Tiramisu Without Coffee

Our answer

Tiramisu is generally made with coffee as the savoiardi biscuits (cookies) are dunked into the coffee so that they absorb some of the liquid and become soft. As the name "tiramisu" is derived from the Italian for a "pick me up", we wonder if the caffeine in the coffee acted as a key ingredient for the alleged reviving qualities of the dish. Coffee also provides flavour and a slight bitterness to balance the creamy mascarpone.

However if you don't like coffee we would suggest trying Nigella's White Tiramisu as an alternative. The savoiardi are dunked in a mixture of milk and white rum instead of coffee. Some sweetness and texture is added to the dish by using crumbled up meringues in between the layers of biscuits and mascarpone.