This Tiramisu recipe is deliciously creamy and easy, made with lady fingers soaked in coffee and Kahlua, layered with whipped mascarpone (no eggs), dusted with dark cocoa powder and sprinkled with bittersweet chocolate curls.
I’d love you to meet one of my favorite desserts… Tiramisu! This version is slightly on the boozy side and made without eggs because that’s how we used to do it in our catering business, and it has just stuck. It’s lower in sugar than most, designed for the “grown-up” palate, with a nice bitter-sweet finish. It can be made in a baking dish, in individual glasses, or in mini shot glasses for a “dessert bar.” A fun, festive dessert, perfect for holiday gatherings! Truly a spoonful of joy.
Why You’ll Love This!
- A bit boozy! Adding coffee liqueur gives this adult-friendly dessert an extra flavor boost.
- Perfectly bitter-sweet. This tiramisu recipe is less sweet than other recipes you’ll find out there. We love it this way because it focuses on the flavor of the rich dark chocolate, and coffee.
- Fun and festive for holiday gatherings. There are so many creative ways to serve this dessert! Prepare in a baking dish or serve in glasses, wine glasses, ramekins, mugs, or even tall shot glasses. Have fun with it!
Tiramisu Ingredients
- Mascarpone cheese: the signature ingredient in tiramisu, it is a smooth creamy Italian cheese (similar to cream cheese) that gives Tiramisu its rich luscious texture.
- Heavy whipping cream: Whipped to medium peaks and then folded into the mascarpone mixture, adds lightness and fluffiness to the Tiramisu, creating a creamy and airy texture.
- Sugar: we don’t use too much here, using just enough to balance the bitterness of the coffee and cocoa powder. It also helps to stabilize the whipped cream and mascarpone mixture, contributing to the overall structure of the dessert.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances the flavors of the other ingredients and adds a subtle, aromatic warmth.
- Coffee or espresso: Used to soak the ladyfingers, infusing them with a robust coffee flavor. It also adds moisture to the dessert and complements the richness of the mascarpone cream.
- Coffee liqueur: Not only intensifies the coffee flavor but also provides a subtle boozy note that enhances the overall taste. It adds depth and complexity to the dessert. See the options below.
- Savoiardi Lady Fingers: These crisp and lightly sweetened cookies are an essential component of Tiramisu. They act as the base of the dessert, soaking up the coffee-liqueur mixture while still maintaining some texture and structure.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Sprinkled between the layers of mascarpone cream and ladyfingers. It adds a bittersweet flavor, complementing the sweetness of the cream and cookies. It also adds visual appeal to the dessert.
- Dark chocolate bar for shaving: Used as a garnish on top of the Tiramisu. It adds a luxurious touch!
How to Make Tiramisù
- Make the Cream mixture: Add the heavy cream, sugar and half of the vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. An electric hand mixer would work okay here too. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium-high speed until medium, stiff peaks form. Scoop out the whipped cream and set it aside.
Place mascarpone in the same bowl (no need to wash) and whip it in the electric mixer until smooth and soft. Fold in the whipped cream a little at a time using a rubber spatula, whisking slowly till smooth and incorporated. Set bowl aside.
2. Make the Coffee mixture: In a shallow bowl, mix coffee, Kahlua and remaining vanilla.
3. Assemble: Using a small sifter or strainer, dust the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish (or 9-inch round baker or eight, 8-ounce glasses, mugs or ramekins) with cocoa powder.
One at a time, dunk the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and turn to coat the other side, about 3 seconds total. You want them completely drenched but not soggy. Place them close together in a single layer in the baking dish, rounded side up. (If using glasses, please see notes.)
Cover with half of the whipped cream mixture. Sprinkle liberally with cocoa powder. Repeat the layer with the soaked ladyfingers. Top with the remaining whipped cream mixture, then tap the pan on the counter a few times to level. Smooth the top as best you can.
4. Decorate the top: Dust the top with more cocoa powder. Use a vegetable peeler, shave the side of a chocolate bar into curls, and decorate the top of the tiramisu.
