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This delicious and unbelievably easy Tiramisu recipe is made with coffee soaked lady fingers, sweet and creamy mascarpone (no raw eggs!), and cocoa powder dusted on top. It requires no baking and can be made in advance!
Who doesn’t love an easy no-bake dessert? That’s one of the best things about this tiramisu recipe. If you are looking quick no-bake dessert I also love No Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars and Butterscotch Cereal Bars.
This recipe has been a long time coming, and I'm embarrassed to admit how much tiramisu has been made in the trial of this recipe (I literally bought out every package of Savoiardi lady fingers at two different stores!) but I wanted to nail down the right approach.
By “right approach”, I mean how traditional of a tiramisu recipe I wanted to share. (In case you're not familiar with it, Tiramisu is a popular Italian dessert made with lady fingers (or spongecake), coffee, liqueur, and mascarpone cheese topped with chocolate powder). Should I make the lady fingers from scratch? Does it matter? And more importantly, do I make it with raw eggs?
What makes my recipe different:
My tiramisu does not use raw eggs. It's the easiest tiramisu recipe to make, and there's no sacrifice in flavor.
Traditional tiramisu uses raw egg yolks and sugar beaten and then combined with raw whipped egg whites and mascarpone. I've tried that method, but thought people would most likely be turned off by the raw eggs.
Then I tried using a double boiler to gently cook the eggs and sugar before adding them to the mascarpone, which is a really common method used in lots of modern recipes (the Pioneer Woman has a great recipe!). I found it tricky to get the thick and creamy mascarpone layer I wanted.
So, I ultimately decided to swap out the egg whites in favor of fresh whipped cream, because I like the flavor and texture more. The result is delicious and EASY! You're going to love it! Make sure to try my Pumpkin Tiramisu and Lemon Tiramisu too!
Ingredients you'll need:
- Ladyfingers: I buy them, but you could make them from scratch.
- Mascarpone: it wouldn't be true tiramisu without mascarpone, but if you absolutely must, you could substitute cream cheese.
- Coffee: I use espresso
- Heavy Whipped cream
- Granulated Sugar
- Vanilla extract: or substitute imitation vanilla
- Cocoa powder: for dusting on top
How to make Tiramisu:
- Mix creamy filling. Beat the mascarpone, cream, sugar, and vanilla together until stiff peaks.
- Dip lady fingers. Add the espresso and liqueur (if using) to a shallow bowl and dip the lady fingers on both sides (don't let them soak–just a quick dip!)
- Layer mascarpone. Smooth a layer of the mascarpone/whipped cream mixture on top of the lady fingers.
- Repeat. Add another layer of lady fingers (dipped in coffee and liqueur) and another layer of cheese mixture. Dust with cocoa powder.
What kind of alcohol is used in tiramisu?
Tiramisu can be made with or without alcohol. This recipe calls for coffee flavored liqueur because I like that it enhances the coffee flavor.
Alcohol free: Leave it out completely.
Alcohol variations: use dark rum, brandy, marsala wine.
Espresso substitutions: coffee, decaf
MAKE AHEAD AND FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS:
Tiramisu is even better when made in advance, allowing the flavors to blend! It will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
To freeze, make completely, but don’t dust with cocoa powder. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then tinfoil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and dust with cocoa powder a few hours before serving.
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Tiramisu
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream , (360 ml)
- 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese , ,room temperature (225 g)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar , (67 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract , (5 ml)
- 1 1/2 cups cold espresso , , prepared (360 ml)
- 3 Tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur , ,optional (Kahlua or DaVinci brands) (45 ml)
- 1 package Lady Fingers, ,Savoiardi brand can be found in the cookie aisle at your local grocery store, or online
- Cocoa powder for dusting the top
Instructions
- Add whipping cream to a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed with electric mixers (or use a stand mixer). Slowly add sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Add mascarpone cheese and fold in until combined. Set aside.
- Add coffee and liqueur to a shallow bowl. Dip the lady fingers in the coffee (Don't soak them–just quickly dip them on both sides to get them wet) and lay them in a single layer on the bottom of an 8×8'' or similar size pan.
- Smooth half of the mascarpone mixture over the top. Add another layer of dipped lady fingers. Smooth remaining mascarpone cream over the top.
