isithalal.food · Recipes

Tiramisu without alcohol

Layers of coffee-soaked sponge fingers and a whipped mascarpone cream with grated dark chocolate and cocoa, made with no Marsala.

Italian · Dessert · Easy · 1 dish, 6 portions · 210 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

Tiramisu is usually made with alcohol: BBC Good Food's version whisks 75 ml of Marsala into the mascarpone cream, and other recipes soak the sponge fingers in rum or coffee liqueur.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Marsala: The original whisks 75 ml of Marsala, a fortified wine, into the cream. Alcohol is not Halal on this site, cooked or raw. Leave it out, as here. See Tiramisu.
• Rum or coffee liqueur: Other tiramisu recipes and restaurant versions soak the sponge fingers in rum or coffee liqueur. Soak them in coffee only, and ask in restaurants. See Tiramisu.
• Mascarpone: Most cheese needs a rennet check, but mascarpone is cream set with an acid; the Lidl and Tesco tubs list cream, milk and citric acid. Read the tub for any added ingredients. See Mascarpone.

Ingredients

Cream

• 400 ml (1⅔ cups) double cream
• 250 g (1 cup) mascarpone
• 5 tbsp (5 tbsp) golden caster sugar

Layers

• 300 ml (1¼ cups) hot coffee, made with 2 tbsp coffee granules and 300 ml boiling water
• 175 g (6 oz) sponge fingers
• 25 g (1 oz) dark chocolate
• 2 tsp (2 tsp) cocoa powder

Method

1. Whisk the cream. Put the double cream, mascarpone and sugar in a large bowl (the original adds Marsala here; leave it out) and whisk until combined and as thick as softly whipped cream.
2. Soak the sponge fingers. Pour the coffee into a shallow dish. Dip a few sponge fingers at a time, turning them for a few seconds until soaked but not soggy, and lay them in a serving dish until you have used half.
3. Layer. Spread half the cream over the sponge fingers and grate over most of the chocolate on the coarse side of a grater. Repeat the layers, using up the coffee, and finish with the cream.
4. Chill and serve. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight; it keeps in the fridge for up to two days. To serve, dust with the cocoa and grate over the rest of the chocolate.

Allergens

milk (cream, mascarpone), egg and gluten (sponge fingers)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Best ever tiramisu' (double cream, mascarpone, Marsala and golden caster sugar whisked to a thick cream; sponge fingers dipped in strong coffee and layered with the cream and grated dark chocolate; chilled for a few hours or overnight; finished with cocoa and more chocolate). We left out its 75 ml of Marsala and added nothing in its place. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: a portion of tiramisu, not the finished dish.