Low-fat and low-carb tiramisu! A vegan recipe without compromising on flavour

Time:               prep 5 mins
                         cooling 3-4 hours
Difficulty:        very easy
Yield:               2 servings
Cost:                low

As soon as you read the title, I’m sure you’ve wrinkled your nose, but believe me, you’ll be amazed.
If you’re used to tasting delicious and suave flavors that leave no sense of guilt, neither for your weight, nor for sustainability, you’ll simply love this recipe.
The most famous Italian dessert in the world is certainly the tiramisu, and therefore it is also the most ‘interpreted’ one! Consequently, I certainly could not escape the challenge, bringing my humble contribution, with a personalization which involves many benefits.
The traditional recipe – a term of little relevance, to be honest, as it has a history of only 60 years: it seems strange, but tiramisu is not mentioned in cookbooks before the sixties of the last century- involves the use of ‘savoiardi’, in other words ladyfingers, soaked in Italian moka coffee, covered with a cream created with secret percentages of mascarpone cheese, eggs and sugar. So simple, and so nutritious: the name is all a program: literally tiramisù means, “pull me up”. In fact, the figure and the tiramisu, can not be defined real fellows. That’s why this recipe for fake vegan pumpkin tiramisu is so amazing: it manages to imitate the captivating flavor of the original, without loading you with unnecessary calories. What’s more, as it doesn’t require any animal products, it doesn’t cost much to the planet nor to our budget. Without false modesty, I think it’s a fabulous victory!

Ingredients

75 grams of wholegrain vegan cookies like McVities Original Digestives or 6 ladyfingers (non-vegan option)
1.5 glass of pumpkin, cooked without water and sugar, and cooled
1.5 glass of vegetable yoghurt (or normal homemade one for non-vegans) strained for a minimum of 6 hours
2 cups (Italian coffee cup size) of moka coffee without sugar
2 tablespoons of grape molasses or 3 tablespoons of sugar
2 squares of dark chocolate cut with a knife
bitter cocoa powder for the surface (if desired)

Directions

Crumble the cookies and wet them with 2 cups of coffee, no need to add sugar, the biscuits already contain sugar. While they absorb the drink of the gods, blend the cooked and cooled pumpkin in a large bowl, and add the strained yogurt (more dense than the normal one). Add the molasses or sugar and mix the cream to make it homogeneous. Take 2 glasses and start to compose your fake tiramisu: the first layer is composed of 2 tablespoons of cookies and coffee; then the next layer made with 2 generous tablespoons of pumpkin cream (pumpkin and yogurt); repeat the procedure one more time, first base layer and then cream layer. Let the glasses rest for about 3 hours in the fridge. At the end, decorate your vegan pumpkin tiramisu, (I should underline light) with dark chocolate and/or bitter cocoa powder on the surface.

Additional tip

Grape molasses is not only good and useful as a substitute for sugar, (the so-called demon of recent years), but contains iron, lots of iron. While grape juice has 137 mg/kg, the percentage of iron in molasses has almost tripled to 342 mg/kg. For this reason it becomes an important ally in the fight against anemia, from which women, children and people who adopt a diet without animal products suffer the most. (The taste and color are different from sugar, but if you learned how to use it, you would have a lot to gain). The transformation of grape juice into molasses is obtained by boiling and consequently concentrating the liquid. The high temperature of course reduces the initial vitamin content, but at the same time it increases the mineral content disproportionately: as said, this is true for iron, but also for potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium^(*). Thus, NO to mineral supplements, YES to knowledge of real foods!

When the harvest period begins, in September, the pumpkin should be consumed whenever possible. It is packed with flavor, color and nutritional properties in spite of a few calories. It is the treasure chest of pro vitamin A, beta carotene and vitamin C, but also of dietary fiber and in particular of minerals such as potassium, magnesium and iron. So don’t go looking for exotic super food, but use pumpkin more often in the kitchen, both for salty and sweet recipes.

Enjoy your meal and good revolution to all.

Bibliography

(*): Makpoul .K. .R. (2016). Effect of Using Grape Molasses as Anti Anemic. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064.

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