Strawberry Tiramisu – The Travel Bite

You might have had tiramisu, but have you tried STRAWBERRY tiramisu? It’s a fruity take on a classic Italian dessert and is a bit like a no bake shortcake. Strawberry tiramisu is perfect for Florida strawberry season or summertime. And it’s an easy dessert to make for potlucks and get togethers. We have some additional variations and tips for you below, but if you’re ready to get right to it, just hit the “jump to recipe” button.

What Does Tiramisu Mean?

The name “tiramisu” literally translates to “pick me up” or “cheer me up” in Italian. As a dessert made of lady fingers typically soaked in espresso, or as in the case of this strawberry tiramisu recipe below, soaked in a liqueur, it is meant to “cheer you up” at the end of a meal.

There’s a legend that a restaurant near Venice, named El Toula, created tiramisu to cheer its customers. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I do know this strawberry tiramisu certainly makes me smile.

Strawberry Tiramisu

Strawberry Tiramisu is a bit like a no-bake stack cake or icebox cake. Instead of espresso, like a traditional tiramisu, it is made by dipping lady fingers into a sauce of macerated strawberries and a sweet strawberry cream liqueur. The soaked lady fingers are then placed into a square baking dish and layered with sweet tiramisu cream and sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

For the strawberry sauce for dipping, you’ll need the following ingredients.

Fresh Strawberries: This strawberry tiramisu is perfect for strawberry season when there is a bounty of fresh strawberries at the store. You’ll need two cups total, one cup roughly chopped to make a strawberry sauce, adn one cup of thinly sliced strawberries to layer in between the lady fingers.

Lemon Juice: A squeeze of lemon juice is a subtle flavor enhancer for the strawberry puree. It balances the sweetness, and brightens up the whole flavor.

Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar mixed into the strawberry puree along with the lemon juice creates a thicker texture, similar to the start of a fruit jam. It also adds a touch of sweetness to the strawberry tiramisu.

Lady Fingers: Lady Fingers are a type of elongated cookie. They’re not too sweet and are typically hard like biscotti so that they’re perfect for dunking into a cup of coffee. Sometimes you’ll also find larger, fresh baked lady fingers at some bakeries. These are a bit too soft for a tiramisu recipe. You’ll want to use the hard, biscotti-like lady fingers.

Liqueur: For this strawberry tiramisu recipe, I used Bailey’s Strawberries + Cream. It’s a bit like a strawberry flavored Irish cream, with a gorgeous pink color and wonderful strawberry flavor with a bit of a kick. But you could also use other liqueur if you don’t have this special Bailey’s on hand. Try one that has a flavor that pairs well with strawberries. I  recommend Godiva’s White Chocolate Liqueur, or the almond flavored Frangelico liqueur.  

Tiramisu Cream Ingredients

Tiramisu cream is typically made with mascarpone, whipping cream, and sugar. In traditional tiramisu, sometimes egg yolks are also added. However, this strawberry tiramisu recipe below is egg-free. To make the cream, whisk the following ingredient together into a light fluffy cream that is slightly sweet.

Mascarpone: Mascarpone (pronounced mah-scar-poh-nay) is a soft Italian cheese similar to American cream cheese. You can typically find with the specialty (aka fancy) cheeses in your grocer’s deli department. Look for it in a tub as it is a spreadable cheese. The flavor is light and slightly sweet, which is why it is traditionally used in making tiramisu.

Whipping Cream: Whipping cream makes the creamy mascarpone cheese a bit more fluffy in texture.

Confectioners Sugar: Confectioners sugar (also called powdered sugar) dissolves and blends into the whipped cream and mascarpone adding sweetness without a gritty texture.

Strawberry Tiramisu Recipe – Step-By-Step

Measure out the ingredients listed above (full recipe card included to print below.) Wash the strawberries and pat dry with a pater towel. Then, using a paring knife, remove the green leaves and stems from the top. Divide the strawberries into two separate cups. Roughly chop one cup of strawberries to add to a blender and make a puree. Thinly slice the second cup of strawberries to layer in the strawberry tiramisu.

TIP: When slicing the strawberries, the middle part has the best shape for layering onto your strawberry tiramisu. Use the sliced end pieces in your puree.

Next, add the one cup of chopped strawberries, lemon juice, sugar to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Next, mix in the strawberry liqueur. Then pour into a large shallow bowl for dipping the lady fingers.

In a separate bowl, prepare the cream. Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk together the mascarpone, whipped cream, and confectioners sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Dip each lady finger into the strawberry puree and layer into the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 ungreased baking dish. You may have to cut or tear a few lady fingers to get them to fit. It will typically take 7-9 cookies per layer.

After the first layer of lady fingers is in the bottom of the pan, carefully spread the mascarpone cream mixture on top of the lady finger cookies. Then add a layer of sliced strawberries.

Repeat the previous step, dipping lady finger cookies into the strawberry liqueur puree and layering the cream and sliced strawberries on top of that. There should be at least two layers of lady fingers, but you can layer more depending on the depth of your dish.

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