No-bake & Decaf Tiramisu

Tiramisu is a popular coffee-flavoured Italian dessert. It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa.

But since we don’t eat half of the listed ingredients, I had to think of a new way for vegetarians to enjoy this delicious Italian dessert.

So instead of :

• Coffee: I used bamboo decaf coffee
• Ladyfingers: I used petite beurre cookies or spelt cookies
• and of course, I didn’t use eggs.

Ingredients

Coffee Syrup:

• • 1 cup brewed bamboo decaf coffee(made of 1 cup hot water mixed with 2 tablespoons instant coffee)
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • almond essence (optional)

Filling:

• 1 cup  mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 200gr Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• about 200g  cookies

Instructions

For coffee syrup: In a small bowl, combine hot decaf coffee, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 drops of almond essence. Mix until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.

For filling: In a large bowl, whisk mascarpone vigorously by hand until creamy and smooth. Whisk in vanilla extract and 1 pack of unsalted Philadelphia cream cheese. In a different mixer bowl, whisk together heavy cream and sugar using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold whipping cream into mascarpone in 2 additions until mixture is smooth.

Assemble it:

Dip the cookie very quickly ( 2 -5 seconds) into the decaf coffee syrup and line them in one layer in an 8-inch baking dish. If necessary, break a few cookies to fit them in the dish. Spoon half of the filling over the cookies and smooth the top. Repeat with the second layer of decaf coffee-dipped cookies, then with the rest of the cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days. I don’t suggest freezing tiramisu since it will ruin its texture.

Serve cold. Right before serving, dust the top with cocoa powder or grated chocolate (or both!).