When it is strawberry season and you find the plumpest, freshest strawberries at your local farmer’s market it means spring is here and it is time to make our favorite dessert with a special twist! This delicious strawberry tiramisu recipe has all the rich ingredients of a traditional tiramisu like mascarpone cheese, eggs, whipped cream, sugar and ladyfingers but instead of coffee to dip your cookies in it has a sweet homemade strawberry syrup and layers of ripe red strawberries too! This is one of our favorite no bake desserts of all times!
Things needed to make this recipe
Equipment you will need for this dessert cuisine recipe:
22-cm/9-in glass or ceramic baking dish to assemble the tiramisu in, but if you prefer you can use single-serving glass bowls instead as this recipe requires no baking at all
small pot to heat the syrups in
hand immersion blender or food processor
medium sized bowl
electric mixer
spatula for spreading the mascarpone cream
fork for beating the eggs
From start to finish you can put this delicious strawberry tiramisu recipe made with fresh strawberries, ladyfingers and mascarpone together in just 30 minutes. What are you waiting for? The freshest, perfect dessert for spring is so easy to make you will wonder why you haven’t made it before.
Ingredients for strawberry tiramisu
From fresh strawberries to soft and creamy mascarpone cheese, this strawberry tiramisu is perfect for the whole family, because unlike normal tiramisu it has no coffee or caffeine so even the kids can enjoy this strawberry and cream treat.
Ladyfingers (0.5lb / 250 grams) – Italian ladyfingers are called savoiardi or pavesini, in the US they are called ladyfingers and are type of sponge cookie. Savoiardi are a large puffy cookie that is much more similar to lady finger cookies in the US. Pavesini are a different, much smaller type of ladyfinger that is flat on one side and slightly raised on the other and not very spongy. Lady fingers are great for no bake layer desserts because they soak up the flavors and add that lovely sponge cake base.
Strawberries (1.3 lb / 600 gr for filling + 1.3 lb / 150 gr for syrup) – fresh sliced strawberries are what make strawberry tiramisu really delicious, but some people love a very intense strawberry flavor and add strawberry preserves and strawberry juice as well. You can experiment to see what you like best.
Pistachios (1 tablespoon – optional) – very finely chopped.
Egg yolks (4 medium) – although the egg yolks will be lightly cooked by being stirred with the hot sugar and water mixture, we would still recommend using pasteurized eggs as the final dessert is not cooked.
Granulated sugar (0.25 lb / 115 gr for filling + 0.13 lb / 60 gr for syrup) – the right amount of sugar ensures that the recipe is not too sweet and gives a nice contrast to the tang of the strawberries and lemon.
Water (2 1/4 tbsp / 35 gr for filling + 4 tbsp / 60 gr for strawberry syrup + 10 teaspoons to dilute) – just regular water from the tap is fine, or bottled water if you prefer.
Mascarpone cheese (0.55 lb / 250 gr) – cold from the fridge, this is a sort of Italian cream cheese and in fact, if you can’t find mascarpone cheese you can substitute with the same amount of American cream cheese.
Whipping cream (0.44 lb / 200 gr) – you will whip the heavy cream on its own until stiff, if you are using unsweetened whipped cream then be sure to add the powdered sugar listed below.
Powdered sugar (1 tablespoon if using unsweetened whipping cream) – add the powdered sugar when using unsweetened whipping cream, you can also add a dash of vanilla extract if you want as most Italian powdered sugar comes with vanilla already in it.
Lemon juice (2 tablespoons) – you can squeeze and filter the organic lemon juice yourself and then use the rinds in the next step.
Lemon rinds (2) – these will be removed so be sure to chop them very large so you can easily remove them. You should use organic lemons only, especially because you are using the rind so they shouldn’t have any chemical residue on them.
Liqueur or extracts (optional) – you can add a dash of strawberry liqueur, orange liqueur or pure vanilla extract to the strawberry syrup that you will be dipping the lady fingers into.
How to make strawberry tiramisu step by step
For the strawberry syrup: Place all the ingredients for the strawberry sauce in a small pot: 1.3 lb 150 gr of cleaned, washed and chopped strawberries, 0.13 lb / 60 grams of sugar, 4 tbsp / 60 gr of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the rind of 2 lemons roughly chopped photo 1-2.
Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the lemon rind and blend with an immersion blender until smooth photo 3-4.
