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
- 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese ,room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups cold espresso , prepared
- 3 Tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur ,optional (Kahlua or DaVinci brands)
- 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
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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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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
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.
A new family favorite!!! This is going in my five star recipe file!. Flavorful but light and not too filling. We made it with just a dusting of cocoa powder and added bittersweet chocolate shavings and a chocolate covered espresso bean on top. OH MY GOD GOOD! It was even better the second day! (And I don’t like coffee or espresso!)
Can I use a 9×9 pan?
Yes you can!
Very easy to make BUT you don’t need 1 1/2 cups of coffee… I had 1 1/3 cups left over. But it’s very good and very easy to make!
I have a question for you. I look forward to trying this recipe very soon -but I am curious if it matters if I use confectioners sugar in the whipping cream instead of granulated sugar? I would typically use the powdered sugar when whipping cream – so want to know if granulated adds something I am not aware of in this particular recipe? Thank you so much!
Totally get it! Granulated sugar gives the whipped cream a bit more structure here, but if you’re used to using powdered sugar, it’ll still work just fine.
-Stacy
Hi! Planning to try this recipe! What espresso/water ratio would I use if I prepare the ground espresso in a traditional coffee pot? What grind level do you recommend for the bean? Thank you!
What happens when the ladyfingers just crumble? Can you still use or do I have to remake?
Did they crumble after dipping or were they already crumbly before dipping? If they crumbled after dipping, you may have dipped them too long and I would recommend remaking or else your tiramisu may be soggy. You just want to do a quick 2 second dip then place in the pan. We hope you love our tiramisu recipe!
I doubled this recipe for a work party and because I had an 16oz container of marscapone cheese. Everyone LOVED it, asking for seconds or taking a piece home. Since it was the first time I made this recipe, the only thing I personally would change is less whipping cream, I prefer a slightly more dense tiramisu, but that is just me. This recipe is so easy, not too sweet, I added coffee liquor and rum to add flavor, overall this is a restaurant quality tiramisu. I cannot wait to try the lemon tirimisu recipe.
Hi, I’ve made this a few times and everyone’s enjoyed it, super easy to make, but made it again and was just wondering, do you fold in your mascarpone rather than using the mixer? If so, how do you get clumps out? This time I whipped double cream and sugar to soft peaks and then added mascarpone, but it just went so thick and unmanageable which has never happened before, been using this recipe for ages and family loves it so confused as to why this happens. Thanks!
It takes a lot of folding, I also whipped my mascarpone first in a separate bowl before folding it into the whipped cream.
I made this under 20 minutes and kept it in my fridge overnight, it’s better than any tiramisu I’ve ever had. Highly recommend!