You just can’t lose when it comes to Tiramisu anything.
I’ve already made the Classic Tiramisu and also Tiramisu Cupcakes, so it only seemed normal to keep running with that idea and make the Mac Daddy of all Tiramisu desserts:
Vegan Tiramisu Cheesecake.
Complete with lady fingers sponge cake soaked in kahlua and rum syrup to adorn the sides and vanilla sponge cake equally soaked for the base of this cheesecake.
My vegan cheesecakes have always been a hit with vegans and non vegans alike, so if you are looking for a dessert to wow even your most carnivorous friends, THIS IS IT!
Really easy recipe to make since my cheesecake is basically “throw it all in a food processor and then bake it” method!
You will have to make the vanilla sponge cake of course, but I show you step by step how to do everything in the video below.
For my lady fingers I did commission a special pan to get them exactly in the shape of the fingers, and the Wilton Delectovals pan is just perfect for this.
You can of course forgo that entire part and make a more simple version of this cheesecake and it will still taste really great!
But since the Tiramisu Cake is classically made with lady fingers I wanted to keep this one looking as authentic as possible!
I also made my recipe of Buttercream with some vanilla and some flavored with mocha to decorate the top and also as “glue” to stick on those lady fingers.
This is also optional but if you want it to look exactly like mine, you will have some extra steps to do, but it is so worth it!
Oh yeah one more thing! I found some vegan wafer cookies and chocolate covered espresso beans for garnish too!
These things are often hard to find but I happened upon an accidental vegan treasure at my local Shop Rite with these chocolate wafer rolls!
And they were only $1.69 a box!
Click here for vegan Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
I made HALF a recipe of buttercream for the building of the cake and for the crumb coat to stick the lady fingers on. ¾ of that half recipe of buttercream was kahlua and the other ¼ was mocha, all recipes below
- For the Vanilla Sponge Cake:
- Ground Flax Seeds 4 tablespoons (32g)
- Hot Water 10 tablespoons (150ml)
- Soy Milk 1 cup (237ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoon (10ml)
- Cake Flour 2½ cup (300g)
- Granulated Sugar 1¼ cup (250g)
- Baking Powder 4 teaspoons (20g)
- Salt ½ teaspoon (3g)
- Vegan Butter 12 Tablespoons (170g)
- For the Cheesecake:
- Vegan Cream Cheese 2 packages 8ounces each (454g)
- Vegan Butter almost melted 2 Tablespoons (28g)
- Granulated Sugar 1 cup (200g)
- All Purpose Flour 2 Tablespoons (14g)
- Cornstarch 2 Tablespoons (20g)
- Lactic Acid or Apple Cider Vinegar 1 teaspoon
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Soy Milk 1 cup (237ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Kahlua 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- For the Soaking Sryup:
- Sugar ½ cup (100g)
- Water ½ cup (120ml)
- Instant Coffee granules 2 teaspoons
- Kahlua ¼ cup (60ml)
- Rum 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- Optional ½ Recipe of Buttercream for the garnish
- To make ¾ of the recipe Kahlua, just divide it by eye and then add 2 Tbs Kahlua to the larger portion and then to make the rest mocha, add 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder and 1 Tbs cocoa powder to 3 Tbs boiling water, to the smaller portion of buttercream recipe when cooled
- To make the cake combine the flax meal with the hot water and let stand for about 5 minutes to thicken
- Add the vanilla to the soy milk
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt
- Cream the vegan butter with the sugar until light and fluffy and this may take about 3-5 minutes on medium to high speed
- Add the thickened flax paste while mixing on medium speed, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to incorporate evenly
- Add about ⅓ of the flour to the creamed mixture then add half of the soy milk
- Add another ⅓ of the flour and then the remaining soy milk
- Add the last amount of flour and mix just to combine evenly.
- Fill 2-7" cake pans with about 1½ cups of batter and then pipe about 3 Tbs of batter into each cavity of the Delectovals pan (you will have enough batter to make 24 lady fingers in the delectoval pan) and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes for the lady fingers and about 25 minutes for the cake layers or until they are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers
- Next prepare the cheesecake batter by combining all the ingredients together in a food processor and process smooth.
- Bake in a greased and parchment paper lined 7" cake pan in a water bath for 1 hour at 350°F.
- After 1 hour turn the oven off but leave the cake inside to cool for another hour.
- Remove from the oven to cool completely then refrigerate overnight to set to firm.
