Tiramisu Recipe. Dairy-Free or Dairy
Tiramisu
That’s affectionate Italian for “pick-me-up”
That’s probably because tiramisu puts together three of our favorite intense robust flavors: rum, chocolate and coffee (please don’t try to substitute anything else for any of them!).
My dairy-free Tiramisu is so fabulous that I never bother to make the original dairy version. It’s also healthier, thanks to my staunch ally and totally undetectable tofu. When you serve it, don’t say the T word until they have tasted and raved about it.
Fantastic chance to showcase the wonderful chocolate-coffee-rum trinity. You’ll be happy!
Dairy Tiramisu
That said, you can make it the classical dairy way: by replacing the tofu and tofu cream cheese with an 8 ounce container of cream cheese and a pint of plain yogurt or sour cream, and proceeding with the recipe exactly as instructed.
Good Store-Bought Sponge Cake
Although sponge cake is not as pretty as ladyfingers, I actually prefer it here because it holds up its shape better when doused with the espresso – brandy mix. In tiramisu, store-bought is perfectly acceptable. Just be sure it is unflavored, and has none of those pesky fake orange or vanilla flavorings. Plain sponge cake is what you want.
Line the mold!
Lining the mold with plastic wrap or wax paper allows very easy unmolding, just pull up the sides and the tiramisu will lift right up.
Chocolate: Only the Best!
The chocolate must be only the best, meaning, real chocolate, as always! To chop chocolate, scrape the block vertically with a sharp knife: it will fall off in little shards or curls.
I spread the chocolate love thick. My tiramisu has distinctly more than the traditional dusting of cocoa. I spread the chocolate love thicker with a good amount of grated chocolate, both in the center and on top.
Once you have all the ingredients in place, the dessert takes only a few minutes to assemble.
Try your best to make this dessert a few hours before serving time, or better yet, the day before, in order to give the dessert ample time to soak up all the flavors.
Tiramisu freezes well
This is a recent but most welcome discovery I made. I had a nice loaf of it to risk, and i put it away in the freezer, tightly wrapped. And it worked beautifully.
Tiramisu in a Glass
The parfait presentation works beautifully too. Just keep layering in a glass, making sure it has a broad bottom and straight sides for best layering results.
Ingredients
- 1 pound store-bought plain sponge cake
- 1 pound silken tofu, thoroughly drained and dried with layers of paper towels
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 8-ounce container vegan cream cheese
- 2 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee powder, dissolved in 3/4 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup brandy, rum or bourbon (liquor stores, none of the supermarket brands please)
- 8 ounces best quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (you might have a little leftover, after you cover the whole surface of each layer evenly)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 ºF.
Slice the cake in half-inch thick pieces and toast in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning the slices over once, until medium-brown on all sides. Let cool. In a blender, blend the tofu with the oil and sugar until perfectly smooth. Add the cream cheese, and process for a few more seconds.
Combine the coffee mixture and brandy in a container equipped with a spout, such as a glass measuring cup. Grease a 2-quart (8 cup) loaf pan and line with plastic wrap, letting the sides overhang. Line the bottom completely with slices of cake, trimmed to fit tightly and leave no gaps.
Pour half of the coffee mixture evenly and carefully over the cake.
Spread half of the tofu mixture evenly over the cake. Sprinkle half of the grated chocolate over the tofu mixture. Repeat: cake, coffee, tofu mixture, chocolate. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap toward the center of the mold.
Refrigerate a few hours until set.
Unmold by lifting the lining and transferring onto a rectangle platter. Slice about 1/2 inch thick.
Yields a good dozen slices
Can I freeze the tofu mixture once I prepare the cake?
The time you will gain by doing that is insignificant.
What I see much better is, making the whole cake, wrapping it perfectly and freezing it?
I sent a request for the Tiramisu recipe and after I did I found it here. Thanks so much. Thrilled to have found the site. Our family LOVED the restaurant. We have many fond memories. Once our son who was about 7 at the time said he wanted stuffed morels for dinner. I said “impossible”,we went to dinner and there they were: stuffed morels with Venison pate no less. I use your cookbooks frequently both for recipes and inspiration.
Arel I always hear this with great pleasure. Always good to know your lifework got wide recognition, BH my fan group is always growing!
We make this all the time, and both kids and adult love it. The only change, we have found though that the silken tofu is too thin and the finished product holds it shape much better, and slices, when we use soft tofu.
Dearest Roberta, Tiramisu is an ADULT dessert: I wouldn’t dream of serving it to children! I would make prevision for children and serve them a suitable dessert, while I would let adults enjoy theirs! With no guilt whatsoever on either side!
1/4 cup of alcohol is too much if your serving children or people who have an allergy to alcohol.
Thank you for making this so easy.
Love, Roberta
Hi! I’m so glad that Chana Poltorak directed me to your site-I’ve been trying to find your mousse recipe ever since I saw the article about your glorious healthy desserts featured in Ami magazine.
I wanted to know which chocolate I should use for baking. I have the L:ieber’s chocolate baking bar-should I go for the pricier Alprose baking bar?
Thanks so much for all this wealth of healthy recipes-I’m going to try the tiramisu for Shvuos iy”h.
Sincerely,
Zohar
Huh? Alprose?” Please don’t! Let me quote straight form my book!
I don’t think I have ever mentioned chocolate anywhere in this book without begging
you to get only the best. You will note that I mention no product brands anywhere
for various reasons, and chocolate is no exception. I will do better than talk brands:
I will talk contents. Read the labels: If the ingredient list begins with chocolate or
cocoa as the case may be, listing sugar second or third, you are in good shape even if
the brand is not a glamorous one. It’s those mediocre chocolate product brands that
list sugar as the primary ingredient or are labeled “chocolate-flavored drops” that look
like chocolate but have only traces of it, and taste miserable and ruin all our preparations.
I ask you: Who needs it?
Zohar: Just a little PS to my response: The brands you have named, and a few more called “heimisch” are totally inferior and contain pathetic amounts of chocolate and loads of sugar. Please ignore them! You will do well even with institutional brands like supermarkets, price clubs etc….as they all are real chocolate. The imported brands that come to our kosher supermarkets around Passover are fantastic too: Shmerling, Poulain, Noblesse.