ladyfinger

Ladyfingers don't taste like much on their own, just tender-crisp bites of dry sponge cake, but when homemade they're an extraordinary touch in everything from banana pudding to tiramisu. A bit of lemon zest in the batter make them aromatic and bright, but not outright lemony—feel free to omit it if you prefer.

One-Bowl Homemade Ladyfingers Recipe

eggs (about 5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams)

sugar (about 2/3 cup; 135 grams)

lemon

all-purpose flour (about 1 cup, spooned; 125 grams)

cornstarch (about 2 tablespoons; 15 grams)

Powdered sugar,

Getting Ready: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment and fit a large piping bag with a 1/2-inch round tip. Roll bag open and stand upright in a tall drinking glass so it can be filled hands-free (full piping bag tutorial here). Have ready a small, fine-mesh sieve of powdered sugar for dusting. Fill a 2- or 3-quart saucier with a few inches of water; bring to a boil, then lower heat and adjust to maintain a steady supply of steam.

For the Ladyfingers: Combine eggs, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, using a flexible spatula to stir. Place over the steaming pot (if it touches the bottom, crumple a strip of foil into a ring to act as a booster seat) and cook, stirring and scraping constantly, until warmed to 160°F. This should not take significantly longer than 5 minutes; major delays simply indicate insufficient heat/lack of steam.

Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until the eggs are foamy, more than quadrupled in size, and thick enough to briefly mound up like soft serve when dropped from the whisk, from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the horsepower of your mixer. This is a crucial stage; if the foam is unable to hold soft peaks, the lady fingers will spread flat in the oven.

When eggs are foamy and thick enough to briefly hold their shape when dropped from the whisk, add lemon zest, if using, then sift the flour and cornstarch on top. Fold gently with a flexible spatula to combine in a thick batter. Transfer to prepared piping bag, twist to close, and pipe approximately thirty 3- by 1-inch fingers, leaving an inch between each one. When piping, hold the bag at a 45° angle and apply steady pressure as you pipe, then stop squeezing before you reach the end of each one, and lift the bag straight up to break the "tail" of batter.

Generously dust one tray with powdered sugar, and bake until puffed and firm to the touch, about 12 minutes. Set aside, then dust and bake the second tray as before. Cool ladyfingers to room temperature directly on the sheet pan, then transfer to an airtight container as soon as possible (if allowed to sit out after they have cooled, they will begin softening in the air). Use immediately, or store up to 3 weeks at room temperature. 

Creamy, rich, and bursting with bold coffee flavors, tiramisu is one of my all-time favorite desserts. My version is less eggy than typical recipes, putting the mellow flavor of mascarpone front and center.

Rich and Creamy Tiramisu Recipe

For the Coffee Syrup:

Dutch-processed cocoa powder (about

espresso

crème de cacao

vanilla extract (about 1 tablespoon; 15 grams)

For the Mascarpone Filling:

large eggs (about 8 3/4 ounces; 245 grams)

sugar (about 1/2 cup; 100 grams)

mascarpone (three 8-ounce containers; 680 grams), straight from the fridge

To Assemble:

ladyfingers, store-bought

Dutch-processed cocoa powder,

For the Coffee Syrup: In a deep bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, hot espresso, crème de cacao, Cardamaro, and vanilla extract until homogeneous. Set aside.

For the Mascarpone Filling: Fill a 2- or 3-quart saucier with a few inches of water; bring to a boil, then lower heat and adjust to maintain a steady supply of steam. Combine eggs, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, using a flexible spatula to stir. Place over the steaming pot (if the bowl touches the bottom, crumple a strip of foil into a ring to act as a booster seat) and cook, stirring and scraping constantly, until warmed to 160°F (71°C), about 5 minutes. This should not take significantly longer; major delays simply indicate insufficient heat/lack of steam.

Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until eggs are foamy, more than quadrupled in size, and thick enough to briefly mound up like soft-serve ice cream when dropped from the whisk, between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the horsepower of your mixer. Reduce speed to medium and begin adding mascarpone roughly 1/4 cup at a time; no need to wait between additions. Once mascarpone is incorporated, pause to scrape bowl with a flexible spatula, then resume whipping on medium-high until mixture is homogeneous and thick, about 5 to 10 seconds more. Don’t fret over small flecks of mascarpone, since they will smooth out on their own over time.

To Assemble: Working with one at a time, dunk each ladyfinger in coffee syrup with a fork, giving it a second or two to absorb the liquid, then place in the bottom of a 7- by 11-inch baking dish. Top with about half the mascarpone filling, spread into an even layer, and dust lightly with cocoa powder. Repeat with remaining ladyfingers until syrup is gone, then top with remaining mascarpone filling and spread smooth.

