Pistachio and Cocoa Tiramisù

Free

Difficulty: Low
Time: 20 minutes (plus resting time)
Quantity: 10 persons, 22x20cm baking dish
Type: Tiramisù
Dietary requirements: Gluten-free Vegan

Ingredients

BAGNA

80 g plant-based milk

6 g unsweetened cocoa powder

STRATI

190 g dry cookies

CREMA

250 g vegan mascarpone

30 g plant-based milk

60 g pistachio paste

100 g aquafaba

100 g granulated sugar

DECORAZIONE

400 g vegetable whipping cream

Cocoa for dusting to taste

Have you ever tried vegan mascarpone? Yes, now this exists too. I tried a couple and in my opinion the Vallé one (in Italy) is so far the best in texture and flavor. We will therefore make a tiramisu with vegan mascarpone and vegan meringue, and we'll add pistachio paste to make it even tastier. To make the layers, instead of ladyfingers we will use dry cookies soaked with plant-based milk and cocoa. There are many types of vegan dry cookies available so you can use whichever you prefer. Finally we will decorate it with whipped plant-based cream and a dusting of cocoa and chopped pistachios. The most difficult part of this recipe is properly whipping the aquafaba to make the meringue; it does not whip in 2 minutes so you need patience. If you use aquafaba from cans/jars it will whip for sure so do not stop the hand mixer/stand mixer until it is very firm. If you don't whip it well the cream will be totally liquid. At this point be careful not to deflate the beautiful meringue you whipped with so much effort — it tends to deflate in presence of fat (mascarpone, pistachio), so mix very slowly and minimally. Having problems with aquafaba? this article will be very useful.

Method

Weigh the milk in a small saucepan and heat it gently over low heat, do not bring to a boil, add the cocoa and stir to dissolve it well. Set aside.

Open the cookies and set them aside. Prepare the baking dish, take the vegan mascarpone.

In a bowl pour the vegan mascarpone and weigh the pistachio paste. Mix with a spatula to combine them.

Pour in the plant-based milk and mix with the spatula until well incorporated. Set aside and prepare the meringue. Weigh the aquafaba in one bowl and the granulated sugar in another.

Start whipping at high speed with the beaters. After a couple of minutes when it starts to incorporate air, add the granulated sugar little by little while continuing to whip. The sugar should not be added all at once but a spoon at a time as you whip. Continue whipping at high speed for several minutes until you obtain a white glossy meringue. When lifting the beaters white peaks should form. The meringue will be ready when, if you turn the bowl upside down, it stays in place and does not fall. It will take between 5 and 10 minutes to whip it well.

Pour two tablespoons of meringue into the pistachio mixture and fold with the spatula.

Then add the rest of the meringue little by little, in 2-3 additions, always mixing gently with the spatula using delicate movements from bottom to top to incorporate the meringue without deflating it too much. Do not overmix or you will deflate the meringue since it tends to deflate on contact with fat; fold it in roughly.

Now start to layer the tiramisu. Dip the cookies in the milk and cocoa and make a layer in the baking dish. Cover with a layer of cream (about 120 g) and level with a small spatula.

Repeat this procedure: soaked cookies + 120 g cream.

Repeat this procedure a third time: soaked cookies and now pour all the remaining cream. In total there will be 3 layers of cookies and 3 of cream.

Place in the refrigerator. In a bowl with electric beaters, or in a stand mixer with the paddle, whip the cold cream at medium speed until well whipped.

Transfer to a piping bag and cut the tip to about 1 cm. Take the tiramisu baking dish and decorate the entire top layer with dollops of whipped cream.

Finally dust with a little cocoa. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Storage

Store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Tips

The weight of the dry cookies needed depends on their thickness. The cookies used are very thin and with 190 g I made 3 layers. If you use thicker and heavier cookies you will need a larger quantity to make 3 layers. The important thing is to be able to make 3 layers; the weight does not matter. Pistachio paste is 100% pistachio with no other ingredients, it has a semi-fluid consistency, and can also be found under the name "pistachio butter". You can also make it at home by toasting and blending pistachios until they form a semi-fluid paste; it will be rougher than the purchased one which has a very fine fluid consistency. Follow this recipe for hazelnut paste and substitute pistachios. It is possible to make aquafaba meringue with less sugar and still obtain a stable meringue. How? Remove 50 g of sugar and add 1 g of xanthan gum. Don't know what xanthan gum is? Read this theoretical article. It is recommended to read these articles: - which ingredients to use - where to buy pastry ingredients and products