I’ve seen many attempts to make a different type of tiramisu – from oats. In theory, it looked inviting. In practice, chances were high for it not to be. So, I decided to test it and come up with my version. (I also tested ricotta tiramisu – I liked one I tried in Agrigento, but Marcel said that this oats tiramisu tasted better, so—)

For one portion, I used

15 teaspoons of (gluten-free) oats

1 tbsp of (prepared) coffee

130g goat or buffalo yoghurt (I tested them both)

5 teaspoons of honey

+1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder

Pour coffee over the oats; mix them with the yoghurt and honey. Leave the bowl in the fridge overnight. In the morning, sprinkle the cocoa powder over the mix.

I have this recipe from my dear friend Paula. Thanks to her, I discovered hungryhappens.net; we tried several recipes from the blog, even together! ♥

I adapted the recipe. I baked it on our anniversary; Marcel loved it (when he immediately asks for a second slice, he likes a dessert a lot). J

Use

a large ripe banana

30ml flaxseed oil

a medium egg

85ml agave syrup

vanilla extract

a teaspoon of ground coffee

2g baking powder

90g almond flour

90g tapioca powder

salt

30g dark chocolate

How to bake it?

Mash the banana, add the flaxseed oil, the egg, the agave syrup, the vanilla extract, the ground coffee, the almond flour, the tapioca powder, the salt, and 15g of dark chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a round silicone baking pan, using the remaining 15g to decorate the cake.

Then, bake the cake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven at 180⁰C.

You’re going to enjoy this cake a lot!

Here’s a recipe that’s quick to get your dessert into a baking pan and then... your plate.

It has only a few ingredients, like most of my recipes.

Baking pan: 34 x 24 cm

120g (gluten-free) oatmeal

200ml milk

100ml water

2 bananas

2 eggs

a pinch of baking powder

1 teaspoon of ground coffee

a drop of rum essence

30g cocoa powder

+150g vegan chocolate chips

100g butter

+ a few drops of flaxseed oil

Pour the milk and water over the oatmeal; allow the oats to swell for 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas. Then, add the eggs, the baking powder, the coffee, the rum essence, and the cocoa powder.

Mix the swollen oatmeal into the above batter.

Pour it into an oiled baking pan (I used flaxseed oil). Bake the cake in the preheated oven, at 180⁰C, for 25 minutes. Let it cool a bit.

Melt the butter on low heat. Add the chocolate chips and mix until they melt, too. Pour this mix over the cake.

Let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

It is finger-licking good!

P.S. For the vegan version, use nut butter instead of butter, plant-based milk instead of milk, and two teaspoons of flaxseeds mixed into six teaspoons of water instead of the two eggs.

serves 6

One of my dearest friends is from Pakistan. We had been exchanging recipes for a while when she gave me this one. A question came along—’Do you have rusk?’...

I had no idea what that was, so I improvised using fette biscottate. I adapted the recipe. It was a successful dessert, in the end.

Of course, if you have rusk, you can use it. J

The ingredients used were—  

250ml milk

½ tbsp of Arabic coffee (if you only have regular coffee, add cardamom to it)

1 tbsp of sugar

for the 'sauce'

200ml sour cream

200ml whipping cream

6 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of cocoa

for the cream

+10 pieces of rusk/fette biscottate

Mix the milk, the coffee, and the sugar in a large pan. Let the mixture simmer until it boils. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool.

To make the cream, mix the sour cream, the whipping cream, the sugar, and the cocoa.

Prepare a pound cake baking pan (31x12.5 cm). Mine is made of glass because this dessert looks better in it.

Taking a piece of rusk at a time, dip it into the milk mixture and then place it in the pan. I needed three pieces and I used half of the fourth. Pour one-third of the cream over the pieces of rusk.

Repeat this step twice. Then, place the baking pan into the refrigerator and leave it there overnight.

It hardens more than you think. It is moist, flavourful, and delicious!

 

My Dad loves dates, too, so I wanted to surprise him—

For the batter, you’ll need—

170g pitted dates

200ml (hot) water

a teaspoon of baking powder

*

2 eggs

100g sugar

150g flour

a pinch of salt

a teaspoon of (ground) cinnamon

a teaspoon of (ground) coffee

a teaspoon of baking powder

80g sour cream

70g (melted) butter

First off, place the dates in a bowl. Pour hot water over them. Mix in the baking powder and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Then, mix the eggs and the sugar until fluffy.

Add the flour, salt, plus the grounded cinnamon and coffee, and the baking powder.

After folding them in, add the date, baking powder, and water mixture and keep mixing. In the end, add the sour cream and the melted butter.

Pour the batter into a round mould (21 cm); mine is made of silicone, so I won’t butter and flour it. If necessary in your case, do it.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven, at 175⁰C, for 30 minutes.

When there are 10 minutes left, start making the caramel sauce, using half of the ingredients listed in this recipe, but with the same technique—

100g sugar

a pinch of salt

30ml water

40g sour cream  

2 tbsp butter

In the end, makes holes in the cake as soon as you take it out of the oven. Pour the caramel sauce over it.

Let it cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then for 30 minutes more in the fridge.

You’ll be surprised by the taste and by... how easily you’ll finish one slice!

 I will start a mini-series of suggestions for dessert making. It is based on my experiences and I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

1. Leave the eggs get to room temperature before using them. This way, you will be able to beat them stiff for meringues and creams and mix them more easily into éclair or profiterole batter.

2. Coffee brings out the flavour of chocolate. Add a teaspoon of ground coffee to desserts rich in chocolate.

3. For any recipe that requires baking, keep in mind a ±20°C margin. Test your oven well!

4. Use butter instead of sunflower oil [the 1:1 ratio works just fine]. Even in non-vegan recipes, I like using coconut oil. It’s my favourite oil. 

5. To beat the whipping cream stiff, cool the bowl and/or the mixer blades that you are using in the freezer.

6. Semolina makes the filling stiff. For instance, if you decide to bake a cassata al forno (its filling resembles the one used for the cassata in the picture), make sure to add some tablespoons of semolina to the ricotta filling.  

7. For extra-crunchy bakes, oil or butter your baking pan; for extra-fluffy bakes, sprinkle semolina onto the baking pan. 

8. When you’re preparing your puff pastry dough by adding eggs one at a time, use a mixer. It will turn out fluffier.