourite dessert. The richness of the deep espresso flavour mixed with the sweet and light mascarpone cream really adds up to being an amazing treat. So, as I often do, I found myself craving a Tiramisu, but this time I decided to try it with a twist : making it vegan. Which I admit is quite a challenge considering it's basically a cheesecake. I had to browse many recipes of the original dessert and of vegan versions of it to piece together a recipe that would work with my budget, the ingredients I had on hand and the few hours I had to make it before work.

The vegan spin on this masterpiece of a dessert was just as satisfying and, though it took some time, surprisingly easy to do. I made it just before leaving for work. I spent the next 4 hours serving costumer and thinking about the treat that awaited me at home.

This recipe comes in three parts, first the homemade vegan Ladyfingers, then the vegan ''Mascarpone'' cream and finally the actually Tiramisu. The ladyfingers consist of a vegan vanilla cake dipped in espresso shots, and the faux Mascarpone is a light coconut and almond cream.

Act ONE : The Ladyfingers

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ⅓ cup vanilla oat milk
• ⅔ cup avocado oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions :

1. Preheat your oven at 180 °C (350F) and grease a square cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the non-dairy milk, oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
3. Pour the wet ingredient into the bowl containing the dry ones and mix until everything come together but don't over mix.
4. Pour the batter into the greased pan and throw it in the oven for 22 to 28 minutes. You can use a toothpick to check if the cake is ready: it the toothpick comes out clean and dry, it's done.
5. Once the cake is completely cooled, slice it into fingers about 1'' wide.

Act TWO : The ''Mascarpone''

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• ½ cup vanilla oat milk
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1, 14oz can premium coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Instructions :

1. In a medium pot, cover the almonds with water and boil for about 10 minutes, or until softened. Drain and cool with cold water, then remove the skin.
2. In a blender, add your almonds, non-dairy milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth and homogenous.
3. Your coconut milk will have separated into a cream and water, do not mix it! In a bowl, beat the coconut cream until it becomes fluffy. Fold in the almond mixture very lightly.

Act THREE : The Assembly

Ingredients :

• 4 shots of espresso
• cacao powder

Instructions :

1. Pour the espresso into a bowl (if you feel the coffee is too strong, you can dilute it in water)
2. Dip a Ladyfinger in the espresso, then place it in a serving dish. Repeat until you have a tightly lined up layer of lady fingers. Spread over half of the ''Mascarpone'' cream.
3. Repeat the second step to make a second layer. At this point, if you have any left over coffee, you can pour it over the layer of ladyfingers before adding the last layer of ''Mascarpone''.
4. Cover and put it in the fridge. Now the hardest part : wait at least 3 hours. - I prepared it in the morning, before going to work so that I could enjoy it when I came back!
5. When you are ready to serve, sprinkle cacao over the top and enjoy !

Bon Appétit !!