To Decorate: Lay a long piece of butcher's twine on top of the smooth filling, curling it into swoops and swirls to create whatever sort of design you like, and dust generously with additional cocoa powder. Starting from the end of your design, carefully peel up twine and discard. (This twine step is optional; if you want, you can simply dust the top with cocoa powder.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 1 hour. Serve with a large spoon or angled spatula. Tiramisu can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.

This tiramisú is moist but not wet, extra-fluffy, and made with real coffee (not espresso powder) and the perfect amount of dark rum. The trick to getting enough of the bittersweet coffee flavor into the ladyfingers is dunking them until they are soaked but removing them just before they start to fall apart. Squish them as needed to fit into the pan.

Old-School Tiramisù

Vegetable oil (for pan)

coffee, cooled

Tbsp. dark rum

kosher salt

sugar

heavy cream

mascarpone

ladyfingers

Cocoa powder (for dusting)

Bon Appétit

Lightly oil a 9x5" loaf pan and line with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang. Whisk coffee, rum, salt, and 1 Tbsp. sugar in a shallow dish until sugar and salt dissolve. Chill until ready to use.

Whisk cream and mascarpone in a medium bowl just until smooth. Set aside.

Pour water into a large saucepan to come 2" up the sides and bring to a simmer. Combine egg yolks, remaining ⅓ cup sugar, and 2 Tbsp. water in a medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over pan and reduce heat to low so water is at a bare simmer. Using an electric mixer (or a large whisk and a friend to fill in when your arm cramps), beat mixture on medium-high until eggs triple in volume and are extremely pale yellow and mixture forms a slowly dissolving ribbon when drizzled over itself in bowl, 5–7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat.

Using clean beaters (or whisk), beat reserved cream mixture until medium peaks form. Add egg yolk mixture and gently fold until no streaks remain.

Working one at a time, dip ladyfingers into chilled coffee mixture and let soak just long enough for them to soften, 1–2 seconds per side. Lay 8 cookies in prepared pan (it’s okay to smush them in a bit). Spread one-third of filling over. Layer another 8 soaked ladyfingers on top and spread half of remaining filling over. Repeat layers one more time with remaining ladyfingers and filling. Cover pan with plastic wrap; chill tiramisù until firm, at least 6 hours and up to 12 hours (longer is better; you’ll get cleaner slices and the layers will be fully set).

Invert a small platter or a large plate over top of loaf pan, hold together tightly, and flip them over so plate is underneath. Set on a work surface and carefully remove pan. Peel away plastic wrap from tiramisù; discard. Generously dust tiramisù with cocoa powder. Serve in slices, dusting with more cocoa powder if desired.

Do Ahead: Tiramisù (without cocoa powder) can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.

This tiramisu cheesecake is for all the espresso lovers! It has an Oreo and ladyfinger crust with a creamy brown sugar espresso cheesecake. It is topped with espresso soaked ladyfingers and whipped cream cheese.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Oreos

Ladyfingers

Espresso powder

Unsalted butter (melted)

oz Cream cheese (room temperature)

Brown sugar (packed light or dark)

tsp Pure vanilla extract

Sour cream (room temperature)

Prepared Espresso (room temperature)

Heavy cream (room temperature)

Large eggs (room temperature)

Powdered sugar (sifted)

Heavy cream (cold)

Crush Oreos and lady fingers in a food processor until fine crumbs. In a small bowl, combine Oreo crumbs, lady finger crumbs, espresso powder, and melted butter.

Prehat

Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9 inch spring form with non-stick spray. Place a 9 inch parchment circle on the bottom and spray again. Place crumbs in the bottom and up half the sides of the pan using your hands. Then, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to compact the crust.

Bake

The Crust

Once crust starts cooling, start cheesecake mixture. Using a mixer, beat cream cheese for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Beat in the brown sugar for another 1 minute. Scrape the bowl.

Mix in vanilla, heavy cream, sour cream, and espresso. Scrape the bowl. Mix in eggs one at a time on low.

Pour

Pour cheesecake batter into pan. Prepare a water bath.

Water Bath

Water Bath Options:1. Place springform pan in a 10 inch cake pan. Place cake pan in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan up half way up the cake pan with hot steaming water.2. Wrap springform pan in foil tightly twice. Place pan in the roasting pan. Fill half way up with hot steaming water.

Bake cheesecake for 65-75 minutes. The cheesecake is done baking when the edges are set and the middle has a slight jiggle. If it is too jiggly, then bake for another 5 minutes and check again.

Cool

Turn off the oven, crack open the door and let the cheesecake slowly cool for 30 minutes. Take cheesecake out of the oven and place on a wire rack. Let it cool completely before covering and chilling in the fridge for 6 hours over night.

Espresso Cheesecake

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Add in vanilla and sifted powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined, turn to high and mix until smooth.