5. Chill: Place in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
Storage
Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days, covered in the refrigerator.
You can freeze this recipe. Skip the dusting of cocoa powder on top and cover tightly with plastic wrap before freezing for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw overnight in the fridge and dust with cocoa powder a few hours before serving.
Alcohol Substitutions
You can make this alcohol-free if you wish; you will simply need about a 1/2 cup of extra espresso or coffee plus sweetener (maple syrup is nice) to ensure enough liquid for dipping the ladyfingers. You can also substitute Kahlua for any of the options below!
- Coffee/Espresso liqueur– Du Nord Cafe Frieda, Borghetti di Vero Caffe Espresso Liqueur, Mr. Black, George NOLA Coffee Liqueur, J.F. Haden’s Espresso Liqueur, Kahlua,
- Marsala wine– ultra-traditional.
- Dark rum
- Brandy
FAQs
Traditionally, a classic tiramisu recipe is made with ladyfingers (savoiardi), egg yolks, sugar, coffee, mascarpone, and cocoa powder. We skip the egg yolks here and add a boozy addition of Kahlua.
Lower-fat mascarpone has a higher water content and can result in a runny tiramisu. You also want to be careful not to beat the mascarpone too much, or else the water will separate from the cheese curds.
You can refrigerate for as little as 3 hours, but for best results make it the day before and let it sit overnight.
If you wish to add egg yolks, simply whip 3-4 egg yolks with the mascarpone with an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar. This will help prevent an eggy flavor.
We hope you enjoy this decadent Italian dessert!
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
More Festive Dessert Recipes
Tiramisu Recipe
- Prep Time: 45
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: whipped
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Tiramisu recipe is deliciously creamy and easy, made with lady fingers soaked in coffee and Kahlua, layered with whipped mascarpone (no raw eggs), dusted with dark cocoa powder and sprinkled with bittersweet chocolate curls.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese (8 ounces) *room temperature
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (divided)
- 1 cup strong coffee or espresso (decaf is fine!)
- 1/2 cup Coffee/Espresso liqueur- like Kahlua (see notes for alcohol free)
- 7-ounce package Savoiardi Lady Fingers (24 cookies)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1–2 ounces dark chocolate bar for shaving.
Instructions
- Cream mixture: Add the heavy cream, sugar and half of the vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixture. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Scoop out the whipped cream and set it aside. Place mascarpone in the same bowl (no need to wash) and using paddle attachment, mix until smooth and soft. Fold in the whipped cream a little at a time, whisking slowly till smooth and incorporated. Set bowl aside.
- Coffee Mixure: In a shallow bowl, mix coffee, Kahlua and remaining vanilla.
- Assemble: Using a small sifter or strainer, dust the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish (or 9-inch round baker or eight, 8-ounce glasses, mugs or ramekins) with cocoa powder.
- One at a time, dunk the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and turn to coat the other side, about 3 seconds total. You want them completely drenched but not soggy. Place them close together in a single layer in the baking dish, rounded side up. (If using glasses, please see notes.)
- Cover with half of the whipped cream mixture. Sprinkle liberally with cocoa powder. Repeat the layer with the lady fingers. Top with the remaining whipped cream mixture, then tap the pan on the counter a few times to level. Smooth the top as best you can. Dust with more cocoa powder. Use a vegetable peeler, shave the side of a chocolate bar into curls, and decorate the top of the tiramisu.
- Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
- Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days, covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
Glasses, ramekins, wineglasses & mugs: Depending on the shape/size of the glass, instead of two layers, make three layers, with one ladyfinger broken in half, per layer. These will make eight, 1-cup portions.
Mini-sized: In our catering business, we often served these in tall shot glasses, as part of a dessert bar, with a mini fork inserted. This recipe will make 24 mini desserts.
Egg yolks: Traditional tiramisu contains egg yolks, but because of our catering business, we left them out and kinda got used to it. If you would like to add them, whip 3-4 yolks with the mascarpone cheese *with an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar ( which prevents eggy flavor).
