This Easy Tofu Strawberry Tiramisu is not a traditional recipe but has a touch of spring feel. The velvety tofu cream, fresh strawberry, and robust espresso are assembled together in a glass! Silken tofu makes a surprisingly smooth cream that beautifully replaces traditional cream made with dairy, making this recipe notably light and delicate.
I love strawberry recipes and share a lot like Strawberry Chocolate Mochi and Strawberry and Cream Overnight Oats with Matcha Yogurt. They’re perfect for spring and summer season and this strawberry tiramisu is no exception. This tempting dessert is made with tofu and brown rice crisp, making this recipe dairy-free and gluten-free.
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Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Tiramisu: Dairy-Free Cream with Tofu
Mascarpone cheese whipped with sugar and egg is what makes tiramisu so rich and delicious. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. If you want some light and healthy dessert, tofu is going to be the perfect dairy-free ingredient of your choice.
I love using tofu in dessert recipes, and I especially adore silken tofu. Silken tofu is Japanese-style soft tofu and has a silky and delicate texture, which is excellent for making velvety cream for dessert.
How to Press Tofu
To make thick cream, it’s important to drain the excess moisture from the tofu as much as possible.
Since the texture of silken tofu is extra delicate, it requires careful handling. Carefully remove tofu from the package and discard excess water if there is.
To squeeze out the water even more, I like to start pressing the tofu the night before I make tiramisu. Gently wrap tofu in paper towels and place onto the flat-bottomed container. Place another flat-bottomed container on top of the tofu to gently press.
I like to use glass or metal containers for this, but if the top container is too light, place one or two food cans to aid pressing.
Transfer tofu to the refrigerator and let sit overnight. Next morning, you’ll be surprised how much water is squeezed out of a block of tofu!
Discard water, unwrap the tofu, and make it into tofu cream.
In a pinch, you can skip the overnight pressing, instead gently hand-press tofu between your palms without crushing it. But the result is going to be a little bit runny. Just a couple of hours, or even 30 minutes, of pressing can improve the texture of the cream.
Here is What You Need to Make Tofu Cream
- Silken Tofu: drained well and pressed to make the creamy and thick cream.
- Maple Syrup: makes this recipe refined sugar-free.
- Vanilla Extract: adds rich vanilla flavor and masks the slight earthy “bean” flavor that tofu carries.
- Lemon Juice: mascarpone cheese has a slight acidity and I added lemon juice to recreate that mild tangy flavor.
- Sea salt
Blend everything in a small/medium size food processor or blender until creamy and smooth.
How to make a gluten-free sponge cake layer
Traditional Italian tiramisu is made with a little finger-shaped sponge cake called Ladyfingers, which is not naturally gluten-free. Ladyfingers work perfectly fine, but sometimes I like to avoid gluten, or maybe some people need a gluten-free recipe. For any reason, this recipe works great without sacrificing the flavor.
So the key ingredient is brown rice crisps! You can alternatively use regular/white rice crisps but make sure they’re unflavored and no sugar added. If you’re making rice crispy treats, save some and make this tiramisu. Rice crisps absorb espresso and become moist and spongy.
How to Make Strawberry Tiramisu
To assemble the Strawberry Tiramisu, You’ll need
- Tofu Cream
- Brown Rice Crisps
- Espresso Shots or strongly brewed coffee
- Fresh Strawberries
- Freeze-dried Strawberries
- Pistachios
This recipe makes small 3 individual tiramisus. You can make this in one container, but I like to serve it in small jars or glasses to show the beautiful layers. Building this tiramisu is pretty straightforward.
Start with placing the rice crisps on the bottom of the serving jar/glasses.
Pour the espresso shot over them, letting the rice crisps absorb the coffee flavor. Then arrange the diced strawberries in an even layer over the rice crisp layer. Lastly, top the jar with tofu cream.
Topping and Variations
I topped the tiramisu with powdered freeze-dried strawberries, diced fresh strawberries, and chopped pistachios. But feel free to use the garnish that your heart desires!
If you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries(I got mine at Trader Joe’s!), freeze-dried raspberries also work. Or like traditional tiramisu, you can dust the cacao/cocoa powder on top. I mean. who doesn’t like the strawberries and cacao combo?
I sprinkled pistachios on top to add a nutty flavor, crunch, and beautiful color contrast to this dessert. But if you don’t have pistachios on hand, I would use chopped almonds, hazelnuts, or even cacao nibs!
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Easy Tofu Strawberry Tiramisu
Ingredients
For Tofu Cream
- 10 oz silken tofu pressed to drain
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Pinch sea salt
For Assembly
- 6 Tablespoons brown rice crisps
- 3 Tablespoons espresso shot or strongly brewed coffee
- ¾ cup diced fresh strawberries
- 3 Tablespoons freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 Tablespoon pistachios finely chopped
Instructions
- In a blender, add all the ingredients of tofu cream and blend until smooth.
- In each glass, add 2 tablespoons of rice crisps and pour 2 tablespoons of espresso. Evenly spread 2 tablespoons of diced strawberries. Dollop tofu cream and smooth out the surface. Refrigerate until ready to enjoy.
- In a blender, add freeze-dried strawberries and blitz until powder-like consistency. Use a sieve to sprinkle the strawberry powder over the tofu cream layer.
- Top each glass with 2 tablespoons of diced strawberries and sprinkle pistachios.
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