Vegan tiramisu - this vegan version of the classic Italian dessert consists of vanilla cake fingers soaked with boozy spiked coffee which are layered with a smooth cashew cream and all topped off with a thick dusting of cocoa powder. It is rich, creamy and utterly irresistible!
Tiramisu is one of my all-time favourite desserts. It has been on my (long!) list of dishes to veganise for ages now and I finally got round to it.
It isn't the easiest thing to make vegan as it traditionally uses ladyfinger biscuits as the base, which rely heavily on both whisked egg whites and yolks to create their structure.
The cream filling is made with mascarpone cheese and either whisked egg whites (and often yolks as well) or double cream. So basically traditional tiramisu consists almost entirely of eggs and dairy...
I decided against attempting to make vegan ladyfinger biscuits as I think that it would be impossible to create a version that was close enough to the original, and it would likely be a tempermental recipe that wouldn't work for everyone.
Instead I went for the safer, easier option of baking a vanilla sheet cake, which I then sliced into fingers and baked again to dry them out a bit. Baking them twice means that they will be able to soak up the coffee mixture without becoming overly soggy.
For the cream I decided to go for a base of cashews and silken tofu as they are more neutral in flavour than coconut cream. I love coconut, but I really don't want my tiramisu to taste like it!
This vegan tiramisu is rich, creamy and utterly delicious. It may not be exactly the same as the traditional version but it is pretty damn close and tastes so good that it really doesn't matter.
How To Make Vegan Tiramisu:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
Start by baking the cake with which to make the sponge fingers. In a large bowl sift together plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
In a jug whisk together caster sugar, oil, vinegar, water, vanilla extract and an optional dash of almond extract. I like a teeny hint of almond in this cake but you can omit it if you prefer.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until they are just combined. Don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough.
Pour the batter into a greased and lined 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13 in rectangular cake tin and spread it level. Bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Let it cool in the tin for 20 minutes then lift it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.
Once the cake is cool, level the top if needed then use a sharp serrated knife to cut it into fingers. I sliced it in half lengthways then cut it into strips about 2 cm / ¾ in wide.
Place the cake fingers slightly spaced apart on a couple of baking sheets and bake in a low oven for 30-40 minutes until they feel dry to the touch. They don't need to be completely dried out but the outsides should feel dry. Let them cool on a wire rack then store in an airtight container.
To make the cream, soak some cashews in boiling water for at least half an hour to soften them. Drain them well and place in a blender or food processor with some lemon juice, melted refined coconut oil, non-dairy milk, caster sugar, silken tofu, vanilla extract and salt.
Blend until the mixture is extremely smooth. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. Pour the cream into a bowl, cover and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up a bit. It should still be soft and spreadable but not runny.
To assemble the tiramisu, mix together cooled very strong black coffee or espresso, and rum, Tia Maria, brandy, amaretto or whisky (vegan Baileys would also work). Pour it into a shallow bowl that is wide enough to dunk the cake fingers into.
Dunk the cake fingers into the coffee mixture very briefly, no more than a second or they will become too soggy. I dunked mine for slightly too long.
Arrange them in an approx 25 x 18 x 7cm dish as you go, placing them close together to make one complete layer. You can cut some into smaller pieces as needed to fill in any gaps.
Spread half of the cream over the top of the cake layer, sprinkle with cocoa powder if you like.
Dip the remaining cake fingers into the coffee mixture one-by-one, arranging them on top of the cream layer as you go. Spread the rest of the cream over the top. (You may not need to use all of the coffee).
Dust the top with cocoa powder, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Just before serving, dust the top of the tiramisu generously with more cocoa powder.
Top Tips For The Best Vegan Tiramisu:
For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
This vegan tiramisu needs to be made the day before you intend to serve it as it needs to chill in the fridge overnight for the cream to set. You can also make it over the course of a couple of days - the cake can be baked, sliced into fingers and baked again a few days in advance. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature.
The coconut oil in the cream is what helps it to set, there is no subsitute I'm afraid. Make sure that you use refined coconut oil, not virgin, otherwise the cream will taste like coconut.
