Makes 6 small glass jars

1. Start by making the cake – preheat your oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4. I used a non-stick tin so I swished in some vegan margarine to coat all sides then dusted with flour, shaking out the excess. I also put a square of parchment in the bottom
2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cacao powder and bicarbonate of soda
3. In a small bowl or jug whisk together the water, milk, oil, coffee essence and vinegar
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. It’s quite a loose mix so mix well with a spatula, scraping up from the bottom of the bowl to catch any flour ‘pockets’
5. Pour into your prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted in the centre comes out clean
6. Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack and allowing to cool completely before frosting then leave to cool for about an hour
7. While that’s cooling put the cashews into a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside to cool for an hour
8. Mix together the syrup ingredients and set that aside too
9. When you’re ready to assemble drain the cashews from the water and tip into a blender cup with the remaining mascarpone ingredients. Whizz until smooth then tip into a piping bag (this makes it easier than pouring into your glasses
10. Cut the cake in half across the middle like you would a sandwich cake then use a cutter to cut discs of cake. You want 2-3 layers of sponge per glass. The size of cutter will depend on the size of your glass! These are quite rich desserts so you won’t want to use huge glasses or jars!
11. One by one dip a disc of cake into the syrup then drop into the bottom of your 6 glasses
12. Pipe a layer of the mascarpone mix and repeat with 1-2 more layers of sponge, finishing with a layer of mascarpone
13. Use a tea strainer or cocoa dredger to dust the top completely with cacao powder

Notes:

• If you have time, you can make the chocolate cake days or even weeks in advance and keep in the fridge or freezer until needed. Don’t forget to defrost it though!
• You can use any cake trimmings to make up the layers in your tiramisu or squidge into balls, freeze for about half an hour then dip in melted chocolate to make delicate little truffles!