Classic Tiramisu Recipe (Without Alcohol)

Tiramisu

This is the best tiramisu recipe I've ever made. An authentic tiramisu recipe with a twist for non alcoholic people. An tiramisu that is fluffy, rich, & irresistible. This is how do you make no raw egg tiramisu.

So what is Tiramisu cake?

In case you do not know, Tiramisu is an Italian trifle that is creamy and ethereal. It is made by dipping Italian Savoiardi cookies (Ladyfingers) in espresso and layering them with a magical, creamy filling. Finally it is dusted with cocoa powder and chilled for few hours in the fridge. You'll end up with a cake-y textured cookies flavored with espresso and topped with a lightened up, fluffy and cloudy custard like top. So delicious. The bad news is, I've never really tasted the classic Tiramisu as the cloudy dreamy cream usually contains some sort of alcohol, usually rum and traditionally Marsala... how unfortunate is that!

A couple of months ago, or may be more, I've had my first experience with Carbonara sauce. It was not a good one though, and I am sure this was not because of the recipe but rather the recipient of the recipe:). Knowing that it had raw eggs, that is supposed to be cooked with the heat from the pasta, made it hard for the pasta to go all the way through to my stomach 🤣. I am not totally against consuming raw eggs, it has some rules you need to follow, but somehow this puts a pressure on me. Although, I do not have this issue when licking a cake batter or cookie dough!

I've had Tiramisu, the easy way, many times as I've this amazing friend who makes a delicious "fake tiramisu" as we call it. She usually makes it with plain cookies like Marie, and she uses condensed milk, cream and cool whip for the cream. It was delicious, but I really wanted to taste the classic one so I googled a recipe with no alcohol and I came across really very good recipes but all of them used the raw egg method. Getting rid of the alcohol was not hard at all, actually the espresso and the cocoa along with some pinches of vanilla powder was more than enough.

How do I dry my ladies fingers?

I was unable to get a hold of hard large Savoiardi cookies, all what was there in the stores was those packages of mini soft ladyfingers. If this is your case as well then you’ll need to harden those before using by either arranging them on a baking sheet, cover with kitchen towel and let it air dry overnight OR heat your oven to 250F, then turn off heat and place the baking sheet and leave it there until they harden, took me about 20 minutes.

Can I make tiramisu the day before?

Sure, make it without the cocoa powder, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Just take care that nothing will squish the domes. Take it out and finish the top as directed.

How long does tiramisu last in the fridge?

Tiramisu can survive for up 4-5 days in the fridge.

Can I put my tiramisu in the freezer?

Yes you can, I've done it several times. Tiramisu can keep up in the freezer for up to 3 months. I usually store left over in portions in the freezer, just to get it away from me or else I will probably finish it off in no time.

How do you make tiramisu?

For the raw eggs, we'll cook the egg yolks over a water bath, this was enough to keep my mind at ease and kept the hunting carbonara memory away 😟. So without further ado let's see what is happening here:

• In a rimmed large bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until mixed.
• Beat room temperature mascarpone cheese in another bowl. Add half the egg mixture and beat again until mixed. Add the remaining half and beat everything until well combined.
• If you wanna get that fancy domes look, just pipe some cream through a piping bag, no tips is necessary as you can see in the video.

Now brew yourself a nice cup of coffee, set back beside your fireplace and.... enjoy a piece... or may be two:).

• Make sure that the egg yolks are room temperature.
• You can use instant coffee or instant espresso powder too.
• If you cannot find ladyfingers near you and cannot order online you can make homemade ladyfingers.
• Usually, dark rum or marsala wine is added to the coffee mixture, but we do not consume alcohol.
• How to substitute Mascarpone Cheese for Tiramisu: If you cannot find mascarpone cheese you can beat 1 cup room temperature cream cheese with ¼ up heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter. Substitute the mixture in a 1-to-1 ratio for mascarpone. Put in mind that the texture and taste will be slightly different.
• How to make a double boiler: Make a double boiler by simmering an inch or two of water in a saucepan. Place the rimmed bowl inside so the rim is over the top of the pot and make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. You might as well check this method, although I haven’t tried it but it looks easier.
• Make a double boiler by simmering an inch or two of water in a saucepan. Place the rimmed bowl inside so the rim is over the top of the pot and make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. You might as well check.
• The egg-sugar mixture will be grainy unless you use confectioners sugar. It is ok, do not freak out, the sugar will dissolve as the tiramisu rests in the fridge.
• Mascarpone should be out for 15-20 minutes max before using, too cold or too warm mascarpone can cause the custard mixture to curdle.
• Using Bel Gioso brand might cause curdling as well. So if for any reason your mixture curdles there is a fix for that. Return the bowl to a double boiler for 1-2 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from heat immediately when it turns back to creamy.
• If the mascarpone cream mixture did not firm up and is still watery, this can happen for many reasons. To fix that, try refrigerating the custard mixture for a couple of hours or overnight. A quick fix for that is to warm up a small amount of the cream and sprinkle an envelop of unflavored gelatin over, let the gelatin bloom then mix it with the remaining cream. Some suggest adding a tablespoon of cornstarch for every cup of whipping cream to make it firmer but it is worth mentioning that this will give the cream a slightly grainy taste.
• Make sure to briefly dip the ladyfingers into the coffee I would say a second or two per side.
• To decorate the top with the domes: Prepare whipping cream by whipping 1 cup of cold heavy whipping cream with ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar. Fill a piping bag with the rest of the cream, cut the tip and pipe domes on top of the Tiramisu.
• To Store: Keep leftovers covered with plastic film in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Leftovers can stay in the freezer for months too. Thaw in the fridge before serving and serve with a dusting of cocoa powder..
• Make ahead: You can make the tiramisu up to 2 days ahead, assemble the dish and cover with plastic wrap then refrigerate.