You need to use firm silken tofu, NOT regular tofu. It is most commonly the shelf-stable kind, not the fridge kind. In the UK it can usually be found either in the ‘Asian’ section of the supermarket (by the soy sauce), or next to the tinned beans. I use Mori-Nu or Clearspring. Make sure you drain off the excess liquid (no need to press it though).
For an extra boozy tiramisu you can swap a couple of tablespoons of the milk in the cream filling for your choice of alcohol.
For the alcohol you can use rum, whisky, Tia Maria, brandy, amaretto, Baileys Almande, marsala wine (check it's a vegan one), sherry, cointreau, basically pretty much any kind of spirit you like really. Barnivore is a great site to check which drinks are vegan friendly.
The alcohol can be omitted if you want to make a virgin tiramisu.
This vegan tiramisu will keep (covered) in the fridge for about four days.
This recipe will serve 6 people generously, or 8 in small portions.
The cream may become a bit soft at warm room temperature so keep the tiramisu refrigerated until you are ready to serve it. (I stupidly decided to photograph it in the middle of a heatwave - dumb idea!).
Can I Freeze It?:
Yes. Prepare and assemble the tiramisu as per the recipe, then cover and freeze it for up to three months. Allow to defrost overnight in the fridge and dust with more cocoa powder before serving.
More Vegan Dessert Recipes:
Vegan lemon blueberry cheesecake
Vegan peanut butter chocolate tart
Vegan steamed chocolate pudding
No-bake chocolate stem ginger tart
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Vegan Tiramisu
Ingredients
Cake:
- 315 g (2+ ¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 150 ml (½ cup + 2 Tbsp) neutral oil (I use sunflower)
- 180 g (¾ cup + 2 Tbsp) caster or granulated sugar
- 5 tsp cider or white wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional)
Cream:
- 275 g (9 ¾ oz/1 + ¾ cups) raw cashews
- 250 g (9oz/1 cup) firm silken tofu* excess liquid drained off
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 120 ml (½ cup) melted refined coconut oil**
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Soaking Liquid:
- 300 ml (1 + ¼ cups) very strong cooled coffee/espresso (if using coffee granules use 2-3 Tbsp plus 300ml boiling water)
- 100 ml (6 Tbsp + 2 tsp) Tia Maria/rum/whisky*** (I like to use rum)
- sifted cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
- You need to make the tiramisu the day before you want to serve it. Start by making the cake. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13 in rectangular cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- In a large bowl sift together the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- In a jug whisk together the caster sugar, oil, vinegar, water, vanilla extract and almond extract (if using).
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until they are just combined. Don’t over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for about 20 minutes until it is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Let it cool in the tin for 20 minutes then lift it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.
- Once the cake is cool, preheat the oven to 140°C/120°fan/275°F/gas mark 1. Level the top of the cake if needed then use a sharp serrated knife to cut it into fingers. I sliced it in half lengthways then cut it into strips about 2 cm / ¾ in wide.
- Place the cake fingers slightly spaced apart on a couple of baking sheets and bake for 30-40 minutes until they feel dry to the touch. They don’t need to be completely dried out but the outsides should feel dry. Let them cool on a wire rack then store in an airtight container.
- To make the cream, soak the cashews in boiling water for at least half an hour to soften them.
- Drain them well and place in a blender or food processor with the silken tofu, lemon juice, melted refined coconut oil, non-dairy milk, caster sugar, vanilla extract and salt.
- Blend until the mixture is extremely smooth. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. Pour the cream into a bowl, cover and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up a bit. It should still be soft and spreadable but not runny.
- To assemble the tiramisu, mix together the cooled very strong black coffee or espresso, and your choice of alcohol. Pour it into a shallow bowl that is wide enough to dunk the cake fingers into.
- Dunk the cake fingers into the coffee mixture very briefly, no more than a second or they will become too soggy. Arrange them in an approx 25 x 18 x 7cm / 10 x 7 x 2 ¾ in dish as you go, placing them close together to make one complete layer. You can cut some into smaller pieces as needed to fill in any gaps.
