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!
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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Recipe
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 8x8'' 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
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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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.
Hi!! I just made this and cannot wait to try it. It looks so delicious! One question – the recipe calls for heavy cream mixture to be mixed until stiff peaks, though I watched the video a little after and you say to mix until soft peaks. Which one is the preferred method?
Great question! You’ll want to beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks—so it holds its shape well on top of the soaked cake. Soft peaks will still work, but stiff peaks give you that fluffy, stable finish that holds up beautifully. Thanks for catching that!
it’s too sweet
Thus looks like a great easy recipe. I was wondering if the nutrition listed at the end was per serving or for the whole recipe? Thank you!
Per serving!
I had never made Tiramisu before but thought it would be a nice addition to a luncheon a friend was having. Everybody went NUTS for it! They are STILL raving about it 2 years later! Soooo, I’m making it again, for our end-of-summer-work get together! But…. I have a question: what size pan do I use to double the recipe? Would it be 9 x 13?
So glad it was such a hit!! Yes use a 9 x 13!
Thank you! They’re so excited for me to make it again! They’re getting it on Wed.!
Can you just double the recipe and put in 8×12 cake pan?
Sure!! The layers will be a tad thicker so just chill a little longer.
Yes, it worked well in a 9×13 glass dish.
pro tip – an 8×8 pan of tiramisu can be a lot to eat in 3 ish days, but you can either make 2 loaf pans and freeze/give one away, or just split the recipe and make one loaf pan! I find that my pans hold one row of 8 ladyfingers and then I can easily make 2 layers, if not 3. The first time I made this, my boyfriend LOVED it but couldn’t get through it all before it was too old, so this time I’m just making half the recipe and she’s in the fridge now!
I made this recipe a few times and they are always well loved by young and old!
Easy to make too
Not at all like traditional !
Without the eggs tastes like just whipped cream team. Has no depth
Totally. Tiramisu made with cream instead of eggs is just nasty. And why you should never order Tiramisu in restaurants – because that’s what they all do to save money.
Would be helpful to specify the exact quantity of Lady Fingers. I searched for “Savoiardi” and figured there’d be only one of those and got a package from Whole Foods. Turns out that was half the package size as the one in the recipe. Regardless, used what I had and it’s currently in the fridge – let’s see how it turns out!
It says in the recipe that it’s a seven ounce package of 24 ladyfingers.
Hi, in the uk I found ladysfingers packed in 200g and 400g packages. Which one would you recommend ?
Go with the 200! you need about 24 cookies!