As a vegan lady I’m always trying to find ways to make my food extra delicious. It’s my way to prove, once and for all, that vegan food can be very flavorful. Using tea, in my opinion, is the quickest way to infuse varieties of spices, fruits, and aromatics into the same boring recipes. In the spirit of the holidays, I have created a recipe that gathered few basic components to become a unique experience.

In the following recipe, I used the chai tea from Tea And The Gang, to flavour my almond / soy creamer blend and create a delicious combination of spices and a smooth creamy taste.

Kataifi

A blend of almond milk and unsweetened soy creamer infused with aromatic chai tea, then cooked with arrowroot and agar for thickness and stability. I decided to then add another dimension to the dessert by creating crunchy vessels, made from kataifi, powdered sugar, and melted vegan butter.

Kataifi – (pronounced Kan-ta-EE-fi), is a pastry made with a special form of shredded phyllo dough which looks like vermicelli pasta. As for the caramel, I cooked brewed chai tea and dates syrup, then reduced it to a thick consistency. The results were great. Light yet creamy, with a hint of sweet and spicy flavour, crunchy texture from the kataifi and chopped walnuts and of course deep brown dates caramel to top it all. This dessert can be easily transferred into a gluten free dessert.

Prep – 20 mins
Cook – 20 mins
Ready in – 40 mins
Duration – 5 days
Serving – 5 mini desserts

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan, scald the almond milk and the soy cream over low heat.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and drop the tea bag into the hot cream mixture. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the tea bag from the saucepan and add the maple syrup, arrowroot, and agar.
4. Whisk the cream mixture and put it back on the stovetop, bring the mixture to boil for few seconds (until the mixture thicken), then take it off the heat and let it cool for a minute.
5. In the meantime, prepare the mini pans, spray a little bit of oil spray for an easy release (I was using mini cheesecakes pans with a removable bottoms, you can easily find those online).
6. Pour the cream into the mini pans, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Making the kataifi shells

1. Preheat the oven to 375f.
2. In a mixing bowl, put the katafi (gently try to separate the shredded phyllo).
3. In a separate small bowl mix together the melted butter and powdered sugar.Pour the butter mixture over the kataifi, make sure you cover all the katafi with the butter.
4. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, and position a mini cupcakes baking pan over it, using the back side of the cupcakes pan.
5. Now it’s time to mould the buttered kataifi on the top of the cupcakes pan
6. Bake the kataifi shells in the oven’s middle rack for 10 minutes until they get a golden colour.
7. Let the shells cool completely, if not using it right away , you can store it in a ziplock bag at room temperature or freeze it for future use.

Spiced Dates syrup caramel

Dessert assembly

1. Take out the mini cheesecakes pans from the refrigerator, run a hot small knife along the edges of each mini pan.
2. Flip the mini pans on a tray, and slowly release each cream.
3. To serve the cream caramel, use an individual dessert plates. Position one kataifi shell on each plate,then slowly move the chilled creams inside the kataifi shells. ( don’t stress about the cream fits perfectly inside the shell).
4. Pour the dates caramel over the top of each dessert, and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.