Christmas Gingerbread Tiramisu

A slice of gingerbread tiramisu with a Christmas scene in the background.

Give your holiday dessert table an elegant spin with this show-stopping Christmas gingerbread tiramisu! Italian ladyfingers are soaked in a dark rum-spiked, sweetened coffee mixture and then layered with a perfectly creamy spiced mascarpone filling. You can prepare this luscious Christmas tiramisu in just 30 minutes, and it’s guaranteed to receive rave reviews.

Course Desserts

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30

Chilling Time 6

Total Time 6 30

Servings people

Calories 317kcal

Author Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

Mixing bowls
Hand or stand mixer
8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish
Plastic wrap

Ingredients

Coffee Mixture for Ladyfingers

2 cups espresso or strong coffee
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup dark rum
1 (7-ounce) package of ladyfingers about 24 cookies, found in cookie aisle

Gingerbread-Mascarpone Filling

¾ cup cold heavy cream
3 egg yolks room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone softened
⅓ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses not the blackstrap variety
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together the espresso or coffee, white sugar and dark rum until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks, mascarpone, white sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice on medium speed until light and fluffy and no lumps remain, about five minutes. Initially, it will seem a little liquidy, but it will thicken as you beat it.
Alternatively, if you don't want to use raw egg yolks, place a heatproof mixing bowl with the egg yolks and sugar on a medium saucepan filled with 2-3 inches of simmering -- not boiling -- water and beat until the mixture thickens and about doubles in volume, approximately seven to 10 minutes. The heat will gently cook the eggs. If it starts to get too hot, lift the bowl and give it a chance to slightly cool. Remove the bowl from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Then, beat in the mascarpone, molasses and spices until light and fluffy.
Gently fold the whipped heavy cream into the mascarpone mixture until fully incorporated.
Quickly dip each ladyfinger into the cooled coffee mixture, no more than three seconds. Layer on the bottom of an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish. Spread half of the gingerbread-mascarpone filling on top. Repeat with the remaining ladyfingers and spread the other half of the gingerbread-mascarpone filling.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least six hours. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon for a garnish if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

Make sure the mascarpone is at room temperature before beating. If it’s too cold, you won’t get that wonderfully creamy texture. Letting it sit in room temperature for 30 minutes will take care of it.
The egg yolks should also be at room temperature, but you may find they're easier to separate when cold. Then, let the egg yolks sit in room temperature with the mascarpone.
When lining the baking dish, you may need to break up some of the ladyfingers to fit in the tighter spaces.
Quickly dip the ladyfingers. They absorb the liquid right away, so a long soak will disintegrate the little cookies. About three seconds does the trick.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition