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People who know me know I don’t have a sweet tooth but there’s one dessert I’ll always never say no to, and that’s the Tiramisu. A nicely done Tiramisu that is. And here’s one Tiramisu recipe, a non-alcoholic family recipe, which my bf has personally trial and tested and perfected over the past decade. This is a non-alcoholic version but feel free to add alcohol to the coffee.

An interesting history about the Tiramisu recipe: this classic Italian coffee-flavoured dessert which uses some very basic and simple ingredients was first made in the 1800s in Treviso, Italy. Literally means “pick me up” or “cheer me up”, Tiramisu was supposed to be an aphrodisiac, according to sources, a natural Viagra served to customers in a brothel, at the end of the evening in order to reinvigorate them and solve the problems they may have had with their conjugal duties on their return. That explains the nourishing and high calorie ingredients used in the dessert.

Using fresh good ingredients is key, in any recipe, and especially so in this delicate desert.

I used the Nespresso machine to make the Espresso coffee but you can make the coffee the way you like, whether it’s dripped coffee, cooked over the stove in a moka, or whichever way. You can add some sugar to your coffee according to your taste preference but the coffee has to be real chilled so be sure to prepare the coffee in advance.

For those of you who would like a hint of alcohol in this Tiramisu easy recipe, you can add Marsala, sweet red wine traditionally used for tiramisu, or dark rum, brandy, coffee liqueur (like Kahlua) as well as almond liqueur.

I see many other recipes using all kinds of dry finger biscuits. We used the Pavesini, when moist, the Pavesini has the texture of a moist light sponge cake, which makes the perfect biscuits for Tiramisu. It is also important the biscuit is quickly dipped in the chilled coffee as it absorbs the liquid really quickly and become too soft. The problem comes later when all the coffee liquid is drained to the bottom of the Tiramisu making the base too watery.

We used the electric whisk to whisk the egg white and egg yolk separately but when it comes to mixing the white and yolk mixture, whisk it manually and for a long time, like 3-4 minutes. Yes your arm muscles are gonna hurt but no pain no gain. Your taste buds will thank you later. My BF tried using the electric whisk to mix the egg yolk and white mixtures one time but the end result was quite disastrous, according to him, the cream was so watery that the biscuits literally floated.

The Tiramisu tastes the best the next day, the mascarpone cream and the coffee-dipped biscuits kind of integrate with each other and becomes a smooth perfect dessert cream cake. You can keep the Tiramisu for 4-5 days but for us, it rarely last us beyond 3 days.

I hope you try out this Tiramisu easy recipe. Like another Italian classic? Check this out: Spaghetti Carbonara.