Melt in your mouth, perfectly flavored and miraculously rich tiramisu cake with ladyfingers. Classic tiramisu recipe without alcohol and guess what? no raw eggs involved! Need to eat more coffee? try these moist coffee cupcakes.
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.
- Place over a double boiler and whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is thickened. Remove mixture from heat and Let it cool down for another 10 minutes stirring every couple of minutes so it will not form a crust on top.
- Beat the cold heavy whipping cream in a separate bowl for 3-4 minutes and refrigerate.
- 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.
- Using a spatula gently fold in the the whipped cream in the mascarpone mixture.
- Briefly dip the lady fingers one at a time in the espresso to get them wet and arrange in a 13x9 dish to form one layer.
- Spoon half of the cream mixture over the layer of ladyfingers and level the surface.
- Dip and arrange the remaining ladyfingers then top with the other half of the cream mixture. Level the surface, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
- 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 :).
No Alcohol Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 6 large egg yolks room temperature.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional.
- 1 cup of sugar 200g
- 500 g Savoiardi (lady fingers) biscuits
- 1 ½ cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso cool to room temperature.
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tubs of Mascarpone cheese 8 oz each tub.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder for dusting about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- In a rimmed medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until mixed.
- Place over a double boiler and whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is thickened.
- Remove mixture from heat and Let it cool down for another 10 minutes stirring every couple of minutes so it will not form a crust on top.
- Beat the cold heavy whipping cream in a separate bowl for 3-4 minutes and refrigerate.
- Beat room temperature mascarpone cheese in a large bowl. Add half the egg mixture and beat again until mixed. Add the remaining half and beat everything until well combined.
- Using a spatula gently fold in the the whipped cream in the mascarpone mixture.
- Briefly dip the lady fingers one at a time in the espresso to get them wet and arrange in a 13x9 dish to form one layer.
- Spoon half of the cream mixture over the layer of ladyfingers and level the surface.
- Dip and arrange the remaining ladyfingers then top with the other half of the cream mixture. Level the surface, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
Sign up and learn more about Mediterranean flavors
TIME TO SHOW YOU OFF!
Would you like to save this post?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Fazee
I'm the Tiramisu girly in the family because of your recipe and I love this sooo much. ♥️
Jazakallah for sharing..
Fahmida
Ramadhan Kareem! First time making tiramisu and this recipe was super easy to follow and came out beautiful! Finding non alcoholic recipes was difficult and I'm so glad to have come across yours!
I added a lil sugar to cream and mascarpone mix and the sweetness was just right for us. I didn't have cocoa powder at hand so I grinder some cacao nibs for decor. To make a deep flavour I added four teaspoons of coffee. This recipe is such a life saver as it has the alternatives and tricks to fix it. Thank you so much for sharing!
Maria
Looks yummy but I need to add some booze! At what point should I add rum, for those of us that like some alcohol?
Lauren
I haven't tried the tirimasu as it is still in the fridge but it looks great. One thing i would add is clarify that you have to beat the cream until it is in stiff peaks (as that is what it appeared to be in the picture after I checked), as after 4 minutes my cream was overbeaten. i could still use it but possibly clarify that its stiff peaks otherwise it will end up overbeaten. otherwise great recipe.
Brenna
BEST tiramisu I’ve ever tasted. had so much fun making it and definitely going to be a staple in my home especially during the holidays. Thank you.
Della
Thanks for this awesome recipe! Much appreciation! ❤
Amila
Mashallah such a delicious recipe. It was my first time making tiramisu, which was easy to follow. Made dua and alhamdulillah it turned out fantastic. I only halved it since there's only 2 of us eating this lol and I used espresso instead of instant coffee or whatever else someone might use. I made 6 shots of espresso which yielded about a cup but I think in the future I will make 8 because I was super low by the end. I really recommend the espresso option if you have it since it adds a strong coffee flavor if you are into it (which I am!!!) I also think in the future I will make more of the cream/egg/cheese spread since I wanted to make cute little dollops on my too but I ran out so I could only do the edges and made a little heart in the center lol. Honestly really good recipe. I recommend it 10/10. Moreover, I DO NOT understand why people are saying theirs was runny...? I literally followed the recipe step by step and had no issues.... make sure all of your things are cooled before u start working with it, i guess? my espresso was cold by the time I used it -- I made sure to pull my shots before I started everything else. I made sure my egg mixture was cooled before I added cheese and I made sure my whipped cream had stiff peaks and was cold.
Leela
Thanks for this great halal recipe! I've used it many times and also with the best results, amazing high quality tiramasu! I tweak the sugar/coffee amount according to our tastes and its such a good recipe to follow, thanks Amira!
Jessica
Asalaamualaikum, is it possible to send me your original recipe???? That’s the only one that I’ve ever used that I am 100% happy with
Amira
Sure Jessica, I am happy that it worked for you. Here is the old recipe:
Ingredients:
8 large egg yolks.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional.
1 1/3 cup sugar.
