This vegan tiramisu is rich and decadent and insanely delicious. It’s perfect as a make-ahead dessert option and the only tiramisu recipe you’ll ever need.
This vegan tiramisu is amazingly delicious and super fun to make!
Note: I said ‘fun’ and not ‘quick’.
It’s layers of vanilla sponge cake, soaked in kahlua spiked coffee syrup, topped with a cashew ‘mascarpone’ and coconut whipped cream. It’s creamy dreamy boozy bliss.
It’s also a perfect make-ahead dessert because it’s at its best the day after making it.
How To Make Vegan Tiramisu
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Make a vanilla sheet cake. This bakes for 20 minutes, so while that is baking;
- Make a cashew mascarpone. This comes together in your blender and is then mixed with;
- Vegan Whipped Cream. Whip up some coconut cream and then fold that into your cashew mascarpone.
- Prepare your coffee syrup. This is done on the stovetop and is a wonderful mix of coffee, sugar and coffee liqueur.
- Assemble your tiramisu. Cut the vanilla sheet cake to fit the bottom of a 9×9 square dish and pour over half the coffee syrup. Add half the cashew mascarpone followed by the next layer of vanilla cake, the remaining coffee syrup and top it with the remaining cashew mascarpone and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
- Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Slice and enjoy!
Ingredient Notes
The coconut whipped cream. For the coconut whipped cream, we scooped the hardened cream from the top of two chilled cans of coconut cream (chilled at least overnight in the fridge). Alternatively you can use ONE can of Nature’s Charm Coconut Whipping Cream. This cream also needs to be chilled first but then it whips up beautifully. If you’re using a different vegan whipping cream then you need 1 and ⅔ cups (400ml) of cream prior to whipping it.
Coffee Liqueur. We used kahlua but you can use any coffee liqueur you like or you can leave the alcohol out altogether. If you leave out the kahlua then you can replace it with water and an extra teaspoon of coffee granules or replace it with filter coffee.
Baker’s Tips
Baking Pan. We made our vanilla sheet cake using a 10×15 half sheet pan. If your sheet pan is 11×15 this is also completely fine. The ideal is to use a half sheet pan and these can sometimes be slightly different sizes.
If you only have a quarter sheet cake pan (9×13) then you can also use this to make your sheet cake. It will need a longer baking time in that case (check it at 30 minutes and see from there), and then you may need to assemble your tiramisu in an 8×8 square dish instead of a 9×9 like we used.
Your tiramisu dish should be deep. Fitting all the layers for this dessert requires a fairly deep dish. Ours was 9×9 square and 2 and ½ inches deep.
Make it gluten free. For a gluten-free version of this tiramisu simply use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend when making the vanilla sheet cake. It has to be a blend that is meant to replace regular flour in baking.
Make Ahead and Storing
This dessert really comes into its own the next day. The extra time in the fridge allows the flavors to really blend beautifully and that really makes the magic happen. So if you need to make it the day before, this works out perfectly.
Leftover tiramisu will last up to 4 days (covered) in the fridge. It’s not ideal for freezing.
More Delicious Vegan Desserts
- Baked Cheesecake
- Vegan Malva Pudding
- Vegan Bread Pudding
- Vegan Mousse
- Vegan Apple Crisp
- Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Tiramisu
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Sponge Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or Almond Milk
- 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar
For the Vegan Mascarpone:
- 1 ¾ cups Raw Cashews (262g)
- ½ cup Maple Syrup (120ml)
- ⅓ cup Coconut Oil (80ml) Melted
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Almond Milk (120ml)
For the Whipped Cream:
- 2 ½ cups Canned Coconut Cream (600ml) hardened cream only from 2 14-ounce cans, chilled overnight in the fridge
- ¼ cup Powdered Sugar (30g)
For the Coffee Syrup:
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ½ cup Water (120ml)
- 2 teaspoons Instant Coffee Powder
- ¼ cup Coffee Liqueur (60ml)
For Decoration:
- Sprinkle Cocoa Powder Unsweetened
Instructions
- Prepare your vanilla sheet cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 10×15 half sheet baking pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Add soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Transfer to your prepared baking pan and smooth it out into the corners.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Prepare your cashew mascarpone. While your sheet cake is baking prepare your mascarpone.
- Add the cashews, syrup, coconut oil, salt, vanilla and almond milk to the blender and blend. Transfer the mascarpone to a bowl and set aside.
- Prepare your whipped cream. Add the coconut cream (separated hardened cream at the top of 2 chilled cans) to the bowl of a stand mixer, leaving the watery parts behind. Starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until the cream is whipped. Add the powdered sugar and whip again.
- Fold the whipped coconut cream into the cashew mascarpone. Place into the fridge.
- By this time your sheet cake should be ready, let that cool on a wire cooling rack.
- Prepare your coffee syrup. Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and heat, stirring all the while until boiling.
- Once boiling, allow to boil for 2 minutes (time it) and then remove from the heat. Dissolve the instant coffee in the coffee liqueur before adding to the sugar syrup and mixing in. Allow to cool before using.
- Assemble the tiramisu. When the cake has cooled and the coffee syrup has cooled cut the sheet cake to fit the bottom layer of a square 9×9 dish and pour over half the coffee syrup.
- Add half the cashew mascarpone cream mix on top and smooth it down into a smooth layer.
- Cut the remaining half of the cake to fit the next layer (it’s okay if you don’t have one piece but rather have to cut the cake into a few pieces to fit) and pour over the remaining half of the coffee syrup.