Sans Alcohol: when going alcohol-free, sub more espresso or coffee plus a sweetener. TIP: Kahlua has sugar in it, and we have already cut back the sugar in this recipe to a minimum. I would sweeten the coffee with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 364
- Sugar: 23.5 g
- Sodium: 51.1 mg
- Fat: 21 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.1 g
- Fiber: 1.6 g
- Protein: 4.4 g
- Cholesterol: 68.8 mg
This is really wonderful. My daughter and I decided it is probably the best tiramisu we’ve ever had. I followed the recipe the first time with the mascarpone, but whipping it as suggested, I curdled it. The second attempt with the mascarpone, we just softened and smoothed it with a wooden spoon and then mixed in the whipped cream. That worked brilliantly and other than that first misstep on our part, it could not have been easier. Many thanks for this great recipe!
Thanks Pam I’m so happy you enjoyed this! The mascarpone curdled? Or do you mean the whipped cream?
Hi Sylvia. It was the mascarpone that curdled, or perhaps just separated into little curds. I whipped it as suggested in the recipe, but the second time I softened it with a wooden spoon and folded in the whipped cream. At that point I was able to finish and assemble the dessert. Any idea what I did wrong? Should I not have whipped it? Again, many thanks for the wonderful recipe! It was perfect for New Years Day!
I forgot to say switch to paddle attachment in the recipe- so mable that was it- or if any vanilla was left in the bowl, maybe that did it?
Wow this is so good!! Evidently the grocery stores near me don’t sell ladyfingers, so I made them myself a couple days in advance. I made the tiramisu in a loaf pan, three layers. The dessert is the perfect amount of sweetness and booze, I love it!!
Wow Angeli, I’m impresssed! A loaf pan sounds lovely!
I made this for Christmas Eve! It was so easy to make and as with all your recipes absolutely delicious! This will now become our standard Christmas dessert! I found Italian cacao finger biscuits and skipped the chocolate shavings. We did not find it too boozy and it was not rich, simply perfecto! Thank you!
Awesome Tracy! Thanks so much!
We enjoyed this for our. Christmas dinner for two. I halved the recipe because of this and used individual portions. I did run out of the coffee mixture so made more and used Creme de Cacoa for the second batch as I had run out of coffee liqueur. Tasted great
Thanks so much Nanci, glad you enjoyed! So perhaps I should up the coffee mixture?
Easy peasy recipe that’s always a crowd pleaser. I prefer Frangelico instead of Kaluah, just a matter of personal tastes. Using top quality coffee, vanilla and cocoa is essential when leaving out the richness of egg. I like to use sieved icing sugar to sweeten the cream and mascarpone.
Thanks for another delicious and easy recipe Sylvia
Thanks Leonie!
Thank you for the recipe! I love that it can be made ahead and even frozen.
For gluten-free, I’m using GF Schär brand lady fingers. They are made in Italy and I somehow did NOT eat the entire package yet. Close call
I’ve seen plant-based marscapone at the store, but I think I’ll make some cashew cream cheese and lighten it with Cocojune yogurt. Probably needs some nutritional yeast & lemon juice. Wish me luck on that one.
I also made dairy-free coffee liqueur using canned coconut milk, coconut sugar, and homemade coffee extract. (Coffee extract was just ground fancy coffee beans & pure grain alcohol left to infuse for a long time.)
I’ll bring this to my family Christmas dinner instead of a pie!
Thanks Laura, let me know how it goes! I would skip the lemon juice, maybe add vanilla and maple?
Hi Silvia, where are your glass individual serving cups from?
I think I got them at CB2!
Hi Sylvia, Do you think I could use decaf espresso for this, as small children will be eating it? Or would that somehow spoil the dessert?
Thanks for all your delicious recipes.
Daphne
Yes, for sure decaf works just fine- make sure to sweeten it if leaving out the Kahlua- see recipe notes.