- Prepare the tiramisu syrup by combining the sugar and water together in a small sauce pot and bring to a rolling boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the instant coffee granules and the rum & kahlua, cool to cold, refrigerate until needed.
- Prepare the buttercream of your choice and then the next day decorate as shown in the video.
Hi Gretchen, I was thinking about buying your new book, but after reading an Amazon book review I’m wondering. A reviewer said that most of the recipes in the book need Ener-G egg replacer or Follow your heart vegan egg, I’m living in Brazil so importing these ingredients is not easy or affordable, Is it possible to substitute these for flax/chia eggs or aquafaba without compromising the final result.
Thank you so much and best of all.
Hi! thanks for getting in touch with me about this! I saw that review also, and while yes I do use that in many of the recipes, not all of them do. And there is a whole section on how to convert the egg replacers to flax, or chia or whetever! thanks!!
Thank you so much for answering, I wasn’t sure if you would since you work a lot. In this case, I’ll keep saving 🙂
Why did you change the recipe an insted of using tofu + cream cheese now you use just the cheese? Does it change the final product? Just curious. Love what you do, and inspire me.
I didn’t really “change” the recipe, this is just a different version of cheesecake. This way (all cream cheese) makes it more in the style of New York Cheesecake which is a very dense and more dry style cheesecake, when you make the tofu version it is a very creamy consistency. You can really use whichever base you prefer and THANKYOU!! 🙂
Thank you for responding!
How would you rate the flavor of lactic acid powder versus apple cider vinegar?
I think it is stronger and I like it because I am not adding in extra liquid to the recipe
I have a new client who’s requesting a vegan cutting cake for her wedding. I’m goung to try your chocolate cake recipe but how do I make your vegan swiss buttercream chocolate? I couldn’t find any directions on your website.
Thanks!
HI Great, you can add 4 ounces of melted cooled chocolate to the recipe at the last stage of baking (be sure it is very cool almost cold but still pourable ) or just add a cocoa paste mixture with 4 Tbs cocoa and 5Tbs hot water then cool same way)
HI Gretchen,
Thanks for the vegan recipes. I have a friend who can’t eat dairy or eggs so your recipes are a great help. However, this friend also is allergic to wheat so she needs gluten free recipes. Can the glutin free flour be substituted I your recipes? Thanks for your help.
Hi Thanks! I don’t do any gluten free baking, however I was told that when it is gluten free and vegan some other changes need to happen, so it’s not always a straight 1:1 substitution.
Hi Gretchen
I am lacto-vegetarian, so no eggs but dairy is fine.
I feel quite excited about this recipe and was wondering if I can use regular cream cheese, milk and butter without changing anything else?
What do you think?
yes no changes needed
Hi! This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it out. I have a few questions about your execution. First, is that just a classic chocolate ganache you topped it with? Also, where did you use each of the buttercreams? Was the mocha just used for gluing the ladyfingers and the piping on top? I’m trying to improve my decorating and would love to recreate this as closely as possible. Thank you!
HI Thanks! Did you watch the video tutorial? I think there your questions could be answered. First, sorry for the confusion about ganache (I thought I linked to that recipe I will update this post CLICK HERE for ganache )
The buttercream(s) are optional, but I used the one Kahlua one for a “glue” to stick the sponge cakes to the cheesecake and for glueing the lady fingers as well.
The mocha was just for garnish (I added some ganache to the kahlua and got a luscious mocha kahlua frosting) you can use just one, not necessary to make both as I did, but since you’re going to have the buttercream made and the ganache too, its really easy to make them both from 1 recipe.
The video tutorial (I hope) shows more clearly how I did it all
Wow! Another mind blowingly delicious cake! I did it mostly the same, but used your chocolate cake box hack for the cake, and didn’t mess with lady fingers, just frosted it. Loved how the flavors all came together. 🙂
Quick question, If I want to freeze the cake part, can I soak with the sugar/kahlua syrup first, then freeze? Or will it go all mushy? Will the cheeze cake part freeze too?
Thank you for your time, and for the joy you bring!
Sadly, those lovely Trader Joes Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans are unfortunately not vegan. 🙁
Like most shiny candies, they’re covered in confectioner’s glaze, which is beetle juice (secretions from the lac beetle). That glaze can’t be made vegan – but some candies like Skittles use other glazes like carnauba wax to get shiny.
I hope you can consider adding a note about this.
Love this recipe though!! Thanks Gretchen!