1 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature.
2 cups heavy whipping cream.
3- 7 oz packages Italian Ladyfingers cookies (Savoiardi).*
1 1/2 cup espresso/coffee , freshly brewed .**
Cocoa for dusting.
Directions:
Start by making the espresso and leaving it to cool to room temperature.
In a deep bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar and vanilla if using , on top of a water bath. Stir and keep cooking for 10 minutes.
Remove mixture from heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes until mixture is not grainy and have a pale yellow color.
In a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese for a minute then pour in the whipping cream and beat until hard peak forms.
Gently fold in the egg yolk mixture until everything is well combined.
Dip the cookies one at a time in the espresso to get them wet and arrange in a 13x9 dish to form one layer.
Spoon almost one third of the cream mixture and level the surface.
Repeat dipping and arranging the rest of the cookies to form the second cookies layer.
Spoon another half of the cream mixture and level.
Fill a piping bag with the rest of the cream, cut the tip and pipe domes on top of the cream to get that fancy look.***
Cover and refrigerate 4 hours and preferably overnight.
Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
Enjoy!
Notes:
* I’ve only found soft mini ladyfingers in grocery stores neat me and I’ve used 3 packages. If this is your case as well then you’ll need to Harden those before cooking 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 mine about 20 minutes.
** I’ve also used instant coffee and mixed 3 Tablespoons with hot water and a teaspoon of sugar then let it cool down.
*** If you do not want to make that fancy look, then make sure to add half the filling inside and half on top of the last layer, level then dust with cocoa after refrigerating.
Jessica khan
Thank you so very much!!!!!
yas
yas lauv this recipe xoxo
Cher K
Thank you for sending me the updated recipe, worked like a charm. Was a hit and my grandfather enjoyed every bite.
Amira
Thanks Cher for making the recipe, I am glad the new notes helped and your grandpa liked it.
Steph
This came out soupy for me as well 🙁 I cooled the yoke mixture in the freezer for a good amount of time, it felt nearly cool. Once I added it all in it went to a goop. I read about the mistakes so I thought I was on the right track. Tried to fix it by adding corn starch - it seems to be stiffening up a bit, hopefully it will stifften right up by tomorrow. Also, for the top - the mixture was too goopy to pipe domes so I whipped some heavy whipping cream and sugar then piped that. So mine has an extra cream layer.
Amira
Steph, we are working on making it easier, thanks for letting us know.
Shyana
My journey with this recipe had been easy to follow and insightful. I read through the comments and notes and the end product was wonderful. Though the egg and sugar mixture was a pale yellow that I needed the mixture was still grainy so I decided to pass it through a sieve and it was a lot smoother.
Amira
Thanks Shayna for sharing your experience, it will surely help others as well.
fatima
So amazing I love it
Cindy G
Honestly, it's hard to rate since I couldn't eat it. As soon as I added the egg yolk to the mascarpone and cream it turned to soup. I had let the egg yolk cool, but apparently not enough. Nowhere in the recipe does it say to allow the egg yolk to cool at all, let alone completely, this is a recipe deficit.
I tried to let it set overnight, but it didn't set.
It was a colossal waste of time and money and my first post-COVID dinner party had no dessert.
Breezy Visin
Can I use a slightly bigger pan or will that mess it up
Amira
I do not think it would make much of a difference you might need a couple more of biscuits and a bit more coffee.
B
You should put in your instructions to cool the cooked yolk mixture before folding into the cream. I’m serious, I made this last night and the cream seemed to melt resulting in a soupy mess that Larry above complained of. I’ve left this mixture in the fridge overnight hoping it’ll solidify. Fingers crossed
Amira
B, I haven't had that issue nor was this mentioned to me before so thanks for pointing that out and this might be Larry's problem indeed. I will update the recipe and make a note of it. Thank you again.
Tia
Tasty
Amira
Thank you.
Jess
Hi, are these American cup measurements or UK? Aka 1US cup = 150g
Amira
Jess, thanks for asking. My recipes are all in US cups and I am on my way to converting them all with grams as well to remove any confusion.
Larry
I tried making this, the cream was runny as water, the biscuits were floating on top. It looked more like toad in the hole than tiramisu!
Amira
Sorry to hear that. Something must have went wrong with your measurments.
Ashley Hammach
I’m making this today! However I noticed it says refrigerate over night... would it be okay if I just refrigerated for a few hours? Would love to have this for iftar tonight
Amira
I have not tried that but I think it is ok, the cream might be softer though but I think you wouldn't mind it.. have a delicious iftar dear.
Brooke K
I made this for my husbands birthday as it is his favorite cake. It turned out really well and I will continue to make this recipe again and again. Thank you, Amira! The hardest part was feeling confident in using techniques one doesn’t always use, but honestly, it was super easy. I also couldn’t find lady fingers anywhere, so I made them which was super easy(and cheaper). I did follow a commenters suggestion of mixing marscapone into egg mixture and whipping heavy cream separately, then folding egg marscapone mixture into cream. I didn’t exactly understand why, but I didn’t want to take any chances of ruining my limited ingredients/cake. It worked out very well. Thanks again!
