Lemon tiramisu is made with lemon curd, lemon syrup, and mascarpone cheese. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Lemon Tiramisu
Lemon tiramisu is made with lemon curd, lemon syrup, and mascarpone cheese. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 1 1/2 cups lemon juice
- 2 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 3 strips of lemon peel
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup limoncello liqueur
Mascarpone Layer
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 24 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 10 ounces crisp ladyfingers about 39 larger or 57 smaller ladyfingers
Instructions
- Gather Ingredients.
- For Lemon Curd: Combine lemon juice, 2 cups white sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and salt in a large non-reactive saucepan.
- Cook, stirring constantly, over medium until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl.
- Stir in butter and vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until chilled**. (Lemon curd can be made up to a week ahead.) Reserve 1/4 cup lemon curd before assembling tiramisu.
- For Syrup: Combine 1 1/2 cup sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and limoncello in a small non-reative* saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until sugar melts.
- Discard the lemon peel. Transfer syrup to a glass bow or 4-cup glass measuring cup. Set syrup aside to cool.
- For Mascarpone Layer: Beat cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Beat mascarpone and lemon zest in an extra-large bowl until combined and creamy. Fold in 3/4 cup lemon curd.
- Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture in three batches, folding gently until everything is combined.
- Arrange half of the ladyfingers in a single layer on the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish, trimming ladyfingers as needed. Generously brush or drizzle half the syrup over the ladyfingers.
- Top the ladyfingers with half of the remaining lemon curd.
- Layer half of the mascarpone filling over lemon curd.
- Repeat with remaining lady fingers, lemon curd, and mascarpone filling.
- Drizzle reserved lemon curd over tiramisu. (You will use about 10 oz. ladyfingers. Save remaining ladyfingers for another purpose.)
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 8 hours or overnight before serving. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Cook’s Notes
- Be sure to use a non-reactive (such as stainless steel, ceramic, glass or metal cookware with enamel coatingl) pan when making the lemon curd. The acid from the lemon juice can react with aluminum pans giving the end product an off flavor.
- To quickly cool this mixture, place the bowl of curd in a large bowl filled with ice water. Stir occasionally, to help cool the mixture. Replace ice as needed and be careful that water from your ice bath does not get into the lemon curd.
- If you like, you can substitute 2 (12.7 ounce) jars purchased lemon curd or you can make two recipes of Microwave Lemon Curd.
Recipe Tip
Remove the zest from the lemons before juicing them, You will need 3 (1-x 2 ½ inch) strips for the lemon syrup and 1 tablespoon zest for the mascarpone layer.