Place metal bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, pour heavy cream in the cold bowl and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Pour whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the whipped cream. Fold gently until cream cheese is mixed in.

Decorate

Take the spring form pan and take the parchment paper off the crust. Soak the ladyfingers in espresso and place on top of the cheesecake. Pipe whipped cream cheese on top of the ladyfingers. Use a mesh strainer to drizzle cocoa powder on top. Keep cheesecake in the fridge until serving.

Whipped Cream Cheese

This was PHENOMENAL! I made it for my husband’s birthday and every single person that tried it raves about it. I am gluten free so I swapped in gluten free Oreos for the crust. I had trouble finding GF ladyfingers so I used GF vanilla wafers mixed in with Oreos for the crust and it worked perfectly. I eventually found the GF ladyfingers and used them for the coffee soaked top layer. Will definitely make this again!

This was exactly the recipe I was looking for - all the flavors of tiramisu without having to worry about raw eggs.  I made it for Father's Day for my husband.  It is probably one of if not the best cheesecake I have ever had.  I will definitely make it again.   

I did make a few changes based on previous cheesecake baking.  1 - I subbed 8oz mascarpone for 1 of the cream cheese blocks.  2 - I left the finished cheesecake in the oven for a full hour with the door cracked.  3 - I wanted to make sure the entire top was covered with ladyfingers so I cut a few in half so I could get all the edges.

Made this for a foodie and coffee fiend friend for his birthday. It wasn’t as pretty as yours but it was delicious…I believe I heard the word amazing more than once 😁

This cheesecake is incredible! It tastes just like tiramisu!

I used my own cheesecake recipe but everything about this is on point. Absolutely delicious with step by step direction.  Love this page!!

My daughter requested a Tiramisu Cheesecake for her birthday and she shared this recipe with me.  It was so delicious!  Everything from the crisp tasty crust, the espresso infused creamy cheesecake, to the lady finger and whipped cream cheese topping was divine!  I was a bit intimidated by the many steps but she did an excellent job detailing each step. It was a big hit!

I absolutely love this cheesecake! It is perfect, creamy, and delicious. I can not recommend it enough!

Easy to make, Ladyfinger Mini Eclairs are made of ladyfingers layered with pudding, topped with chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

Ladyfinger Mini Eclairs

vanilla instant pudding

chocolate instant pudding

whole milk

whipped topping (optional)

unsalted butter

cocoa powder

milk

Prepare both the chocolate and vanilla puddings, per package instructions.

When the pudding is ready, separate the layers of the ladyfinger. Spoon on about 1 to 2 teaspoons of each pudding using a fork to smear it across the ladyfinger.

Place the top of the ladyfinger on top of the puddings and gently press into place. Place it on a plate. Repeat the process until you are out of ladyfingers.

Melt the butter and sugar on a low heat. Take butter/sugar mix off the heat and mix in the cocoa to a paste. Add powdered sugar to desired thickness. If it is too thick, place it back on the heat.

Use a spoon to top each mini ladyfinger eclair. Place them into the refrigerator, for at least 30 minutes to set.

Serve chilled topped with whipped cream.

Prepare the Chocolate Sauce

Chilled, creamy and not too sweet, this simple, no-bake icebox cake is a perfect dessert. In truth, it’s even a bit like tiramisù, but with ripe summer fruit. Store-bought ladyfingers make it easy; shop at the farmers’ market for the best fruit. Make it a few hours or even a day in advance of serving for effortless entertaining.

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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Raspberry-Nectarine Icebox Cake

dry white wine

brown sugar

cloves

heavy cream,

confectioners’ sugar

almond or vanilla extract

(4.5-ounce) box ladyfingers (about 28 ladyfingers)

nectarines (about 2 pounds),

raspberries

amaretti cookies, for topping

NYT Cooking

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Make the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the wine, brown sugar and cloves. Simmer over medium heat, stirring, just to dissolve sugar, a few minutes. Turn off heat, and add rum or brandy, if using. Set aside, off the heat, to cool.

Put cream and confectioners’ sugar in a clean bowl and, using a stand mixer, hand mixer or whisk, whip to very soft peaks — not too stiff. Stir in almond extract.

Build the cake: One at time — they’ll be too soggy otherwise — quickly dip one side of each ladyfinger in the syrup, and place in a 9-inch square baking dish with 2-inch sides (or something similar, doesn’t have to be ovenproof). Repeat until the bottom of the pan is lined with syrup-dipped ladyfingers.

Dollop about a quarter of the whipped cream all over the ladyfingers, then spread with a spatula. Scatter half of the sliced nectarines, then half of the raspberries, over the cream.

Dip the remaining ladyfingers, one at a time, into the syrup, and layer them over the fruit. Spread another quarter of the whipped cream, then scatter the remaining nectarine slices and raspberries over.

