Easy Tiramisu Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of ladyfingers for tiramisu? ›

Best for: Vanilla wafers work as ladyfingers substitutes and work well for desert crusts. Crush vanilla wafers into coarse crumbs and use them as a substitute for lady fingers in desserts like tiramisu or trifle. Additionally, You can use wafers as a decoration, and spruce up cakes for special events.

The secret to a true tiramisu? Mascarpone! Most people use regular cream cheese, but in order to get the real deal, you need to try is with this Italian specialty.

Alcohol: I prefer Kahlua, but use any of the following: Marsala wine, rum (dark is best!), brandy, or Amaretto. Make it Alcohol-Free: Omit the Kahlua entirely from the coffee mixture and replacing it with coffee in the mascarpone mixture.

However you could try beating together 225g (8 ounces) full fat cream cheese with 60ml (4 tablespoons/1/4 cup) double or whipping cream and 30g (1 ounce/2 tablespoons) softened unsalted butter until just blended. This will give the equivalent of around 300g (10 ounces/1 1/4 cups) mascarpone.

Philadephia cheese has a more acidic taste and a consistency that make it suitable for cheesecake but absolutely not for tiramisu. Its very easy to make mascarpone at home (500g fresh cream, 10g lemon juice and 82 degrees centigrade) so look up one of the dozens of recipes and don't try to substitute it.

Chill your tiramisu for at least 6 hours.

As it sits, the ladyfingers soften and absorb the moisture and flavor from the cream. When ready to serve, grate more chocolate over the top (because why not), and then enjoy!

Room Temperature Ingredients

If the eggs are closest to the expiration date, then they can cause your tiramisu to break down. Once your eggs are at room temperature, mix them together with the sugar and begin whipping the egg yolks and sugar until they are very thick.

Don't soak! Quickly dip the cookies into your coffee or liquor. Try not to leave them in the liquid too long—a quick dip will do. Overly soggy cookies make for a wet texture and a messy dessert.

Eggs in tiramisu

In most traditional tiramisu recipes, you'll find egg yolks. This adds richness and a decadent flavor to the mascarpone filling. While true classic tiramisu recipes use raw egg yolks, I prefer to cook them to eliminate the risk of salmonella, so that's what this recipe calls for.

What does tiramisu literally mean? ›

The name comes from the Italian tirami su ( lit. 'pick me up' or 'cheer me up').

Sherry, particularly dry sherry, is a good Marsala wine alternative, providing a comparable nutty flavor in both sweet and savory dishes.

This irish cream tiramisu is made with bailey's liqueur instead of rum or kahlua. It adds a nice little twist to such a classic, fun dessert!

With that in mind many tiramisu recipes will feature a good espresso or espresso blend coffee. A medium to dark roast coffee will be the best option as you will get the most prominent coffee flavours rather than a light roast which doesn't have that same bite and will have lighter, fruitier notes.

They are a principal ingredient in many dessert recipes, such as trifles and charlottes, and are also used as fruit or chocolate gateau linings, and for the sponge element of tiramisu. They are typically soaked in a sugar syrup or liqueur, or in coffee or espresso for tiramisu.

Lady Fingers are a popular Italian meringue cookie, also known as Savoiardi biscuits. They get their name from looking like fingers lol. They're most commonly known as the cookie base to Tiramisu but they're also often used in trifles and in layer cakes like a Strawberry Charlotte Cake.

Ladyfinger is also known as Okra or Okro in some places. Other names of Lady's Fingers include gombo, gumbo, quingombo, bamia, bamie, quiabo, quibombo, gombo, bamia, bamya, bamies. In India ladyfinger is commonly called bhindi.

Shortbread is a tight crumb, crisp, and buttery cookie, yet ladyfingers are light, airy, and meringue-based. So the two are very different cookies in several ways. However, both ladyfingers and shortbread are often used in trifles and other layered desserts.