Mascarice and the easy vegan Tiramisu

I was reflecting on how much the general concept of veganism has changed over the last ten years. To be precise, how the perception of non vegan people towards the vegan lifestyle has evolved, thanks to an increase of knowledge and awareness.

No longer are vegans seen as tofu-loving hippies, usually at the receiving end of dirty looks from the waiter when enquiring about plant-based options in a restaurant or asking for an almond milk in their cappuccino in the morning.

Perception has changed because those that aren’t vegetarian or vegan are beginning to learn more about real food, embrace natural foods over processed stuff in order to improve their health and realised that “loving animals” is a beautiful, compassionate concept which doesn’t actually mean “I only love cats, dog…and the odd hamster”.

Things have changed greatly since the first Mozzarisellas made their appearance on UK’s kitchen tables nearly ten years ago. Let’s be honest, back then the vegan cheese scene was anything but exciting. It was a mixture of rubbery, dry textures and bland, borderline dreadful taste. Not only that, you couldn’t find it anywhere..I couldn’t even find soy milk in my local supermarket!

Nowadays, thanks to positive narrative and inspiring messages from celebrities like Joaquim Phoenix and Leonardo Dicaprio, a continuously growing education about plant based lifestyle conveyed by social media, we are spoilt for choices. Instagram is full of vegan gourmet dishes inspired by world-famous chefs who also realised how great the vegan movement is.

Back in the day (God, do I sound old!) the only dessert options to finish off a vegan dinner were fruit salad or lemon sorbet. You can imagine the excitement when I tried to make for the first time a tapioca and coconut pudding at home! It was a very basic calorie/sugar bomb, but it definitely did the trick. At least at the time.

Fast forward to 2021 and name any dessert, sweet, smoothie, cake, cupcake, we can find its plant based version. With all due respect to my tapioca&coconut pudding, the sophistication of some sweet creations we find online and in the shops has reached incredible levels of quality in both appearance and, most importantly in my opinion, taste.

As the development of vegan creations is flourishing all over the world, sometimes the plant based ingredient alternative to the dairy (or meat) original one, requires a long list of other ingredients and a complicated procedure in order to achieve a satisfying result.

A lot of vegan recipes seem to be a bit over-complicated. Take one of the most famous dessert in the world, Tiramisu, for example: make your own Savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers), soak the cashews, drain the cashews, an endless list of ingredients so time consuming to put together… Too much of a hassle. So at Mozzarisella we thought about making everyone’s life easier and we came up with our very own version of mascarpone cheese.

Naturally from germinated brown rice sprout and 100% vegan, we are very proud to introduce MASCARICE!

Mascarice’s velvety and creamy texture is an excellent complement for your pasta or risotto dish, it can be added as pizza topping and, once whisked, it becomes a fluffy, soft cream similar to whipped ice cream, with a little curl.

As proud Italians, we had to make Tiramisu! And the result is finger-bowl-plate-licking-good.

Super easy to make too. Just SIX INGREDIENTS and TEN MINUTES to prepare (if you are doing it very last minute, make sure you make it just before you start your dinner, as it needs one hour in the fridge to set properly)…so here we go!

Ingredients for two people:

• 120g Mascarice Mozzarisella
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 4 oat biscuits (I used McVities’ Hobnobs)
• 1 mug of espresso (you can add few drops of Marsala wine, Brandy or Rum for extra flavour)
• 1 tblspoon of cocoa powder to garnish

Method:

1. Prepare the espresso and pour it in a soup bowl so it has got time to cool down
2. Put the Mascarice, vanilla extract, and sugar in a large bowl
3. Whisk until the ingredients have combined and the Mascarice have the consistency of a soft, velvety whipped ice cream
4. Spread some Mascarice cream obtained at the bottom of an individual dessert pot (if preparing individual portions) to form your bottom layer of cream. I used a champagne coupe and I think it looked very cool!
5. Once the coffee has cooled down, dip one biscuit in it until soaked, but not soggy and place it on top of your first layer of cream.
6. Spread more Mascarice cream on top of the biscuit and repeat the operation until you have obtained three layers of cream and two biscuits
7. Pop in the fridge and let it set for at least one hour. Sprinkle some cocoa powder (ideally through a sieve for extra finesse) on top of your top layer of cream. Serve. Enjoy.

My non-vegan friend couldn’t get enough of it. Just sayin’.