Amira
Oh Brooke, this is so sweet of you to share such especial day. I am so happy that you and your hubby liked the recipe in such a lovely day. Thanks again for everything <3.
Oh and if you do not mind share the lady fingers recipe with us. I would appreciate it.
Brooke K
Sorry for my late reply!!! I am making this cake again today and just seen your reply! Here is the link for the ladyfinger cookies. They worked like a charm second time in a row. Super easy and great recipe.
https://gooddinnermom.com/ladyfingers-scratch-perfect-tiramisu
I’m looking forward to using your recipe again. Thank you and take care!
Amira
Thank you Brooke for getting back to me :), I appreciate it.
Amira
No problem, thanks for getting back to me.
Mary Fang
I'm not an experienced baker but I love to try. I was so scared to try tiramisu just for the fact that I love this dessert beyond anything in this world. This was Fantastic! Very well balanced and easy to make. I followed the recipe as is. Now I know what to do when the tiramisu craving hits.
Amira
ohhh this is great Mary, and to hear that from a tiramisu fanatic just doubles my joy. Thank you
Ayesha
What is a water bath? Is it necessary? Do you have a video full of instructions?
Amira
Ayesha, a water bathe is simply cooking something over a pan of hot water. It is done to make sure that the eggs are cooked but not in an omelet style :). The video is right at the top after the first paragraph. Check it out and let me know if you have any more questions.
Nooreen
The measurements here are great, but DO NOT FOLLOW ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS. Do this instead: Prepare the egg/sugar mixture as stated. Mix your room temp mascarpone into the mixture. Prepare your whipping cream separately, and then GENTLY fold the whipped cream into the egg/sugar/mascarpone mixture. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WHIP THE MASCARPONE ALONG WITH THE WHIPPING CREAM INTO STIFF PEAKS. Your mascarpone will almost definitely curdle and become trash like my first attempt did. I attempted to salvage it using a couple different methods, but it never became light and airy again. Mascarpone is not like egg whites or whipping cream. It will never form stiff peaks. I’ve never seen another tiramisu recipe tell you to whip the mascarpone with the cream, and I regret doing it, because I wasted everything. That said, the rest of this recipe is perfect.
Amira
Thank you Nooreen for your input, glad you've found a way that worked for you. Hope my readers will benefit from your method.
Andrea
I was so excited to try this as I love Tiramisu but can't have a "normal" one with alcohol. I followed the instructions exactly and was a bit nervous when I first put it in the fridge but after sometime I checked on it and it had set and was perfect. My sister said the flavour got better with time. Can't wait to try more recipes from the lovely Amira
Amira
Glad you enjoyed this Andrea! Making fancy desserts sometimes is overwhelming, but you've got this gril.Thank you for letting me know and thanks for the IG pictures too.
Cielito Eguaras
HELP! I followed instructions...the mascarpone and whipping cream started to form soft peaks, so I continued to mix it, soon after it was liquid with crumbles! What did I do wrong?
Amira
Cielito, seems that you over mixed the whipping cream, sorry about that but no worries... here is how you can fix it. I hope this helps, let me know if you need further assistance.
Nonaj
Tiramisu uses very little Brandy or marsala wine to soak ladyfingers. Nothing to be worried about!!
Ahmed
Hey Nonaj, believe it or not.. there are people living in this world who cannot even have this "little amount" you are talking about!!
Yvonne Tan
Hi, Amira.. I have tried to make this tiramisu.. the taste is wonderful but I am unable to beat the mascarpone cheese together with whipping cream into hard peak form.. it is so watery.. how come this will happen?
Amira
Yvonne, thank you for trying this recipe out and I am happy you liked the taste. The mascarpone cheese should be softened first. You do not need to reach a stiff peak if you are going to skip the domes. But if you do need the full decoration then I suggest layering everything and keeping part of the cream for decoration. Now either chill this part and finish the decoration just before serving or add some powdered sugar to help hold the shapes of the domes better. Hope this will help.
Rachel
I am trying your recipe tonight. I am making the lady fingers from scratch, my local stores don't sell them. When I get it finished I'll post a picture of how it turns out.... I am hoping it's going to be awesome. Wish me luck....
Amira
Rachel, thank you for trying the recipe out. WOW, hats off, a homemade lady fingers!!! I bet this will turn out super delicious and fresh, nothing beats homemade freshness. I am sure it will turn out beautiful and tasty.
Karen
Your version looks delicious and I love the way you make the pretty peaks on the top.
Amira
Karen, they look cool right? Happy new year dear.
thatskinnychickcanbake
This is one of my oldest son's favorite desserts! Yours looks spectacular---I need to make this for him (and save a couple slices for myself!!!).
Amira
I haven't seen tiramisu before at your blog Liz, I hope to see your version soon. Thanks for stopping by and Happy new year.