Tiramisu!
Tiramisu means, appropriately, pick me up in Italian. My daughter’s favorite dessert since her high school days, and I wanted to make it for her birthday. This was my first time making it and I couldn’t believe how easy it was and wondered why I never thought about making it before! Minimal ingredients, no cooking, fuss free, but looks and tastes like a million bucks! I tried to make it eggfree, and didn’t use eggs in the filling. But the store bought ladyfingers had eggs in them and I didn’t have the time to make my own without the eggs. Some day, I will make the cookie base eggless too!
Servings Prep Time
6-9servings 30minutes
Servings Prep Time
6-9servings 30minutes
Ingredients
  • 1cup mascarpone cheese
  • 1cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1cup strong coffee/espresso
  • 3-4tsp coffee liqueurI used kahlua
  • 1/4cup raw sugarthe recipe calls for granulated sugar, I used raw sugar
  • 4tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1tsp vanilla extractI ran out and didn’t use it, we didn’t miss it
  • 16-18ladyfingers savoiardi biscuitsI used Alessi brand savoiardi biscotti that I found in the local Publix store
Instructions
  1. Set out the mascarpone to come to room temperature
  2. Gather all the ingredients
  3. Make a cup of strong coffee or espresso, and cool it
  4. Add the coffee liqueur/kahlua to the coffee
  5. Whip the cream until peaks form
  6. Mix the sugar and vanilla essence if using to the mascarpone cheese
  7. Add in the whipped cream to the mascarpone + sugar mix
  8. Take a glass rectangular/square dish. Take each of the ladyfingers, dip just about 5 seconds in the coffee on both sides, and line the bottom of the dish; make sure the cookies are not soaked too long as they will get soggy; break them if needed to fill the entire surface
  9. With a spatula, spread half of the cream + mascarpone mix evenly on the cookie layer
  10. Make another layer of ladyfingers, dipping each into the coffee mix for exactly 5 seconds
  11. Top with another layer of cream + cheese mix
  12. Sieve a thin layer of cocoa powder on top
  13. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4-6 hours for all the layers to set
  14. Dig in!
Recipe Notes

Typically, some sweet marsala wine/ rum is also added to the cream cheese mix. I had neither, and did without. We didn’t miss it.

My daughter said this was the best tiramisu she’s ever had, and she’s had a lot of tiramisu! I couldn’t believe how easy it was, as it was mostly assembly but she thought it was a big deal!