Strawberry tiramisu – Caroline’s Cooking

Strawberry tiramisu is a light, fresh and fruity take on the classic Italian dessert. This version has a double doze of fruit, it’s easy to make and so delicious. Perfect for entertaining, being made ahead, too.

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When I first decided to try making strawberry tiramisu years ago, I did a fair bit of thinking about how to get it just as I wanted. I wanted plenty strawberry flavor, but also not to be artificial-tasting.

So I knew the strawberry flavor had to come from real strawberries, not something from a packet. The answer was to make a kind of strawberry sauce or syrup to use as the soaking liquid, as well as a layer of fresh strawberries in the middle. It’s easy, effective, and so delicious.

While I love baked strawberry desserts like strawberry rhubarb crisp and strawberry bundt cake, no bake desserts are perfect to be able to enjoy year round. True, strawberries are best when they are in season locally, but we’re lucky to get some from other areas not too far where the season is slightly different, too.

Another great thing about this dessert is that it can be made ahead which makes it a great choice when you are entertaining. You can scale it up, too, as suits.

Tiramisu origins and ingredients

Tiramisu is a traditional Italian dessert from Treviso near Venice in the North of the country. As with many traditional dishes, the exact origins are debated, including even whether it’s a 20th century creation, or much earlier. No doubt partly now that it has worldwide fame, the city is understandably proud of the dish and celebrates it with an annual competition. 

Traditionally, tiramisu comprises of layers of ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi) soaked in coffee with a rich mascarpone and egg yolk cream in between each layer. A generous dusting of cocoa powder finishes it off.

A common variation involves using alcohol, such as marsala, in place of or mixed in with the coffee that you soak the ladyfingers in. In the US, it’s common to temper the egg yolks given concerns over using them raw, though in Italy this is rarely done.

A strawberry variation

This tiramisu with strawberries uses the same basic idea of forming layers with soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone cream, but with a strawberry twist. It’s still easy to make, with just a small number of ingredients, just a slight extra step in preparation.

Instead of coffee, you use a strawberry syrup to soak the cookies. It’s made much the same way as a jam, just with less sugar and cooked less time. Just enough to get the strawberry flavor out for the lady finger cookies to soak up. The flavor is not super strong, but it’s there.

Then you also add a layer of sliced strawberries in between the cookies and cream, and more to decorate on top. These add to the strawberry flavor, as well as give a pretty presentation.

I have also gone with the common variation with no eggs in the mascarpone cream. Instead, the mascarpone filling is a combination of whipped cream, mascarpone cheese and a little sugar to sweeten it. The texture is a little lighter than you would have with an egg base, but it pairs well with the fruit. It also avoids any concern over using raw eggs. 

Does strawberry tiramisu have alcohol in it?

As I have made here, there’s no alcohol in the dish. Instead, you use a homemade strawberry syrup to soak the cookies in. This gives a gentle strawberry flavor and is moist enough to help the cookies become sponge-like.

If you wanted, you could add a little strawberry liqueur, or something that would gently enhance the fruity flavors like triple sec. But this way is family-friendly and tastes great, as my kids are happy to report. 

Scaling up (or down)

This recipe makes a relatively small sized tiramisu, that’s perfect for our family. However, it’s easy to scale up or down as suits. Simply multiply up or down all of the ingredients, and find a dish that suits the size.

For a double sized version, I’d suggest using a square baking tin or baking dish, for example. And if you want to serve only two, maybe make individual portions in ramekins or other small dishes. You might want to cut the cookies in half.

As written below, the size uses one sleeve from a packet of ladyfinger cookies (you usually get two). So if you made double, you would use a whole packet (just to help with buying).

Steps to make strawberry tiramisu

While there are a couple steps, each of them is easy to do:

• Make the strawberry syrup – the process is similar to making strawberry jam, you simply cook for a shorter time and strain it. Simmer together strawberries with water, a little sugar and orange juice (or you could use lemon). Mash as it cooks to bring out all the juices and flavor, then cool and strain.
• Prepare the mascarpone cream – whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Separately, beat together the mascarpone and sugar until smooth. Fold the cream into the mascarpone so they are well blended.
• Soak the ladyfingers and build layers – dip the ladyfingers in the strawberry syrup and put a layer in the bottom of your dish. Top with a layer of mascarpone cream, then a layer of slices strawberries, followed by more dipped cookies and more mascarpone cream.
• Cover and chill – the cream mixture will be relatively soft when you put this together, so it needs chilling time to firm up. Also, the cookies need to soften a little. So cover and refrigerate at least four hours, but ideally overnight.
• Decorate and serve – add a few more slices of strawberry on top either before or after you cut or scoop out slices to serve.

This strawberry tiramisu has everything you’d expect in a good no bake dessert – not too many ingredients, easy to make, and full of delicious flavor. It’s a popular choice in our house, so be sure to try it out in yours.

Try these other fruit desserts:

Print Recipe

Strawberry tiramisu

This strawberry take on the classic tiramisu is such an easy, tasty dessert that the whole family will love.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

cooling time (min)4 hours hrs

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Fusion, Italian

Servings: 4 approx

Calories: 525kcal

Author: Caroline’s Cooking

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Ingredients

For the strawberry syrup

• 6 oz strawberries weight with stems removed
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (or can use lemon)
• ¼ cup sugar

For rest of tiramisu

• 12 ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi)
• ⅔ cup mascarpone
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• ⅔ cup heavy cream double cream
• 4 oz strawberries plus approx 2 more to decorate top

Instructions

For the strawberry syrup (ahead of time)

• Roughly chop the strawberries and put in a small pan with the water, orange juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer, stirring now and then. Simmer for a couple of minutes and mash the strawberries to a pulp. Set aside to cool then strain the mixture. You can make this ahead and store in a cool place or the fridge, sealed.

To make up tiramisu (at least 4 hours before needed/night before)

• In a medium-large bowl, whip the cream until it forms firm peaks.

• In a separate bowl, beat together the mascarpone and sugar so the mixture is smooth and glossy. Fold in the cream so everything is well combined but try not to loose all the air.

• Put the strawberry syrup in a small bowl/dish that is wide enough to fit a ladyfinger cookie in it, but not much bigger. Dip one ladyfinger cookie at a time into the strawberry liquid. Turn it over so it is coated but don’t leave to soak. Put the cookie in a dish that’s big enough to hold a layer of 6 cookies, but not much bigger, and around 2in/5cm deep. Repeat with more ladyfinger cookies to form a layer over the bottom of the dish. Drizzle over a small amount more of the syrup if it seems they didn’t absorb that much.

• Put half of the mascarpone mixture over the layer of ladyfinger cookies. It’s best to dot it on then spread to join together as otherwise you may break the cookies or end up with the syrup part mixed through. Don’t worry if the mixture is a bit thin, it will firm up when it chills.

• Slice the strawberries relatively thinly and lay a layer over the mascarpone mixture, trying to have it well covered. You can overlap them if you like. Dip the remaining cookies in the strawberry syrup and lay over the strawberries and top with the rest of the mascarpone mixture. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 

• Decorate with a few slices of strawberry on top and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 525kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 193mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 1325IU | Vitamin C: 44mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 2mg

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline’s Cooking Amazon store. 

This post was originally shared in February 2018 and has been updated, primarily with new photos as well as with additional tips.

Try some other no-bake strawberry desserts:

No Bake Strawberry Cakes and Pies

Strawberry Layered Desserts

Other Strawberry Treats

This post was originally shared as a sponsored post for Florida Strawberry through Sunday Supper LLC.

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