Top with the remaining whipped cream and spread to your liking.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, and preferably overnight. (Cover lightly with wax paper, if you like.) Before serving, sprinkle with amaretti. The cake may be cut into squares, or simply scooped out with a big spoon.

For those who are wanting a substitute for the ladyfingers, the best would be sponge cake.

Super versatile recipe base that you can customize to suit your needs. In my case, I swapped ginger cookies for the ladyfingers, replaced the cloves in the syrup with a couple of slices of fresh ginger, and made the whipped cream with a 500ml of cream and 250g of mascarpone. Delicious! Would love to make some sort of choco variation.

Delicious and versatile- I ended up having to use angel food cake as ladyfingers weren't available, and I used cool whip because it was for a cookout and camp out and melted whipped cream is not it. But it was still delightful and very popular!

This was light, refreshing, but still a little special! Great summer desert.

Can frozen fruit be used ? If so, with what alterations? Thank you !

Any stone fruit (plums, apricots) would "work."

Would peaches work as well as nectarines?

Made this exactly as written, great hit!  This is a keeper--light, not too sweet, allows the fruit to shine.  Do use a high-sided dish.  The entire cake was eaten by four of us!

For me, this was the base of something great, but it fell short.  Personally, I didn't enjoy the clove in the syrup...I would leave that out and possibly make a bit more syrup.  I also felt that the whipped cream could use a bit more of both the almond extract and the powdered sugar.  Also, it definitely needed something a bit deeper than 2" to put that many layers into.

A winner, truly delicious. I used 500 ml cream, beaten to stiff peaks (I don't like my cream sloppy, it'll soften anyways) and 250 g mascarpone. The mascarpone  helps keeping the shape besides being delicious. The liquid was a little on the short side, so I stretched it with the juice of 1/2 orange. Besides the raspberries, I only used 1 nectarine, very ripe, cut into tiny pieces (easier to cut portions). I didn't have amaretti, so topped it with shaved dark chocolate.

This was delicious, and was even tastier the next day, so it's a good make-ahead dessert. I made it with rum, but it could easily be omitted. For a no-alcohol version, what about using a dry non alcoholic wine for the sugar syrup? I know people who enjoy drinking these, so should work for cooking.

I made this and my husband said it was the best cake I’d ever made. But the nectarines should have been much more ripe.  Alas and alack.

After dipping a lady finger in syrup is there a syrup-side? There is not; all sides have syrup.

Should one layer the ladyfingers syrup-side down or up?

I could’ve used my trifle bowl.  Don’t really have a 9x9 with 2” sides and it was taller than 2” when it was done.  I used ground cloves cuz I don’t have any whole and meant to use just a pinch but used a bit more than I meant - hope it doesn’t taste too Christmasy in August in the desert!

Just popped it into the fridge for dessert tomorrow night. I can get high quality ladyfingers at my local grocery store. I did, per usual, increase the overall quantity since I have 3 ravenous teenagers at home. I used 2 C whipping cream, 8 oz mascarpone cheese, dead ripe plums, blackberries, and one peach to even things out. It does require a rather deep dish, next time I'm going to do it in a trifle dish.

OMG... This will be eaten with a spoon, so plan on fruit that doesn't require a knife and fork to eat.

Do the nectarines have ti be overly ripe or can I use ripe but not soft?

This recipe looks good but then I noticed it calls for 2 1/2 cups of heavy cream. That would mean I'd have to buy two pints of cream for that extra half cup. I wish recipe developers would take things like that into consideration for home cooks who don't have unlimited ingredients at their disposal.

Frank, I made this last night using one pint of whipped cream to which I added one 8 oz container of marscapone.  I had about the same volume of mixture that I would have had with an extra whipped half cup of cream, only  tastier and sturdier.  The finished dessert was absolutely delicious.  The only other change I made was to leave off the crushed amaretti cookies on top; the dessert really doesn’t need it.

2 cups of heavy cream works just fine. I agree that it is silly to have a recipe with 2 1/2 cups. It’s a little creamy anyway so just use a bit less.

Biscoff cookies work marvelously in icebox cakes!

I’m making this as soon as I can find decent nectarines.  To make it more tiramisu-like and less fool-ish I plan to add marscapone to he whipped cream.

That left over half cup of heavy cream can be used in so many different ways! It stays fresh way longer than other lesser fat creams so I stick it in the coldest part of my fridge. I use a splash of it in soups and sauces and with pasta dishes that need a bit of enrichment. Another splash will enrich scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes and even a dash in vinaigrette. Voila! Half cup heavy cream gone!

