Method (lady fingers)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Pour the aquafaba (chickpea brine) into a medium / large mixing bowl and whisk on low, adding in the cream of tartar. You will want to use an electric hand whisk or stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment. Whip on high speed for 5-8 minutes until soft peaks form.
3. While the aquafaba mixture is still whipping on high speed, sprinkle in the sugar, a little at a time until it’s all in the bowl. Allow this to whip for 5-8 minutes until stiff peaks form. If you can hold the bowl upside down and the meringue doesn’t move or slide out of the bowl, it’s ready.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, yogurt, coconut cream and vanilla.
5. Use a spatula to carefully fold the meringue mixture into the yogurt mixture, do this in 2-3 stages as you don’t want to and deflate the air we made in the meringue.
6. Sift in the baking powder and flour, carefully fold this in to combine. Fold until there is not dry ingredients visible, be-careful not to over mix.
7. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip nozzle.
8. Pipe lines of the mixture (around 2 inches) onto the lined tray, making sure to space them out as they will spread in the oven.
9. Place in the middle of the oven and bake the ladyfingers for 10-12 minutes, making sure not to burn them. You will know they’re ready when the edges of the ladyfingers turn golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray before peeling them off the paper and placing onto a wire rack to cool down fully. Repeat until you’ve used up all the mixture.
11. Once cool, keep all the ladyfingers fresh by placing them in a sealed container at room temperature until you need them. You will want to use them on the day of making, or the next day. Don’t leave them too long in the container or they could soften.

Method (base)

1. Grease a 6 hole loose base / push up cookie cup tin with some dairy-free butter.
2. Add the dairy-free butter into a small saucepan, place on the hob and heat over low until fully melted. Remove from the heat and add into a medium sized, heat-proof mixing bowl.
3. Add the cookies / biscuits into a blender / food processor and blend until fine. Pour the biscuit crumbs into the melted butter and stir together using a wooden spoon or spatula. It should resemble wet sand, and when you press it between your fingers, should hold its shape. If it’s too wet, add in some more biscuit crumbs, if too dry, add in some more melted butter.
4. Press approximately 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into each tin, making sure to compact it in using clean hands or spoon. The more compact it is, the less likely it will crumble. It’s best to use a loose base tin, I’ve linked a great one here. 
5. Place aside whilst you make the cheesecake filling.

Method (cheesecake filling)

1. The cashew nuts will need to be soaked overnight in water. See notes (at the bottom of the recipe card) for more details.
2. Drain the cashew nuts from the water and place them into a food processor/blender along with the dairy-free cream cheese, icing sugar, coconut cream and vanilla. Whizz up on high speed for around 5 minutes until smooth. Add a-little more coconut cream if needed. I use a ‘Kitchenaid Powerplus blender’. It’s best to use a high-speed blender if possible as the mixture is quite thick, and you want it as smooth as possible. You might need to stop the mixture a few times and scrape down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated and smooth.
3. Equally pour some of the mixture into each tin (around half way).
4. Brew some coffee (espresso or a few teaspoons of coffee granules in some hot water, stir to combine to create a strong coffee. Dunk ladyfingers into the coffee then place in a neat layer on top of the cheesecake filling (refer to video for example). Repeat until you’ve used up the cheesecake mixture and ladyfingers.
5. Make sure to tap the cheesecakes onto the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
6. Place into the fridge overnight to set.
7. Once set, remove from the fridge, and push the cheesecakes out of the tin (as the bases are loose bottomed).

Method (topping)

1. Once the cheesecakes are fully set, remove them from the tins. 
2. Whip up the whipping cream (either in a stand mixer fitted with balloon whisk attachment, or with an electric hand whisk) until it holds a peak.
3. Transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip nozzle.
4. Pipe little bulbs of cream on top of each mini cheesecake. 
5. Finish with a generous dusting of cocoa powder for the classic tirmaisu look!  
6. Serve and enjoy.