About Tiramisu Parfaits
So you’ve just loaded this page, you’re looking at the picture above, and if you’ve been to this little blog lately, I’ll bet I can already guess what you’re thinking.
“Really Chrisy? Another parfait?”
And I know.
I know.
But hear me out, how does this sound:
Sweet whipped mascarpone cheese spiked with Kahlua.
No?
Doesn’t do it for you?
Okay, try this:
Coffee syrup infused ladyfinger crumbles.
You can’t tell me that’s not like whispering sweet nothings in your ear.
All these easy, no-hassle desserts are starting to get ridiculous, but clearly, I just can’t help myself. These days I’m all about the uber no bake dessert recipes – parfaits, dips, you name it. You should probably expect some cheesecakes shortly. And I guess it must be all this summery weather we’re having here in Phoenix because I’ve clearly losing my mind in all this sugar. And to think I’ve been trying to diet while all this madness has been going on. (Spoiler alert: I’m down -3 lbs).
Many of you recently found this little food blog because of a certain Baileys parfait, so I wanted to give you a little more of what I already know you love. I’m here to serve you, after all, and these parfaits are just as good (if not better!) than the aforementioned parfait that took Facebook by storm. Of course, I might be a little partial – tiramisu is easily one of my top three favorite desserts. There’s just something about that mascarpone and ladyfinger combo that just flips my bic.
But even still, I hope you can trust me when I say that if I had to pick between this parfait and the Baileys one… I think I’d reach for the tiramisu.
And that Baileys parfait is a hard act to beat.
But now that I’ve got your attention (hi!), I’m wondering – do you want to see more parfaits like this? Do you like bozzy desserts? Or just easy desserts? I am yours to command, so if there’s a specific treat or sweet combo that you’d love to have but haven’t seen anywhere, ask me! Test me, try me! I might just be able to come up with something wonderful for you.
Sound off in the comments and I’ll get to (no) baking!
Recipe Details
Tiramisu Parfaits
Ingredients
Instructions
Using a food processor (or a Ziploc bag + meat mallet or rolling pin), crush ladyfinger cookies. You can either completely crush them to powder or leave small pieces like pictured. Place crumbles in a bowl and set aside.
In a small saucepan, add granulated and strong brew coffee. Warm over medium-high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and let sauce cook for about 15 minutes or reduced by half (1 cup total). Mixture will bubble a lot near the end of cooking; be careful of it boiling over.
- Let coffee syrup cool for 5 minutes, then pour at least 1/4 cup of the syrup over the crushed ladyfinger cookies, tossing to coat and absorb into cookies. If you'd like a stronger coffee taste, add up to 1/2 cup of the coffee syrup to the ladyfingers. When finished, set bowl with ladyfinger crumbles aside again.
Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), beat together mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and Kahlua on medium speed until combined and mascarpone mixture is fluffy. Pour in heavy whipping cream and blend on medium-high until mixture is thick, about 1-2 minutes. How fast it thickens up may depend on how cold the cream or mascarpone is. The ideal consistency should be like softened cream cheese. If tiramisu mixture is thick but too firm, let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes to soften a little.
When ready to assemble parfaits, put tiramisu mixture in a piping bag with a wide circular tip (or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut out.) Layer coffee-infused ladyfinger crumbles and tiramisu mixture as desired. To do it as pictured, start with lady fingers, then tiramisu mixture, then more ladyfingers, then finished off with tiramisu mix on top.
- Keep tiramisu parfaits refrigerated until ready to serve. The longer parfaits are stored, the softer the lady finger cookies will become. Before eating, dust the tops of the parfaits with cocoa powder.
Recipe Notes
Coffee syrup recipe from Folgers.
I want to make some for the kids at our dinner party… what can I substitute for the Kahlua?
Hey Kelly! For substitutions, you could go a couple different ways – since there’s already coffee in the recipe, you could just skip the Kahlua altogether. If you’d like a more “classic creamy coffee taste”, you could use your favorite unflavored coffee creamer in place of the Kahlua (or even just 1 tablespoon of half and half would do).
I made these yesterday for my mum’s birthday party. They were a big hit, however I found that the recipe made far too much. I doubled all of the measurements for 7 portions, and used slightly bigger cups, and still had two left over. Also I reduced the powdered sugar by half, and still found the recipe to be a little sweeter than I would normally go for.
Don’t get me wrong – I will certainly make these again in the future, as they were delicious. I’ll just tweak a few things next time for my preferences. Thanks for the recipe!
Great feedback about the measurements, Hannah! I’ll have to take a look at it again. I’m very glad the parfaits were still (mostly) a success, though 😀
Why is there so much coffee syrup left over? Was I supposed to add to cream mixture? Shouldn’t matter but was just curious.