I couldn't find ladyfingers, so I made a white Texas sheet cake (moist & sweet!) and cut it into two layers.  Also, the dipping seems a bit laborious, so I poured the syrup into a condiment bottle and squirted it over the cake (or ladyfingers if you use them). You really need a DEEP pan for this.  Five/5 nectarines were enough, used 2 pkgs of raspberries. I didn't have whole cloves so used a pinch of ground cloves instead. I was able to find amaretti cookies at a local bakery, but they're pricy!

This is just like a Filipino mango float! When you’re making a float, you use sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar to sweeten the cream, which mixes in really nicely.

Heavy cream freezes well. Can freeze in any amounts desired, even in ice cube trays for all additions to lots of things. If freezing whole container, open and pour off  half inch or so to allow for expansion.

I was thinking of trying this with rose or orange blossom water in place of the alcohol, if anyone else is looking for alcohol substitutes.

I agree practical quantities should be a consideration.  On the other hand, when recipes call for amounts that are based on packaged units, such as 1 egg or 1 cup of cream, I sometimes wonder whether practicality is being prioritized over perfection, especially in baking applications.  Would the recipe be closer to ideal if it contained 1.7 eggs and 1.4 cups of cream?  In some cases I'd prefer the perfect version, with the option to streamline it for convenience.

@Brutally Frank I must say one of my favorite things is to cook down what’s left of cream from other recipes. I almost never buy cream and it’s a treat. I put it in soups and pasta sauces. Or have a little fresh whipped cream on a desert. It keeps longer than other dairy once you’ve opened it and I’ve heard it freezes, altho I’ve never tried that.

I’d like to do this without alcohol.  Thinking I would just use water? Maybe juice? Any suggestions?

Made this yesterday with Greek yogurt instead of whipping cream. Whipped the yogurt a bit to make it more thicker. Used water instead of wine but did add the rum. Could easily be vanilla extract or just simple sugar syrup with no addition if looking for alcohol free. Omitted the cloves as I didn’t want a spice with those fruits. Short story long, it turned out great! The fingers soak up the excess yogurt liquid and the cake is structured with soft and perfect cake pieces. Tastes wonderful!

Steering away from classic tiramisù, this celebration of fall flavors tucks chai-soaked ladyfingers between dollops of pumpkin-date mascarpone cream. It delivers a more subtle pumpkin flavor than pumpkin pie, with hints of spice and dates’ nutty, caramelly notes in every bite. The filling is delicious enough to eat by the spoonful, but tastes even richer between layers of caky softened ladyfingers. With no baking required, this tiramisù gets better and better as it chills, making it a perfect make-ahead treat.

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Andrew Bui for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Kaitlin Wayne.

Pumpkin Date Tiramisù

chai tea bags

Medjool dates (about 10 large dates), pitted

granulated sugar

pumpkin purée

vanilla extract

pumpkin

salt

mascarpone cheese

(7-ounce 200-gram) packages ladyfingers

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Make the ladyfinger soak: In a small saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Remove pan from the heat, then add the tea bags and dates; cover and steep for 12 minutes. Squeeze the water out of the tea bags. Strain the chai into a medium bowl and squeeze any excess liquid out of the dates. Stir the sugar into the chai and set aside to cool.

Place the dates on a cutting board and finely chop into a thick paste.

Make the pumpkin date butter: In a medium stainless steel saucepan, cook the pumpkin purée over medium-high, stirring frequently for 10 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated and the pumpkin mixture is silky, smooth and thick. Adjust the heat as needed. A film will form at the bottom of the pan while stirring. Add the date paste and continue cooking for 2 more minutes.

Transfer the pumpkin date butter to a large bowl. Add the sugar, vanilla, pumpkin spice and salt and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

Make the tiramisù: Using an electric mixer or whisk, whip 2 cups of the heavy cream to stiff peaks, about 3 minutes.

Using an electric mixer, gradually add dollops of mascarpone to the cooled pumpkin date butter and whisk until combined. To loosen the consistency of the mixture, gradually drizzle the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream into the pumpkin mixture and mix until combined. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the whipped cream and fold it in by dragging a silicone spatula under and over the cream, scraping the sides and bottom of the bow as you go, until combined.

Assemble the tiramisù: One at a time, dunk half of the ladyfingers in the chai and place at the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan until it’s completely covered. Spread half of the pumpkin mixture in an even layer on top of the ladyfingers. Dunk the remaining ladyfingers in chai, one by one, and arrange on top of the pumpkin mixture. Dollop with the remaining pumpkin mixture and spread in an even layer. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours (or up to 4 days).

Right before serving, dust the tiramisù with more pumpkin spice.

I am such a fan of Geller’s recipes. No fanfare, just flavour. Can’t wait to try these!

I love these videos that show how it should look and the actual dipping of the lady fingers. Thank you.

Probably because some nonsticks would get ruined in 12 minutes over medium-high heat. Stainless steel for the best!