Pour into a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
For the mascarpone cream: Place the yolks in a bowl with high sides and beat very slightly with a fork photo 7-8.
Place 0.25 lb / 115 gr of sugar and 2 1/4 tbsp / 35 grams of water in a small pot over low heat and cook for about 2 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture become a transparent sugar syrup that bubbles slightly photo 9-10.
Get your hand mixer ready and pour the sugar syrup still hot into the egg yolks and whip on high speed for 5 minutes until stiff and room temperature photo 11-12.
When the egg mixture has cooled, take the mascarpone cheese from the fridge and add it to the eggs and beat with the hand mixer on medium speed until completely incorporated photo 13-14.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. You can add the powdered sugar if you are using unsweetened cream photo 15-16.
Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until completely combined without deflating the mixture and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it photo 17-18.
Assemble the tiramisu: Remove the strawberry sauce from the fridge and dilute with 10 teaspoons of cold water and stir. Dip each ladyfinger in the diluted syrup on each side and put them one next to the other on the bottom of a pretty glass rectangle or square baking dish until the entire bottom is completely covered with lady fingers photo 19-20.
Take the mascarpone cream mixture out of the fridge and spread half the mixture over the lady fingers with a pastry knife or pastry pouch. Place a layer of sliced strawberries that you have washed, dried and cut into rounds to create a layer on top of the mascarpone photo 21-22.
Place another layer of ladyfingers rolled in the strawberry syrup on top of the strawberry layer. Use the remaining half of the mascarpone to cover the top and decorate with the remaining strawberries photo 23-24.
If desired, you can sprinkle a tablespoon of chopped pistachios on top. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and serve a scoop or slice of strawberry tiramisu in individual glass bowls or small dessert plates.
Expert tips
Add the whipped cream carefully. Once you have whipped the cream you will need to fold it very gently into the mascarpone mixture and then stop. If you stir this mascarpone cream too much it will deflate and get runny, which you want to avoid. You want the strawberry tiramisu to be firm and compact and not runny and liquid.
Use pasteurized eggs. We recommend using pasteurized eggs, but if you can’t find pasteurized eggs for this no bake dessert, heat the water and syrup and add it to the egg yolks while it is still hot and beat immediately so that the egg yolks are heated and cooked slightly before you use them.
Remaining ladyfingers. If you have leftover ladyfingers after making this tiramisu recipe, you can decorate each strawberry tiramisu individual serving with half a ladyfinger sticking out!
Drain the strawberries. You can cut the strawberries ahead of time and let them drain off a little strawberry juice before you use them. The juice can be added instead of water to dilute the strawberry syrup you will dip the ladyfingers into.
Try other tiramisu recipes:
Helpful recipes to make this one:
Homemade Lady Fingers, Savoiardi
Variations
This strawberry tiramisu is already a variation on the class coffee tiramisu recipe one might find at an Italian restaurant, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make even more improvements and adjustments to fit our individual tastes. Here are some ideas for getting creative with this fresh strawberries dessert with lady finger cookies and whipped topping.
Pineapple juice or orange juice. You can make this recipe even quicker if you skip the step for making the fresh strawberry syrup and instead dip the lady finger cookies in a small bowl of pineapple juice or orange juice. You can even add a little orange zest or orange liqueur for a little extra citrus kick.
Extra strawberry flavor. You can take this strawberry tiramisu recipe up a notch by adding a dash of strawberry extract, strawberry liqueur or pure strawberry juice to the liquid you will then dip the ladyfingers in. You can also consider adding a layer of strawberry jam or strawberry preserves, but be sure to go lightly as these additions can make the dessert overly sweet.
Cocoa powder or chocolate bits. If you are a chocolate lover and can’t stand to make this easy dessert without at least a little chocolate, you can skip the optional pistachios and instead dust the top with cocoa powder or add a sprinkling of chocolate chips in with the chopped strawberries.
FAQs
How should I store strawberry tiramisu?
Strawberry tiramisu should be chilled for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, but you will find that it becomes even better if you chill it for several hours. Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container and eaten within 24 hours because of the eggs.
Is mascarpone and cream cheese the same thing?
No, mascarpone and cream cheese are not exactly the same thing, but they are quite close. Mascarpone is fairly high fat cheese made from heavy cream cows’ milk with cream of tartar or other acid like lemon juice which makes it thicken. If you are not able to find mascarpone you can substitute with cream cheese.
