Lemon tiramisu

by Andrea Gámez

This lemon tiramisu is a fresh, sweet and decadent dessert, It is simply great for this spring and summer season. It is a cold dessert, which makes it even better. The traditional tiramisu is a classic Italian recipe, which is very similar to this one, but instead of using lemon as the main ingredient, it calls for coffee, and it is delicious! If you have never tried it, you will fall in love with it.

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How to make Lemon tiramisu

This tiramisu is made in layers, like the traditional one. It has lady fingers layers and creamy lemon layers as well. Lady fingers are small elongated biscuits that go perfectly with these type of dessert. On top of it all, we put a lemon curd, and everything together like that is just delicious!

I really like the idea of making it in a large pan, as seen in the photos, and in fact one even larger than this would be just perfect, but it is also very nice to make it in individual cups for any type of event, and it looks great either way!

The best Lemon tiramisu

Now, this dessert can be made with lemon (the yellow ones) or also with lime (green ones). Some of us prefer the lemon flavor and some of us prefer the lime flavor. So you can choose which one to use because both work great for this. In the recipe we make it easy for you with the quantities to use of each one, in case you want to use one or the other.

Lemon tiramisu recipe

As for the Lady fingers, you can buy them in the supermarket to make everything easier and faster, and they taste really nice. But you can also make them at home, and they are not difficult to make. If you want you can use the recipe of our classic tiramisu, and use the cake or biscuit part of it, to make the lady fingers. In that case we make a giant “lady finger” layer, instead of individual lady fingers, and use it to put the layer between the layers of cream.

If you like this recipe, you have to check out our lemon cookies, you are going to love them!

Lemon tiramisu

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

For the lemon curd

  • 4 eggs, big
  • 4 egg yolks, big
  • 1 1/4 C (8.82 oz) (250 gr) white sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 lemons or 3 limes, the zest
  • 2/3 C (5.40 fl oz) (160 ml) juice lemon or lime juice
  • 1/2 C (3,95 oz) (112 gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:

  • 2 C (16.23 fl oz) (480 ml) whipping cream, really cold
  • 2 tbsp (0.50 oz) (14 gr) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 2 C (15.88 oz) (450 gr) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 C of the lemon curd (that you're making for the recipe with the ingredients above)
  • The zest and juice or 1 lemon or lime

For the lemon syrup and to assemble:

  • 1/2 C (4 fl oz) (120 ml) water
  • 1/4 C (1.77 oz) (50 gr) white sugar
  • The peel and juice of 1 lemon or lime
  • 1/4 C (2 fl oz) (60 ml) limoncello (optional)
  • 40 lady fingers, for tiramisu

Instructions
 

For the lemon curd:

  • Place 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to medium-high heat to heat through. Separately, in a medium heatproof bowl, place the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar, salt, zest and lemon juice. Mix using a hand whisk until all the ingredients are integrated.
  • When the water in the pot has boiled, lower the heat to low to continue heating. Place the bowl on top of the pot (without the bowl directly touching the water) and cook the lemon curd in a double boiler for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until the cream thickens and is very smooth. If after 10 minutes the cream does not thicken, turn up the heat and continue cooking until you get the desired texture.
  • Once the cream is ready, remove the bowl from the heat and add the butter while the cream is still hot. Mix with a hand whisk until the butter is completely melted and the cream is smooth and homogeneous.
  • Optionally, the lemon cream can be passed through a strainer to remove any lumps, even if they are minimal. Cover the cream with plastic wrap that touches its surface to prevent it from drying out and forming a crust. Then refrigerate it while preparing the rest of the recipe.

For the lemon syrup:

  • In a small saucepan, place the water with the sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice. Bring the pot to medium heat and cook for about 3-4 minutes until the mixture boils.
  • Remove the pot from the heat to allow the syrup to cool completely. If you want to add limoncello, this is the time to do it.

For the filling:

  • In a large bowl, place the very cold whipping cream with the powdered sugar and beat with an electric mixer for 3-4 minutes until stiff peaks form. It is important to beat only to this point and not more than that.
  • Separately, in another large bowl add the mascarpone cheese with 1 1/2 cups of the lemon curd and the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Beat with the same electric mixer for 2 minutes until very smooth.
  • Carefully add the whipped cream in 2 additions to the bowl with the mascarpone cheese. Mix with a rubber spatula until both mixtures are integrated and there are no lumps. At the end you will have a very smooth and creamy filling.

To assemble:

  • Use a large rectangular mold of approximately 11.80 inches x 7.90 inches (30 cm x 20 cm) that is not made of metal, it can be made of glass, plastic or ceramic.
  • Dip, lengthwise, half of the cookies in the lemon syrup one by one, then place them in tight rows inside the mold and form the first layer of the lemon tiramisu.
  • Add half of the filling on top and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula to cover the entire layer of cookies.
  • Repeat the above steps to form another layer of cookies and add the rest of the filling on top. Once the tiramisu is assembled, cover it with plastic wrap. In the end you can add a final layer of lemon curd on top.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Lemon tiramisu

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1 comment

6 Quick and Easy Desserts with Pudding 10 February, 2024 - 3:37 am

[…] 5. Lemon Tiramisu […]

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