Why wouldn't you cook the pumpkin down in a non-stick skillet? I would think there would be less of an opportunity for a film to form on the bottom of the skillet.

Two times are listed at the top of the recipe: total time and prep time.Total time here is 1 hour, 10 minutes (plus 6 hours for chilling) and includes all the steps.

I believe prep time refers to everything you have to do before the recipe starts, i.e. dice onions, or in this case pit the dates. Everything else is factored in the cook time.

How can prep time be 10-minutes when you steep the chai for 15 minutes? Chop the dates, cook the date butter for 15, whip the cream?  I realize in regular recipes that call for let's say "1 cup of chopped herbs" in the ingredient list that you are not counting that time in the prep time, but here the ingredient list does no such thing and the preparation time includes all of the cooking and assembling.  We I scan recipes, timing is also a factopr.

https://vp.nyt.com/video/2025/11/05/153947_1_Thanksgiving-Tiramisu-2_wg_480p.mp4

Scott Loitsch

“And while you’re waiting for the pumpkin mixture to cool, whip up the heavy cream. That was so Bake Off cadence.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Hi, I’m Carolina Gelen, I’m here at the NYT Cooking Studio Kitchen. And today, we’ll be making three Thanksgiving tiramisus. A Thanksgiving tiramisu is not your nonna’s tiramisu, I want to put that out there. We’re inspired by the structure and components of a classic tiramisu, but we’re incorporating Thanksgiving flavors. The first one is going to be cranberry, a cranberry tiramisu. It’s a little tart. It’s a little sweet. The cranberries bring such a beautiful brightness to the whole dish, and I think it pairs really, really well with the mascarpone filling. Next up, we have a caramel apple tiramisu. We’re cooking the apples in a homemade caramel sauce until they’re soft and tender. And we’re going to sandwich that filling between the ladyfingers and mascarpone filling. And then our third one is a pumpkin-date tiramisu. We’re going to make a pumpkin and date butter that we’re going to use to flavor our filling. And it’s a really, really fluffy, tender, and really great one. They each have a little something different. And I’m really excited to walk you through the recipes.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So our first step in our cranberry tiramisu is making the cranberry sauce. To do this, we’re going to add the cranberries, frozen or fresh, to a saucepan, a little bit of sugar. I always like to add lemon juice to cranberries. Even though they’re tart on their own, I feel like the lemon juice brings a lovely citrusy and brightness that cranberries don’t have alone. And we’re just going to let them do their thing with a little bit of water. So we’re looking to bring this to a boil. And once it reaches a boil, we’re going to simmer the cranberries until they get nice and jammy. The sauce consistency is going to feel thin in the beginning, but it will thicken as it cools. So as you can see, our cranberries are visibly starting to break down, and what I like to do is crush some of them with the back of my spatula against the sides of the pan. Yeah, this is looking beautiful. Let me show you how it leaves a trail on the back of a spoon. That’s so perfectly tart, I love it. You could totally blend this to give it a smoother consistency. You almost have a loose curd consistency. I really a little bit of crushed cranberries in there. I don’t mind the texture, and I really like the seeds. You could also strain those out if you really feel like it. But one last thing to add in here is some vanilla extract. We’re just adding that off the heat so it doesn’t just simmer away. And all there’s left to do is allow this to cool. We’re going to be using a little bit of the cranberry sauce to make our ladyfinger soak. Remember in a traditional tiramisu, the ladyfingers are soaked in espresso. But in this one, we’re going to be making a cranberry soak with sweetened cranberry juice. And to give a little bit more body and dimension to the cranberry juice, we’re going to be adding half a cup of our cranberry sauce in here. I think temperature is a crucial thing to keep in mind when making tiramisu. Because we’re working with mascarpone and heavy cream, which are both a little fragile, you want everything to be cold once they meet each other. And now we’re going to be moving on to the mascarpone filling. The result is going to be fluffy, and tender, and creamy, and really, really delicious. First, we want to cook the eggs just to kill off any potential bacteria. So add the sugar to a bowl and then the egg yolks. And we’re just going to mix this right now.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So once they’re combined, we’re going to place them over a pot of boiling water. And we’re looking for the mixture to reach 160 degrees. And just make sure this is moving at all times. So one thing you have to be really careful is to make sure the bottom of this bowl does not touch the water because that will cook the eggs instantly and just scramble them, which we don’t want. And a good indicator is you’ll notice the sugar granules will fully melt into the egg yolks. And that’s usually a nice visual cue that you’re almost there.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “All right, so we have a beautiful, fluffy texture. Our mixture is looking really, really pale. We’re going to pull this off the heat and just let it come to room temperature. In some tiramisu versions, you will have egg whites instead of cream. But I am a huge proponent for cream. I think it’s much more stable. I think it adds a better flavor. It just has more body to it. We’re going to pour this into a large bowl and just start whipping. We’re just going to whip to stiff peaks. So there’s a fine line between soft peaks and stiff peaks. And you want to be hyper aware of your mixer and its power, and keep an eye on the cream as you’re mixing it because you don’t want this cream to curdle. We have some beautiful stiff peaks, and now we’re going to move on to incorporating the mascarpone cheese in the egg mixture.