Healthy Tiramisu

Tiramisu (literally “pick-me-up”, “tira-mi-su”) is a delightful dish that, in its traditional form, is also a trainwreck for the health, being loaded with inflammatory cream and sugar, not to mention the cholesterol content. Here we recreate the dish in healthy fashion, being loaded with protein, fiber, and healthy fats, not to mention that the optional sweetener is an essential amino acid. The coffee and cocoa, of course, are full of antioxidants too. All in all, what’s not celebrate?

You will need

• 2 cups silken tofu (no need to press it) (do not substitute with any firmer tofu or it will not work)
• 1 cup oat cream (you can buy this ready-made, or make it yourself by blending oats in water until you get the desired consistency) (you can also just use dairy cream, but that will be less healthy)
• 1 cup almond flour (also simply called “ground almonds”)
• 1 cup espresso ristretto, or otherwise the strongest black coffee you have facility to make
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
• 1 pack savoiardi biscuits, also called “ladyfinger” biscuits (this was the only part we couldn’t make healthy—if you figure out a way to make it healthy, let us know!) (if vegan, obviously use a vegan substitute biscuit; this writer uses Lotus/Biscoff biscuits, which work well)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• ½ tsp almond essence
• Optional: glycine, per taste
• Garnish: roasted coffee beans

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Add glycine to the coffee first if you want the overall dish to be sweeter. Glycine has approximately the same sweetness as sugar, and can be used as a 1:1 substitution. Use that information as you see fit.

2) Blend the tofu and the oat cream together in a high-speed blender until smooth. It should have a consistency like cake-batter; if it is too liquidy, add small amounts of almond flour until it is thicker. If it’s too thick, add oat cream until it isn’t. If you want it to be sweeter than it is, add glycine to taste. When happy with its taste and consistency, divide it evenly into two bowls.

3) Add the vanilla essence and almond essence to one bowl, and the cocoa powder to the other, mixing well (in a food processor, or just by using a whisk)

4) Coat the base of a glass dish (such as a Pyrex oven dish, but any dish is fine, and any glass dish will allow for viewing the pretty layers we’ll be making) with a very thin layer of almond flour (if you want sweetness there, you can mix some glycine in with the almond flour first).

4) One by one, soak the biscuits briefly in the coffee, and use them to line to base of the dish.

5) Add a thin layer of chocolate cream, ensuring the surface is as flat as possible. Dust it with cocoa powder, to increase the surface tension.

6) Add a thin layer of vanilla-and-almond cream, ensuring the surface is as flat as possible. Dust it with cocoa powder, to increase the surface tension.

7) Stop and assess: do you have enough ingredients left to repeat these layers? It will depend on the size and shape dish you used. If you do, repeat them, finishing with a vanilla-and-almond cream layer.

8) Dust the final layer with cocoa powder if you haven’t already, and add the coffee bean garnish, if using.

9) Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, and if you have time to prepare it the day before you will eat it, that is best of all.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Easily Digestible Vegetarian Protein Sources
• Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts!
• The Bitter Truth About Coffee (or is it?)
• The Sweet Truth About Glycine
• Tiramisu Crunch Bites ← craving tiramisu but not keen on all that effort? Enjoy these!

Take care!