Tiramisu ~ a very simple yet magical dessert that will help you drift off into a dreamland! Yes my friends, here we are today, on the last day of Lent and as we celebrate Easter tomorrow I want to share the recipe of Tiramisu which in Italian means ‘pick me up’ cuz well, you know, that’s exactly what this delightful dessert does! It picks you up from you slumber or dull/unhappy/boring mood in an instant. Perhaps it helps that this dessert has some delectable & very porous savoiardi biscuits that soak up some coffee. Everyone knows what coffee does to one’s senses, so little wonder that it also contributes to the magic in this dessert.
This is my own recipe which I have tweaked over the years, 5 years to be precise. I arrived at the quantities for the ingredients after sifting through a lot of recipes online and used to make it with Dream Whip, which is a non-dairy powder which helps you arrive at a topping similar to whipped cream. All you have to do is mix it with some milk and whip it till you achieve the same consistency & texture as whipped cream. Over the years this dessert has delighted many guests who got to enjoy it at the parties we hosted. I used to make it so often that I decided to take a break. In the meanwhile I lost the recipe but managed to find a rough version of it in my notepad. I tried it out again when we had some guests last month and voila! It turned out to be just as I remember making it. I managed to take just a few pictures as the kids were dancing around me waiting for their slice of deliciousness.
I really hope you can make it for Easter if you can manage to find the mascarpone cheese. If not, there’s always next time and believe me, you don’t need an excuse to make this super easy & delicious dessert.
Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the festivities!
Tiramisu ~ Easy, No Alcohol Recipe
Ingredients
- 33-35 savoiardi ladyfinger biscuits
- 250 grams whipping cream
- 500 grams mascarpone cheese
- 150-175 grams caster sugar
To make the coffee
- 2 cups water
- 4 tablespoons instant coffee powder I used Bru
To decorate
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Prepare the coffee first as we need it to be completely cool before we begin the layering process. To make the coffee, bring the 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the instant coffee powder and simmer for half a minute,then take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
- When the coffee has almost cooled down prepare the cream mixture. If you are living in warm weather it will help to chill the steel bowl & whisk for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before you begin, otherwise, proceed as follows. Place the whipping cream & sugar in a large bowl and beat it with an electric whisk for about 10-12 minutes till you get soft peaks. Do not beat beyond this as the cream will curdle. Fold in the mascarpone cheese & mix gently until incorporated.
- For ease of serving you can line a 9x11 inch pan with baking parchment with the ends slightly overlapping the edges, otherwise, messy is really okay! Proceed as follows. Pour the cooled coffee in a shallow plate/small wide based bowl and dip a savoiardi biscuit in the coffee, flip twice (a couple seconds each side). The biscuits will quickly soak up the coffee. Don't let them linger in the coffee for too long or they will crumble when you lift them. Also, you don't want some of the biscuits to soak up too much coffee leaving nothing for the others. Place each dipped biscuit into the pan, side by side in a single layer.
- Divide the cream and mascarpone cheese mixture into half and slather the biscuits with it. Then place another layer of coffee dipped savoiardi biscuits and the remaining cream & cheese mixture over it. Using a spatula smooth out the surface.
- Cover with cling film and chill for at least 6 hours, overnight is best as it will give the biscuits enough time to soak up all the flavours & moisture.
- When you are ready to serve, just remove the cling film, dust the surface generously with cocoa powder and the chocolate shavings. Divide the tiramisu into 12 or 16 portions and use a cake server or a large flat knife to remove the portion. Serve with berries on the side if desired.
Video
Notes
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
The conversions are so confusing. he recipe is all in grams, but my measuring tools are in cups. I tried to search up the conversions, but it just got more and more confusing.
Hi Ada Shu,
I use a weighing scale to measure my ingredients as I find it a fool proof way to do so. You can use 3/4th cup of caster sugar (hope you are using standard cup measure where 1 cup = 240ml). The mascarpone cheese and whipping cream generally come in pre-measured tubs, so that should be easy.I have given cup and tablespoon measures to make the coffee. So hope your doubts are cleared, if not, please feel free to ask me. I’ll be most happy to help you!
Grams would be used if you have a scale, can pick up a scale for cheap at walmart
Shireen,
This Tiramisu recipe is the easiest and most delicious one I’ve found…and I’ve tried several! Thank you for sharing it.
Hi Lesley,
Thanks a lot for your wonderful feedback! I am so glad to note that you enjoyed this recipe so much! It truly made my day!
It came out very good
Thanks for the feedback Dilavez! Happy to hear that!
Hi Shireen.. what can I use as a substitute for lady finder biscuits?
Hi Melita,
There is no perfect substitute for the lady finger biscuits but you can use thinly sliced sponge cake instead
Hi, I’m confused how many mls 250g of whipping cream is? Really want to make this as a surprise for my other half!
It is approximately the same quantity..so you can use 1 cup (250ml) of the whipping cream