Vegan Tiramisu Cupcakes

5 from 4 votes

Game-changing vegan tiramisu cupcakes with the softest vanilla espresso swirl sponge and vegan cream cheese frosting

Prep Time5

Cook Time18

Total Time23

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: All, American, Italian

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 536kcal

185 g vegan butter at room temperature, use a block variety, not margarine
150 g vegan cream cheese at room temperature, see “Ingredients” section in blog post above
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
450 g icing sugar aka powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 160 °C. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with liners (I use silicone ones).
Place the plant milk, vegan yoghurt, vegetable oil and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
145 ml plant milk, 85 g vegan yoghurt, 60 ml vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, sieve then whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
210 g cake flour, 160 g caster sugar, 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just smooth. Don’t over mix.
Divide the cake batter evenly into 2 bowls (I found the batter weighed a total of 670g so 335g in each bowl).
Mix the espresso powder and cocoa powder into one of the bowls until just combined. Do not over mix. Give the vanilla batter a brief mix to remove any larger bubbles.
2 teaspoon espresso powder, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Add a teaspoon of the espresso flavoured batter to each of the cupcake cases, followed by a teaspoon of the vanilla batter. Continue layering the batter until you’ve used it all up. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the two batters together.
Place the tray in the oven to bake for 18 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool for 5 mins.
Remove the cupcakes from the tin and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool fully to room temp.
While the cupcakes cool, make the cream cheese frosting.

Place the vegan butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for at least 3 minutes or until light and fluffy, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides. Alternatively use an electric hand mixer and a large mixing bowl.
185 g vegan butter
Add the vegan cream cheese and beat again until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and, working with a few tablespoons at a time, add the icing sugar, allowing the previous addition to become fully beaten before moving onto the next. Once all the sugar is added, add the vanilla extract and increase the mixer to medium/high speed and beat the buttercream for a further 30 seconds or until nice and fluffy.
150 g vegan cream cheese, 450 g icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a rosette nozzle.

Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream then use a sieve to dust them with the cocoa powder.
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to serve. If necessary, store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.