- Add the remaining half of the cashew mascarpone cream mix and smooth it down.
- Sprinkle cocoa powder on top.
- Place into the fridge to set for 2-3 hours or overnight to let the flavors soak in. Cut into slices and enjoy.
Notes
- There is no need to soak your cashews first unless you have a very weak model blender. If you want to soak them first then place them into a bowl, pour over boiling water and let them soak for 10-15 minutes. Drain and continue with the recipe.
- If (and only if) your vegan whipped cream is very floppy and won’t whip to firm (or medium) peaks, you can add in a ¼ to ½ tsp of xanthum gum as a fix. Just be careful as this firms it up very fast, and can firm it up almost too much. So go slow.
- Prep time includes the making of the sheet cake and the prepping of all the other ingredients plus the assembly of the tiramisu but not the time spent chilling.
Fantastic recipe! Very indulgent though, so better for me to save for special occasions!
Love that it tastes even better after 1-2 days 🙂
Thanks Yalini!
Hi Alison, this dessert looks absolutely delicious!
Could I use soy milk instead of almond milk for the mascarpone?I’ll be making it for a friend who’s allergic to almonds
Hi Andrea! Yes that will be totally fine. All the best! 🙂
I needed to make a cake for my son and when I saw this recipe I thought that would be just the ticket. I have a few comments, however.
I did not have a 10″ x 15″ pan so did some calculations to see what I had that I could use. I decided to use three 8″ round cake tins. Each tin would be 50 sq ins, 1/3 of the 10 x 15. I had to cook the cakes for 40 minutes before the toothpick came out clean. However, the cakes turned out OK.
The recipe calls for 2 14oz cans of coconut cream. I am wondering if you really meant just using the solid cream from the tops of 2 cans of coconut milk. I bought 2 cans of coconut cream, but there was no liquid in them; each can contained solid coconut cream. I used only one can and, as it turned out, that made far too much whipped cream. I would have had a mountain of cream had I used the two cans. If I make this again I will use only half a 14oz can of coconut cream. It would have been helpful if there had been given a quantity of cream that should be used, after removing the solids from cans of coconut milk; e.g.,1/2 or 3/4 cup of solids. My cake is swimming in whipped cream!! However, the whipped cream does taste delicious. I will not be eating any of the cake as it is being delivered to another address, so I will not be able to comment on the total confection.
This cake is for a person who does not consume alcohol so I just added instant coffee to 1/4 cup of water. If I make this again, I will just add the coffee to the sugar syrup.
Hi Jeanette, thank you for the feedback. However, we did discuss the amount of cream needed prior to whipping in our post under ‘Recipe Tips’ and also discussed different pan sizes. The information above the recipe card is also important to read. The amount of cream needed, if there is no water left behind in a can of coconut cream would be one full can. I’m not sure why you had a mountain of cream because this is exactly how much we used.
Eyes were rolling in the back of my (and everyone else’s) head as I ate this. Delicious, and has shot to the top of my favorites list! Thank you Alison.
So happy to hear that Barbara! Thanks a million!
It looks mouthwateringly delicious so simply must give this a bash! I’ll halve the ingredients and do you think it will still work out as it’s quite a large cake?
It might be difficult to halve the cake because it would come out super thin if you made it as a sheet cake, even if you used a quarter sheet pan. You could make the full cake but then freeze half of it for another time. 🙂
Hi. Is there a substitute for cashews? my son is allergic to them and I really want to try your recipe. Thank you!
Hi Codry, slivered or blanched almonds may work!
Hey. I can’t get the cream from coconut milk, so can I make the cashew mixture and add it so some whipped aquafaba?
I’m not sure if that will be thick enough. You can use a different vegan whipped cream.
I got my sister to make this for her three month anniversary with her boyfriend. She actually forget to bring it but I told her that was a good thing bc it was so good if I was her boyfriend I would have proposed to her on the spot! She used gluten free flour so the original is probably even better and she didn’t have coffee liqueur so we just did more instant coffee.
Awesome Misha! So happy to hear that! xo
Hi Alison, I made this recipe for my family (an early Christmas dinner) and everybody simply adored it, even my son who’s not into sweets. I lef out the coconut cream, for main course was a curry which also had coconut milk, and even then it was delicious! Thank you very much, and merry Christmas.
So glad you enjoyed it Marlene! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Can you use prepared coconut cream?
Hi Donna, sorry not sure what you mean exactly. Do you mean something like Nature’s Charm Coconut Whipping Cream? That would work great. If you were using that then one can would likely be enough as you don’t throw anything out and use all of it. All the best! 🙂
We do not use alcohol so what can I use for coffee liquor – making for child who is vegan – medical issue
You could use filter coffee! All the best! 🙂
So excited to make this! Could I just make two 8″ layers instead of one sheet cake cut into two pieces for the layers?
Hi Adrienne, I don’t see why not! The only thing would be fitting it to the dish, but no other issues that I can see. 🙂
If I don’t use Kahlua, what should substitute that ? We don’t really have that here in France !
Kahlua is just coffee liqueur so if you have a substitute there, any coffee liqueur would work. 🙂
Hot dayyyyuuum. This recipe is incredible, when I fed it to my friends they couldn’t believe it was vegan. Wow, thank you! Absolutely delicious!
Hahaha! Fantastic! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Seriously my new favorite dessert! Love!!!
Awesome! 🙂