- Spread half of the cream over the top of the cake layer and sprinkle over some cocoa powder if you like.
- Dip the remaining cake fingers into the coffee mixture one-by-one, arranging them on top of the cream layer as you go. Spread the rest of the cream over the top. Dust the top with cocoa powder, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Just before serving, dust the top of the tiramisu generously with more cocoa powder.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- This vegan tiramisu needs to be made the day before you intend to serve it as it needs to chill in the fridge overnight for the cream to set. You can also make it over the course of a couple of days – the cake can be baked, sliced into fingers and baked again a few days in advance. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature.
- *You need to use firm silken tofu, NOT regular tofu. It is most commonly the shelf-stable kind, not the fridge kind. In the UK it can usually be found either in the ‘Asian’ section of the supermarket (by the soy sauce), or next to the tinned beans. I use Mori-Nu or Clearspring. Make sure you drain off the excess liquid (no need to press it though).
- **The coconut oil in the cream is what helps it to set, there is no subsitute I’m afraid. Make sure that you use refined coconut oil, not virgin, otherwise the cream will taste like coconut.
- ***For the alcohol you can use rum, whisky, Tia Maria, brandy, amaretto, Baileys Almande, marsala wine (check it’s a vegan one), sherry, cointreau, basically pretty much any kind of spirit you like really.
- For an extra boozy tiramisu you can swap a couple of tablespoons of the milk in the cream filling for your choice of alcohol.
- The alcohol can be omitted if you want to make a virgin tiramisu.
- This recipe will serve 6 people generously, or make 8 small portions.
Mariette
Thank you so much for this lovely dessert option. Love your creativity.
Ells
Been following the blog for a while now, and I just had to leave a comment on this recipe! It's delicious, moreish and you would never know silken tofu was in there, even my non vegan friends loved it, I'd highly recommend this tiramisu!
Louise
Just came here to say thanks for this recipe. I’ve been messing about with a few different ones, trying to find the best and I have to say the twice baked sponge is genius.
Jack
This looks amazing! Is there a substitute for the vinegar? The only vinegar safe for us to use is spirit vinegar due to allergies, thanks!
hannahhossack
Hi Jack, you can use lemon juice instead 🙂
Mae-ling
Hi
I wondering if I could swap out the caster auger for maple syrup or golden syrup as I want to avoid processed sugars, do you think this would be okay?
Thanks
Mae-ling xx
Hannah
Hi Mae-ling, you could use coconut sugar but you can't use a liquid sugar instead as that will affect the texture.
Orsi
Excellent and so easy to make! ❤️
Sue Cannon-Brock
This tiramisu is gorgeous. You need to spend some time in the preparation but oh my is it worth it! Thank you Domesticgothess. X
Jennifer H
obsessed with this tiramisu!! made it last night 🙂 I just have one question, when cutting a small slice my fingers aren’t soaked through and still a bit crunchy. Does this get softer as you leave it in the fridge? I was trying not to get it “too soggy” but I could’ve gone for more :,(
Hannah
Hi Jennifer, it does get a bit softer but it does sound like maybe they could have done with a little more dipping. Unfortunately it can be difficult to get the balance right!
yeyu
hey ,I have tried that recipe twice , taste is amazing ! but not sure what is the right consistency, after the first step, its become like cookie , its dry and crumble , its hard to cut it and not make a mess, should I add more water ?
hannahhossack
Hi Yeyu, sorry to hear that but I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway! It sounds like maybe the cake is slightly overbaked, it may not take as long to bake in your oven as it does in mine so start checking on it early and take it out when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. You could also try leaving it in the tin until it has cooled completely to help it retain a bit more moisture. As with most vegan cakes it is a bit delicate so it will crumble a little no matter what; make sure you use a really sharp knife to slice it.
Maria
Hey what can I substitute the alcohol with since I don’t consume any alcohol,any suggestions would be much appreciated.
hannahhossack
Hi Maria, you could just leave it out and use a bit more espresso coffee instead, maybe add a tsp of vanilla extract.
