I always thought tiramisu was an elaborate and complicated dessert to make. I thought it took hours of hands-on work, using coffee liqueur and high-end marscapone cheese. And I thought you had to make your own angel food cake to assemble the fancy feast.
It always seemed daunting to me, and I always thought to myself that I’d leave that dainty little dessert to the pros. But when Chris told me his favorite dessert was tiramisu, I was inspired to give it a go.
And not only is tiramisu very simple to make, it took almost no time at all.
Best part? Chris said it tasted better than most tiramisu he’s had in restaurants.
*pats back*
Quick and Easy Tiramisu (From Kraft Foods)
>> Click here for printable recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 packages (4 oz each) ladyfingers
- 2 packages (8 oz each) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups Light Cool Whip, thawed
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
- Bring a tea kettle full of water to a boil. Pour one cup over the instant coffee and 1 tbsp of sugar. Stir to dissolve the coffee and sugar. Set aside.
- Split the ladyfingers in half (they should come pre-cut, but if not, slice them horizontally with a serrated knife). Arrange one package of the ladyfingers on the bottom of a 13×9 dish. Spoon 1/2 cup of the coffee over the ladyfingers.
- Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer until creamy. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and beat well. Then whisk in the Cool Whip.
- Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the ladyfingers in the dish. Then arrange the other package of ladyfingers over the cream cheese. Spoon the other 1/2 cup of coffee over the second layer of ladyfingers and then top with the remaining cream cheese.
- Dust the top evenly with the cocoa powder. Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
My Two Cents: This tiramisu got really good reviews on the Kraft website — a big reason why I chose it. (The other of course was because it had the word “Easy” in the title.) I was a bit worried that because I was using just cream cheese, it wouldn’t taste like authentic tiramisu, but I was quite wrong. I thought it tasted like the real thing, as did Chris and a number of my friends I served this to (one being a big tiramisu fan).
The instant coffee saved me here. I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t own a coffee pot (please not everyone faint at these words all at once — caffeine and I don’t mix well –) But I love coffee flavor, so I have instant coffee around for baking.
Even if you are a coffee addict and own a coffee pot, brewing coffee to make tiramisu sounds too tedious and time consuming. Go for the instant.
Enjoy! This is a crowd pleaser!