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “And once a dollop has been incorporated, I’m going to add another one. Beautiful” [MUSIC PLAYING] “We have all of our elements here. They’re ready to go. And now it’s time to assemble our cranberry tiramisu. So we’re going to dunk each ladyfinger in the soak, place it in the pan, add the sauce on top, and then in with our mascarpone filling. So let’s begin. So the ladyfingers will disintegrate if they soak up too much liquid. So you want to be really careful with that. You still want a little bit of structure in the tiramisu. So just follow my lead. In, and that’s about it. And I like to pick up some of our residual cranberries from the soak. They’re going to make a nice red layer between that and the mascarpone.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So we’re going to do half of our cranberry sauce. And I just want you to see just how much it has thickened since we last saw it. It has a really nice jammy consistency. Scoop half of it on top of the ladyfingers. Just spread this using an offset spatula. How beautiful does that look? I mean, just look at that color. So we’re going to do half of our filling. Spread this in an even layer, making sure it reaches the sides. Beautiful. And now we’re going to repeat the very same steps with our remaining ingredients.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Now, this is the most difficult part of the whole recipe, which is waiting for this to chill in the fridge. It needs to chill for about four to six hours, preferably overnight because you want the ladyfingers to soften up, to soak up the moisture in the tiramisu, and get a really nice fluffy bite.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “We’re going to be making our pumpkin and date tiramisu. We’re going to be flavoring this with a beautiful pumpkin-date butter and also soak the ladyfingers in a delicious date chai. We have three cups of boiling water here. Turn the heat off and simply add the dates, our beautiful chai bags over here. Usually, a packaging will indicate that it needs to steep for three to four minutes. We’re going to go 12 minutes because I want a really nice concentrated mixture for the tiramisu. It should be enough time to also hydrate the dates and get them nice and soft. So we’re just going to pour this through my sieve and reserve the dates. And really push them through the sieve to remove any excess liquid. Add the sugar in. Give it a little stir. And now we’re going to place this in the fridge until nice and cold. The smell, incredible. Next up, we’re going to take our dates and place them on a cutting board. And we want to chop these into a coarse paste. It’s pretty easy to do by hand, especially once they’ve been soaking for a while. They’re really soft and tender and easy to cut. We have our beautiful date paste over here, and we’re going to mix it with the pumpkin to make our pumpkin and date butter. When I say butter, I mean the pumpkin and date equivalent to apple butter. We’re just looking to cook the pumpkin puree and dates into a really, really thick paste until we’ve almost evaporated all the liquid that’s in them. Add the canned pumpkin puree to a pan. Swish that around until the mixture looks very silky and smooth. I like doing it on medium high. It speeds up the process, but you do have to be next to the pot and constantly stir. There’s an orange film at the bottom of the pan, which is a great indicator that we’re pretty much there. Next up, we’ll be adding the dates right in there with the pumpkin and cook for an additional two minutes just to remove any excess liquid that might be in the mixture. It smells like caramel and pumpkin. And let me just tell you, it’s really nice. Add this to a bowl. Beautiful. I like to spread the mixture all over the sides to help it cool a little bit faster. So to this, we’re going to add the salt, pumpkin spice, and we have vanilla extract and sugar. I know this might look really, really thick, but we’re going to use this to flavor our whipped cream. And by the way, this is our only tiramisu that is not using eggs in the mixture. We wanted to put an option out there for that. But if you really feel like sticking to the OG a little bit more and adding some eggs in here, you have the technique. You know what to do. So in our pumpkin and date mixture, we’re going to add dollops of the mascarpone cream. It’s usually easier to incorporate in a few batches. You want to keep it on low because you don’t want anything to over whip, so be mindful of that. So give the sides a nice scrape. The mixture is really, really thick, and it would be really difficult to incorporate this into whipped cream. So what I like to do is go in with some liquid heavy cream just to loosen up the mixture. We’re actually not looking to whip this cream. Perfect. And just like that, we have a nice consistency that’s much easier to fold now. And now we’re going to fold our pumpkin mixture into the cream. This smell is really, really terrific. Give it a rough mix kind of like so, and then start folding.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Our delicious pumpkin and date filling is ready. And now it’s time to put everything together.