Get it Now: Lady Fingers + Kahlúa Tiramisu Recipe

Now that the holiday season is officially upon us, fellow shoppers are going gaga over flavored coffee, holiday candies, pumpkin whatnots, egg nog… and lady fingers!

Lady fingers are found at any Italian grocery store year-round (I recommend Filippi’s Pizza Grotto for those here in San Diego), but they’re only seen at Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, etc. around the holidays. And as good as they are as cookies, they’re even better when used to make tiramisu.

Traditional tiramisu uses either rum, masala or coffee to flavor the cookies. I always fall back on Kahlúa, the alcohol of choice in the Horn household. But for a change-up, I used Kahlúa canned coffee after spotting it BevMo. (Flavors available include cinnamon, mocha and vanilla.) It’s Kahlúa with coffee and you can drink it as-is straight from the can.

Tiramisu is easy to make and tastes best after it rests a day. There’s no baking involved; just a little cooking time using a double boiler method (I used a saucepan and steel bowl that fits around the opening). For a stronger flavor, soak the lady fingers with more Kahlúa.

Kahlua Tiramisu

6 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
1 pound of mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
24 ounces of lady finger cookies
1 can of Kahlúa canned coffee or 1/3 cup Kahlúa
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa power

Over boiling water in a double boiler, whisk together eggs yolks and sugar for 10 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and whip yolk until thick.

Add mascarpone to yolks and combine.

In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into yolks/cheese mixture and set aside.

Using a springform pan or large glass pan, line bottom with lady fingers. Brush with cookies with Kahlúa and spoon half of cream over the lady fingers. (If using a springform pan, line side with cookies split in half and standing up.) Repeat with more lady fingers, Kahlúa and cream.

Sift cocoa on top and refrigerate for several hours before serving.