Ben and Becky's VEGAN TIRAMISU
Sponge Cake
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 10 Tbsp margarine (We used Earth Balance)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• ENER-G egg replacer equal to 3 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sift together flour and baking powder.
3. In a saucepan, heat soymilk and 2 Tbsp margarine.
4. Combine remaining margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg replacer in a mixing bowl.
5. Add dry ingredients and hot milk mixture and stir until combined.
6. Pour batter into a greased 9" by 13" pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until light brown and springy.
7. When cool, remove from the pan and cut into 1" x 3" strips.
8. Lay the strips on a cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes at 400 F until brown and crispy.
Syrup
• 3/4 cup strong espresso
• 3/4 cup soy milk (This was used to dilute the espresso, which was VERY strong. If you are using strong coffee instead of true espresso, there is no need to add soymilk. Basically, you want to end up with about 1 and 1/2 cups of strong coffee.)
• 6 Tbsp coffee liqueur (We used Kamora coffee liqueur, though most people use Kahlúa and some people enjoy Amaretto instead of coffee liqueur.)
Cream
• 8 oz. Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (the non-hydrogenated version)
• 1 – 7.5 oz. tub Hip Whip (vegan non-dairy whipped topping)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
Prepare the Sponge Cake, Syrup, and Cream separately. The cake should be prepared early enough so that it has time to cool down completely before assembling the final dessert. For the assembly, use an 8" by 8" baking pan. The cake pieces work best if they are sliced horizontally, as their original size is a little too thick. Dip each piece in the syrup mixture, making sure the cake is soaked through. Lay the pieces in the bottom of the pan, forming the first layer. Let this sit for about 10 minutes to allow for the cake pieces to soak completely through with the syrup mixture, becoming soft and almost (but not quite!) mushy. If the cake needs further softening/soaking, some of the syrup mixture can be spooned over it, but be sure not to add too much liquid. Press the cake pieces so that they cover the entire bottom of the pan with no cracks or gaps, and then evenly spread half of the cream mixture over the cake layer to form the second layer. Next, make another layer of the soaked cake pieces, and let that sit for a while again (also pressing the soaked cake together to create an even layer) before spreading the rest of the cream mixture over the top. Dust the top with cocoa powder, and then let the tiramisu chill in the fridge for about 4 hours or overnight. Enjoy!
Note: You will probably end up with leftover cake pieces (especially if you cut all of the pieces in half for a thinner cake layer), as I did. This can be remedied by doubling the syrup and cream components and making a larger dessert, but the proportions may still be a little bit off. You may want to make additional cream anyway, if you enjoy more cream than cake in your tiramisu, but that is up to you.