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So for our third and final tiramisu, we have a caramel apple tiramisu, which is really delicious. It’s really lovely. We have ladyfingers soaked in apple cider with a little bit of caramel. Then we have a layer of apples that are cooked in a caramel sauce and, of course, our delicious and fluffy mascarpone filling. So first things first, we’re going to make the caramel by adding sugar to a pan. We are on medium-medium high heat. You really want to watch the caramel and adjust the heat as needed. And while this is melting and getting nice and golden brown, I’m going to heat up the heavy cream in the microwave or a different saucepan. We want the sugar and the cream to be a closer temperature so the caramel does not seize. There we go. You want to watch this. You don’t want it to boil over. But I’m looking for about 30 minutes to -- not 30 minutes. Do not put it in for 30 minutes. 30 second to a minute. It really depends on your microwave. Caramel is looking good. What I want to do here is keep the sugar in an even layer. And if any spots get darker faster, I usually move the pan and allow the other ones to get nice and hot too. And eventually, we’ll start stirring. But I’m just allowing it to let it do its thing. Now we can start stirring a little bit.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “This is very, very hot. This is also very, very hot. And this is a liquid. And when the cream hits the caramel, things will just do their thing. So be careful. Take a step back and just pour the cream. And then end with the butter. And just stir and allow this to melt. Perfect. Our caramel is ready. It’s looking really beautiful and glossy. We have Granny Smith apples. I did test this with Honeycrisp as well, which was really lovely, but I think Granny Smith has that tartness that really balances out the caramel. So we’re looking to cook the apples until they’re nice and softened. That could be about 10 minutes, I would say, depending on your stove. Beautiful. Our apples are nice and soft. They’re almost translucent, and you can visibly see just how much they have reduced in volume. Strain them, and reserve the caramel sauce for later. Set the apples aside, and then scoop about a fourth cup of the caramel and just pour this into a bowl over here and then in with our fresh apple cider. And that is our caramel apple soak. We’re going to let everything chill for a little bit. And while that’s happening, we’re going to make our filling.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So we’re looking frothy. We’re looking pale. It has a beautiful texture. As you can see, there’s no sugar granules that are visible. So while this is getting nice and room temp, we’re going to be whipping some cream and then incorporating the mascarpone cheese in the cooled mixture.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “And now it’s time to incorporate the egg yolk mixture into the whipped cream. Just add dollops of it to the side. Lovely. All right, it’s time to assemble everything. Here’s what we’re working with. We have the ladyfingers. We have the caramel apple cider soak. Top this off with half of the mascarpone filling and then our beautiful Granny Smith caramel apples.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Lovely. So once the apples are in a nice even layer, we’re going to go in with the remaining mascarpone. And with this one, you want to dollop it here and there. You don’t want it all in one spot because I don’t want to move the apples too much. Lovely.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Look at what we have in front of us. After all this labor, we finally get to reap the reward. We have three tiramisus, the cranberry one, the pumpkin one, the apple one. It’s time to top these off. I always like to add a little bit of hint as to what’s inside. And the toppings for the cranberry one, we’re going to have a nice pink exterior with some dusted freeze dried strawberries on top. For the pumpkin one, we’re going to have some nice pumpkin spice. And then for the caramel apple, we’re going to have the leftover caramel syrup as well as some pecans just for a nice little crunch.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “This right here is a dessert plate. Look at those. We got a slice of each. I’m going to go first with -- let’s do the cranberry one, shall we? Oh yeah. It’s tart from the cranberries, sweet from the mousse. Ladyfingers are perfectly sweet and soaked in the cranberry sauce. Ridiculous. O.K., next up, the pumpkin and date. Mm. The chai is like perfectly concentrated, and it just hits you at that first bite. The pumpkin comes through beautifully, but it’s also not overpowering. Really great one. And last but certainly not least, the caramel apple tiramisu.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Oh, yeah. Granny Smith is the apple for this. It’s nice and tart. It balances the caramel so well. And I love just how soft and tender, how they’re tucked into the mascarpone mousse. You can get all these recipes on the NYT Cooking website or on the NYT Cooking app. I’m sure you’re going to love them. I’m sure your guests are going to love them. And I’m wishing you a really happy Thanksgiving.” [MUSIC PLAYING]

Tiramisù is often identified by its traditional components: espresso-soaked ladyfingers tucked in a cloudlike mascarpone filling. For a playful take inspired by the classic, cranberry juice-soaked ladyfingers and cranberry sauce drizzled between the airy cream layers deliver a tart, fruity bite. Though this tiramisù might not come with espresso, its tangy cranberry pockets offer an invigorating midday or post-dinner pick-me-up. Since it can be prepared in advance, with no baking required, this dessert is ideal for Thanksgiving and other festive gatherings. Tiramisù gets better as it sits, allowing all the layers to mingle and create a cohesive bite.

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The most viewed ladyfinger recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine