I Was A Teenage Vegan CookBlog

I’m continuing my unbearably trendy vegan cupcake kick this week with a batch of tiramisu cupcakes, recipe courtesy of you know whom. Nathaniel picked this one out (which, given our shared enthusiasm for strong coffee and fine alcohols, was an excellent choice) from among the many pretty pictures, and after a quick stroll down to the grocer and package store we were ready to rock and roll. If there was a way to share the cupcakes with you through the magic of the internet I would (the edible 3-D printer is a good start, but ultimately NASA needs to roll out some serious star trek-style replicators double-quick (although then I suppose the act of baking anything oneself would become futile and/or irrelevant), and while I eagerly await our grand, electronically-transmitted-pastry future, in the interim you’ll have to content yourselves with this delicious cupcake montage:

Now, I’m not going to say that I was making vegan tiramisu before it was cool, but instead of posting the ppk’s cupcake recipe here (copyright law is pretty punk rock, right?) I’d be happy to share the one I published (ahem) several years ago in the first volume of I Was A Teenage Vegan Cookbook, which has garnered me the closest thing to cooking-related internet accolades I can reasonably expect, given casual disinterest in self-promotion and apparent lack of an actual audience (though the fact that my daily blog visitor count has been standing at zero for a couple weeks now may in fact just be a glitch brought about by this website’s general indifference to quality and not just the internet’s general indifference to me (at least, this is what I want to believe). The picture below is courtesy of Jacob’s recipe page, which is probably responsible for my little meme making its anemic but surprisingly international rounds in the first place.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 2 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 3/4 cups soy milk
• 10 tbsp. margarine
• 5 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 measures egg replacer
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 9 tbsp. corn starch
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 6 tbsp. light rum or amaretto
• 14 oz. soft tofu
• 2 cups strong coffee
• 6 tbsp. Grand Marnier
• cocoa powder
• powdered sugar
• dark chocolate, grated

Equipment: saucepans, mixing bowls, 9″x13″ cake pan, waxed paper, blender, oven, refrigerator, serving dish(es).

Music: XXL - ¡ciaütistico!

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cake pan with waxed paper and lightly oil flour the bottom and sides.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Heat 1/2 cup soymilk and 2 tbsp. margarine in a saucepan.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine 8 tbsp. margarine, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 3 measures of egg replacer. Add in the dry ingredients and the hot soymilk mixture and stir until combined.
5. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until light brown and springy to the touch. Set it aside to cool.
6. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups soy milk, 5 tbsp. cornstarch, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 tsp. almond extract, and 6 tbsp. rum and whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
7. Rinse and dry the tofu, crumble it into small pieces, and put it into a blender. Add in 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup soymilk, 3 tsp. vanilla, and 4 tbsp. cornstarch and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.
8. Combine the coffee and the Grand Marnier.
9. If making one large dessert, remove the sponge cake from the pan and cut it in half, otherwise cut it into finger-sized pieces or the appropriate shape and size for single-servings. Place half of the cake (or arrange half of the pieces) on the bottom of the serving dish(es) and evenly pour half of the coffee/liqueur mixture over it (or them).
10. Mix together the refrigerated custard and cream mixtures and spread half of the result over the bottom layer of cake. Garnish this layer with cocoa and powdered sugar.
11. Place the second layer of cake atop the custard layer and drizzle it with the remainder of the coffee/liqueur syrup. Spread the remaining custard on top of this and garnish with cocoa, powdered sugar, and grated chocolate.
12. Refrigerate the tiramisu uncovered for several hours.
13. Serve with fresh fruit if desired.