- Dust cocoa powder generously over the top (I use a fine mesh strainer to do this). Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or up to overnight before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Check out my webstory! I originally shared this recipe April 2017. Updated January 2020 with process photos and instructions.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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OMG I ate the entire desert myself in ONE day. it’s that good. Making another soon.
It was amazing, I loved it. I used vanilla extract to my hearts content so that did not going quite well but apart from that, IT WAS DELICIOUS
Made this for my daughter-in-laws for her birthday. Wow!! She loved it. It is so easy. Love that there are NO EGGS. Thank you
Did you check the sponge fingers did not have eggs?
This was so delicious, tiramisu is my husbands favorite dessert and he said this was one of the best he’s tasted! So easy and I love that it has no raw egg!
I had never tried tiramisu because I don’t like coffee. But my daughters convinced me to try this recipe. OMG!!! It is soooo delicious! And it was really easy to make. I had read the comments and whipped up the mascarpone cheese so that it blended well with the whipped cream. This recipe is definitely one I will make again and again.
I had never tried tiramisu because I don’t like coffee. But my daughters convinced me to try this recipe. OMG!!! It is soooo delicious! And it was really easy to make. I had read the comments and whipped up the mascarpone cheese so that it blended well with the whipped cream. This recipe is definitely one I will make again and again.
The whipping cream just made it so thick and greasy . Not what you want in a tiramisu
Homemade whipping cream is not greasy or thick. It sounds to me like you overwhipped your cream. You can fix it by slowly whisking in cold whipped cream.
What would you substiute the heavy cream with?
Dylan I never tried it with whipping cream, I use 1 – 8 oz. room temperature cream cheese with 1 container of Mascarpone cheese. If I double the recipe I use 2 of each, and 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest or 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Also many times I use dark rum for a little kick (for adults only) and I have to make one just for kids without alcohol. I made Tiramisu for years and my family and everyone who taste it want me to make it for them and asks the recipe. Hope you make it with cream cheese, you will love it! Hope it helps. Merry Christmas and a Blessed and Peaceful Happy New Year!
You made butter. A little too much whipping will do that.
Definitely sounds like you’ve whipped the cream into butter!
I’ve made this recipe countless times and it’s perfect.
Recipe calls for way too much espresso. I used less than half of what it called for, which was annoying because I brewed my own espresso.
I have made this a few times and is always a hit. I can never find the lady fingers, so I improvised and made a pound cake, sliced it and drizzled the coffee kalua mixture over each layer. It is so good.
If you google Savoiardi biscuits it should show you where you can buy them near you.
I buy mine at coles or Woolworth as they always have them.
This was fast and easy to make :). Was delicious and definitely a keeper! Will be one of my desserts for Thanksgiving as well!! Thanks again!
Loved the recipe. It is much easier and quicker than traditional tiramisu. Just an FYI though, you can still use raw eggs to make traditional tiramisu if you buy pasteurized eggs… which I do when I need to use raw eggs… like in eggnog.
easy to make and delicious – I give it away as house warm gifts and I have new friends for life.
It was good but this isn’t tiramisu the filling is whip cream and cheese it doesn’t set nicely. It was still good but just not what I wanted when making tiramisu. I will try for a more traditional one next time.
Although the recipe is delicious, it doesn’t have enough of the cream filling. For an authentic tiramisu, you should definitely double if not triple the amount of cream/mascarpone mixture required. I went to the store 3 times because I kept needing to get more!
Also, you only need half a pack of ladyfingers for this 9-person serving.
I was SO disappointed with the results of this recipe. I adore Tiramisu and have eaten many delicious ones at restaurants. This recipe lacked the flavor of espresso and kahlua that I was hoping for. Should call for an extra strong cup of espresso, maybe? And the directions say to mix marscapone and cream until just combined. That left me with small chunks of marscapone in every bite – not delicious. I would double the sugar and espresso and kahlua if you want to give this recipe a try at all. A lot of money going down the garbage disposal 🙁
Its delicious been a long day of work prepping this for group dinner tomorrow evenin at first directions was gettin jumbled in my head(as noticed in last comment) But it taste amazing cant wait for the group tomorrow evenin to try it.