Tina A
We want to omit the cashews and use coconut cream in place of that. Any idea if it’ll work and how much I should use?
hannahhossack
Hi Tina, I'm afraid that I haven't tested it without the cashews or using coconut cream so I don't know what ratio would work.
Nadine
Hi there, wondering if I could use coconut cream instead of cashews+coconut oil for the ‘mascarpone’
hannahhossack
Hi Nadine, I'm afraid I haven't tested it with coconut cream so I don't know what ratio you would need to use. I think that it would be too soft without the coconut oil.
Freya
Amazing! Made this on Christmas Eve for the following day and it was such a hit with the whole family, it tasted incredible. A nice and simple recipe to follow, and well worth the time it takes 🙂
Lucy
Best vegan tiramisu ever! Even better than the non vegan version. Make this for your non vegan friends and they might just convert. So good!
Emma
I've been looking for a vegan tiramisu recipe for so long that didn't include coconut! This is by far the most incredible vegan tiramisu out there. Thank you for developing my fave recipe ever.
Raihanah
the tiramisu was so good!! my omnivore family loved it and i still can’t get over their faces when I told them the “mascarpone” was made of cashews and tofu hahaha. it’s a lovely recipe however i didn't have enough biscuit for my tiramisu so i would probably make 1.5 of the vanilla cake recipe next time cause my tin is slightly bigger. thank you for such a wonderful recipe! <3
Katie
Hi, I made the tiramisu 2 days ago. It's the best vegan tiramisu i ever made/ate! Also my family (non-vegan) said it was very good! 🙂
Also the making was quite easy, you just need some time 🙂
The only thing that i have to note is that because i only read the ingredients list before starting I did not know that the cashews have to be pre-soaked. It would be very helpful if in the ingredients list it would already be specified as pre-soaked cashews so you can prepare it the night before 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe.
I will definetly will do it more often.
Raque
Hi! This recipe looks so delish!! I’m wondering if I can take a shortcut and use store bought lady fingers instead of the cake?
Hannah
Yes definitely. I've just never seen vegan lady fingers before.
maja
best tiramisu i've eaten in so long! the cake was spot-on and i will definitely be making it again.
Konrad
This tiramisu is even better than I expected! It’s truly heavenly.
PM
Hi Can I sub vegan cream cheese instead of cashews with silken tofu? Would you know the ratio for that? Can’t wait to make this! I’ve made once with the coconut milk but don’t like the flavor of coconut in tiramisu, so I’m looking forward to make this one preferably without cashews. Thanks!
Hannah
Hi PM, I'm afraid that I haven't tested this recipe with cream cheese instead so I don't know what the ratios would be.
Adrienne Portia Stocks
Love this recipe, i didnt dunk long enough the first time so I ended up adding some sherry to it when we served it 🙂 I have just made it again for Boxing day dessert and am intending to freeze it. I froze some of the last lot I made as it is a lot for 2 people, and it froze ok. Much longer dunking required for my cake. Fab recipe though and I even told my local Italian restaurant about it and they want to try it so I will take some in for them
Orsi
What a delicious dessert!
Cameron
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sugar-vegan-bone-char-yikes_n_6391496
There are more sources but granulated sugar isn't vegetarian or vegan. Its bleached with bone char to give it its super white appearance. if you can find unbleached sugar go for it but in the end, sugar is death and its probably better to use stevia or another plant based sweetener. Just thought i'd enlighten.
Blessed Be
Hannah
Hi Cameron, that is true for the US, but I'm British, and the sugar here is not processed with bone char. Only sugar made with sugar cane is sometimes processed with bone char; sugar from sugar beets (which is generally what we have in the UK) is never processed with bone char and is therefore vegan. In the US you can buy organic sugar, which I belive is not allowed to use bone char.
Samantha
Would it be okay for me to make this two days ahead?
Hannah
Hi Samantha, that should be ok.
Francine Pecoraro
Any way to make this without the sugar, sustituting maple syrup instead?
Hannah
Hi Francine, maple syrup would change the texture and probably make it too soft. If you want to use a 'natural' sugar then you can use coconut sugar instead.