This vegan chai tiramisu recipe was shared with us by Chef Jason Wyrick of The Vegan Taste. Tiramisu might sound like a classic Italian dessert, but it’s a recent invention in the culinary world. Jason believes it emerged in the early 1970s, but this vegan and dairy-free tiramisu recipe dates from the early 2000s. It’s perfect for everything from celebratory dinners to friendly tea times.
Vegan Chai Tiramisu with Dairy-Free Sweet Cream and Homemade Ladyfingers
The vegan ladyfinger recipe is a basic sponge cake recipe with extra flour. It’s cooked long enough to become a cookie instead of a cake.
For the sweet cream, Jason relies on cream cheese alternative (he uses a soy-based one) to help provide a flavor reminiscent of mascarpone cheese. The tofu binds everything together and the agave nectar and soy creamer add sweetness while keeping the cream from becoming too dense. The agar agar provides the final binder, ensuring that the sweet cream has a little stiffness to it.
In addition to the chai spice mix, Jason usually adds some extra spice as garnish. He has a few recipe tips on presentation and time management, two areas of expertise.
Presentation Ideas
Lay a cinnamon stick on top of the plated tiramisu and garnish the edge of the plate with a bit of extra cinnamon and cardamom and the top of the tiramisu with a few chocolate chips or cacao nibs. Serve it with tea or a cup of cinnamon-spiced coffee.
Time Management Tips
Start the sweet cream before making the ladyfingers because the sweet cream should finish chilling about ten minutes after the ladyfingers come out of the oven. Of course, you can save about twenty minutes of labor and a lot of clean-up by doing the cake instead of the ladyfingers.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Chai Tiramisu
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
- 1 ½ tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 1½ cups dairy-free cream cheese alternative
- 8 ounces firm silken tofu
- ½ cup agave nectar
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup plain dairy-free creamer
- 1½ teaspoons agar agar
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plain dairy-free creamer
- ¾ cup agave nectar
- 2 servings prepared EnerG Egg Replacer (equivalent of 2 eggs)
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 cups strongly brewed black masala chai
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and fennel.
- Put the dairy-free cream cheese, tofu, agave, sugar, creamer, and agar in your food processor or blender and process until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the mixture into a saucepan and simmer it over medium heat for 5 minutes. Let cool, and refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine the dry ingredients together.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the creamer, agave, Energ-G “eggs,” and oil.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Scrape the batter into a pastry bag. Pipe the batter into 3-inch long by 1-inch wide cookies, leaving about a 1 inch between each cookie.
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- Option: Do not pipe the batter, but fill a rectangular cake pan with the batter about 1” high and bake the cake for 25 minutes.
- Pour the chai tea into a shallow bowl.
- Dunk each ladyfinger in the chai tea for about 3 seconds.
- Line the bottom of a baking dish with the lady fingers and lightly brush them with a little chai tea. Spread about ½-inch of the sweet cream on top of the lady fingers. Repeat this process with another layer of lady fingers and sweet cream. Sprinkle the cocoa-chai spice mix over the top layer of sweet cream.
- Chill the tiramisu for at least 30 minutes.
More Impressive Vegan Desserts
Cranberry Red Velvet Cake
Mini New York-Style Vegan Cheesecakes
Cashew Creme Pear Tart
