Horchata is a Valencian drink made from tiger nut - a small tuber, not a nut, not milk. Legend has it that King James I of Aragon, tasting it for the first time during the conquest of Valencia, asked what he had been given. A girl replied that it was tiger nut milk, and the surprised king exclaimed: „This is not milk, this is gold, dear!” Hence, supposedly, the name „orxata”.

Historians say it is a fabrication. No medieval source records the anecdote. More likely the word comes from the Italian „orzata”, a barley drink, from the Latin „hordeata”, which over time came to describe other plant-based drinks too. The story about the king is better, but it is not true - and it is worth knowing which is which.

Why tiger nut works in a dessert

The tiger nut is a small tuber rich in complex carbohydrates, fibre and minerals such as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, with a significant share of unsaturated fats similar to those in olive oil. It contains no gluten and no lactose, which means horchata made of tiger nut, water and sugar is usable for people with those intolerances. The starch and natural sugar give it its characteristic sweetness - which is precisely why it is half a dessert on its own.

This recipe uses it on tiramisu logic: the biscuits are soaked in horchata instead of coffee, and the cream is mascarpone, whipping cream and horchata. The result is a creamy dessert that needs no oven - which in August is half the argument.

Ingredients (for 8-10 servings)

For the cream: 500 g mascarpone, 300 ml double cream with 35 percent fat, very cold, 50 g icing sugar, 120 ml tiger nut horchata, 2 gelatine sheets (about 4 g).

For assembly: 200-250 g tiramisu biscuits, 250 ml horchata.

To finish: 2 teaspoons pure cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, a handful of roasted tiger nuts. The dish should be around 20 by 20 centimetres, or a round 20-centimetre tin with a removable ring.

Method

Soak the gelatine sheets in plenty of ice-cold water for about ten minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the mascarpone with the icing sugar until smooth and free of lumps. Heat two tablespoons of horchata without letting it boil, dissolve the well-squeezed gelatine in it and stir until fully melted. Add that mixture to the remaining cold horchata, then pour it gradually over the mascarpone, folding gently.

Whip the very cold cream to firm but still creamy peaks and fold it in three additions, using turning movements with a spatula - the aim is to keep the air in. This is where most people fail: if the cream is not cold enough, the mixture will not hold its shape.

Pour the soaking horchata into a wide dish. Dip each biscuit for literally one to two seconds. That is all. It should take on flavour and moisture but not go soft - otherwise the layers are lost and you get mush instead of dessert. Lay a first row of biscuits covering the whole base, spread about half the cream and smooth it, then a second row of lightly soaked biscuits, then the rest of the cream, as level as possible.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least eight hours - ideally, make it the day before. That is not a recommendation about patience, it is part of the recipe: in that time the cream sets and the biscuits absorb the moisture fully.

Mix the cocoa with the cinnamon and dust it on immediately before serving, not earlier - otherwise it takes on moisture and is lost. On top, if you like, roasted tiger nuts.

One warning worth more than the entire recipe: the quality of the horchata determines the result. If it is weak, the dessert is weak, and no amount of cocoa on top will save it.