These creamy little vegan pumpkin tiramisu parfaits are made with layers of spiced cashew pumpkin cream and espresso soaked gingersnap cookies. They're deceptively easy and decadently delicious!
Have any of you guys worked in food service? If you have, you know it can be pretty nasty business. For example, you know those fancy looking dessert trays that the servers use to sell you sweet after dinner treats? They're disgusting. At least in places where I worked, they were loaded not with fake desserts, nor fresh new slices of everything on a daily basis. No, usually the desserts on those trays hung out until they started to disintegrate, which can be a pretty long time. On one occasion we had a slow night and the servers at my restaurant of employment got together and decided to bribe a waiter to eat a three week old dessert from the tray. I might have kicked in a fiver. (This was a long time ago. Not my finest moment!)
He picked the tiramisu, which really, was the worst possible choice. All cheesy and dairy-fied three week old dessert. Gross.
So I made a vegan version, which might be marginally less gross at three weeks old. Not that I'm recommending you let these sit around for three weeks! Store these little treats in the fridge for at most a day or two.
That's my story, which really has nothing to do with this dessert, except, tiramisu. This tiramisu though, holy moly. Every now and then I make something expecting it to be good, only to have it turn out to be just about the best thing I've ever tasted. Seriously, this was that good!
The best part about this take on tiramisu is that it's so easy, it feels like cheating. When I first got the idea to do a vegan pumpkin tiramisu I figured I'd be baking up my own ladyfingers, which normally make up the cookie part of the dessert, but then I remembered how great pumpkin and gingersnaps go together, and vegan pumpkin gingersnap tiramisu was born.
Vegan Pumpkin Tiramisu
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cream Layers
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut cream, chilled*
- 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch salt
For the Gingersnap Layers
- ½ cup espresso or strong coffee
- ¼ cup rum, omit for alcohol-free version
- 16-18 vegan ginger snap cookies
For the Whipped Coconut Cream
- coconut cream, chilled**
- agave or maple syrup to taste
For Topping
- cinnamon
- chocolate shavings or cocoa powder
Supplies
- 4 parfait glasses or small mason jars large enough that a gingersnap cookie can sit inside
Instructions
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Place all pumpkin cream layer ingredients into food processor bowl and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
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Stir espresso and rum together in a shallow dish. One at a time, dunk 4 cookies into mixture and place each into the bottom of a parfait glass or small mason jar. Top with a layer of pumpkin cream. Repeat layers until all cookies and pumpkin cream have been used.
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In a large mixing bowl, beat coconut whipped cream ingredients together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Spoon on top of parfaits.
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Sprinkle parfaits with cinnamon and chocolate shavings. Chill at least two hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
You can buy canned coconut cream at Trader Joe's. Alternatively, refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight. The day of serving, open the can and drain off the liquid part, reserving the solids. The solids are the coconut cream you'll want to use for this recipe.
*Use whatever coconut cream is left in the can after making your pumpkin filling.
I love all of the words in this title individually (vegan, pumpkin, gingernap, tiramisu), ha ha. Great idea to use gingersnaps in place of lady fingers, if they're store-bought that makes prep so much faster. And this version is so seasonal!
Definitely can relate to your food story, back when I worked at an unnamed chain restaurant as a teenager. SO bad!
If I had a dime for all the gross things I've seen while working in restaurants and bars. While in college I worked as a bartender at a nightclub called Late Night Library (the tag line was "If mom calls, tell her I'm at the Library.") Thank goodness there was no food involved at that establishment. I've come a long way since then! Who would have thought I'd be helping people eat more plant-based foods and supporting local, organic farming. This dessert fits in as the perfect indulgence for a plant-based diet! Decadent enough to feel a little naughty but with clean ingredients to help keep you on track. Love it!!!
Oh my! I absolutely must try that, it seems so yummy *O*
Enjoy! :)
am i dreaming or is this real life?!!! this looks to-die-for, in fact id rather eat this than pumpkin pie any day!
Thanks Rachel! I never thought I'd find a replacement for pumpkin pie, but I'm actually making this instead this year. ;)
What can I use instead of coconut cream
You could try a store-bought vegan whipped cream. I know there are a few out there, but I've never tried any of them.
Can you make them ahead of time?
Yup! They need at least 2 hours to chill, but they should be fine if made up to a day in advance.