Orange tiramisu is a fruity twist on one of the most famous Italian desserts – the tiramisu. Usually laced with coffee, the name tiramisu literally means pick me up in Italian. This one, laced with orange (and a cheeky dash of orange liqueur, if you want it), is bright and tangy enough to give you pick up too!
Sponge fingers, aka Savoiardi biscuits, which soften to a more cake-like texture, are smothered between luscious layers of orange spiked cream and a sneaky layer of orange curd (or you can use marmalade in it’s place). It’s like a little creamy dish of sunshine 🌞
The result is a delightful no bake dessert, that takes less than 20 minutes to prepare.
This creamy orange tiramisu is adapted from my lemon tiramisu and raspberry tiramisu recipes. But if you’re after the more traditional coffee flavour, try my tiramisu cups.
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Ingredients you’ll need
While a traditional tiramisu will have eggs in it, with the egg whites used for volume and egg yolks used for richness, this tiramisu is eggless. A traditional version also has espresso which this one doesn’t.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
- Cream: You’re after full-fat thickened cream, heavy cream or whipping cream. You want it be 35% fat.
- Mascarpone: Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese, though it tastes more like a really rich cream than cheese. You’ll want full fat for this recipe.
- Sugar: I prefer to use caster sugar (aka superfine sugar, not powdered sugar) for this recipe as it dissolves most easily but white granulated sugar will work too.
- Orange: Grab a few fresh oranges. You’ll need the zest from one and a total of ¾ cup of orange juice. If you don’t get quite enough juice from your oranges, you can top it up with the OJ in your fridge.
- Vanilla extract: This just gives a little warming flavour.
- Savoiardi biscuits, also known as lady fingers or sponge fingers are the sponge portion of your fruity tiramisu.
- Orange curd is a sweet orange spread which is added to the middle of the tiramisu. It’s easy to make at home but if you don’t feel like making it, you can use a good quality marmalade in it’s place. You could also use orange segments chopped up in place of either. Cut the white membrane away from the orange slices first.
- Liqueur: I use either Cointreau or Grand Marnier to spike the soaking liquid but if you don’t want an alcoholic tiramisu, by all means leave it out.
You can give your orange tiramisu a bit of the chocolate orange treatment too. Just dust it with unsweetened cocoa powder or sprinkle over shaved dark chocolate before serving.
How to make orange tiramisu
This citrus tiramisu is incredibly easy to make. I highly recommend making your orange curd (unless you can buy it somewhere) rather than use marmalade as it has the best flavour and texture, I feel. It will take another 15-20 minutes but it can be made ahead of time so feel free to make it a day or two before.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
1. The mascarpone filling
Add cold cream to a mixing bowl and whisk or beat until it reaches soft peak stage. Set that aside.
Now, add the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and a little orange juice to a separate bowl and beat for 30 seconds to combine. Stir in some orange zest.
Now, combine the two cream mixtures by folding ⅓ of the cream at a time into the mascarpone mixture. Be gentle as you fold it in so that you don’t knock all the air out of the cream.
2. Dunk the sponge fingers
Mix together the orange juice and orange liqueur, if using, then quickly dunk in each sponge finger and lay them into the bottom of your baking pan. Don’t soak them for too long or they become too soggy and fall apart.
3. Layer it up
Now, spread a little less than half of the cream mixture over the sponge fingers.
Spread the orange curd or marmalade over the cream.
Finally, add the second layer which is just the soaked sponge fingers topped with the remaining cream. If you have any orange juice mixture left after adding all your sponge fingers, just spoon it over the sponge layer before adding the final amount of cream.
Tips and tricks
- Don’t overwhip the cream: Cream can take a few minutes to whip up to soft peaks but as you notice it getting thicker, slow the beater down (I just use a handheld mixer) and check it often. Overwhipping will make the cream grainy and, while still edible, it’s not a very nice texture.
- Don’t overwhip the mascarpone: Mascarpone cheese can be quite finicky and can easily split. Use it cold and only beat for 30 seconds, no more.
- Leave plenty of time for chilling: Your orange tiramisu needs time to firm up a little and set, plus those sponge fingers need time to soften so make sure to leave at least 6 hours for chilling. Overnight is best if you have time and it will happily sit in the fridge for 2-3 days before eating.
- Freeze before slicing: If you want nice clean square slices, freeze the tiramisu just for 45 minutes or so first. Firming it up makes it easier to get slices out.
Handy tools to have
- Mixing bowls are a must.
- An electric mixer is the easiest way to whip both cream mixtures. You can use a stand mixer if you prefer.
- A silicone or rubber spatula is so helpful for folding the cream mixture together but it also helps you scrape every last bit out of the bowl.
- A 9 inch square baking pan or baking dish. Really, any shape dish will work as long as it’s close to the same volume. You want something with a 10-11 cup volume.
- A microplane is the best way to grate the orange peel very finely so that it mixes into the cream mixture properly.
Storage
This citrus tiramisu is best chilled overnight before serving but can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days before serving. The ultimate make-ahead dessert.
Tiramisu doesn’t freeze for extended periods well as the cream texture will change upon thawing.
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Ingredients
- 375 ml thickened cream (heavy / whipping cream) (1 ½ cups)
- 500 g mascarpone cheese (1.1lb)
- ⅓ cup caster sugar (superfine sugar) (66g / 2.3oz)
- Zest of 1 medium orange
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 28-30 Savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers / sponge fingers) (notes 2-4)
- ½ cup orange curd (or marmalade)
SOAKING LIQUID
- ¾ cup fresh orange juice 180ml
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier liqueur optional
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- electric mixer
- 9 inch square baking pan or dish or similar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream with an electric beater to soft peak stage.
- In a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and 1 Tbsp orange juice for 30 seconds. No longer or it may split.
- Mix in the orange zest with a spatula.
- Fold ⅓ of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture gently so as not to knock out the air and repeat two more times until all incorporated.
- Combine the orange juice and liqueur in a bowl just big enough to fit the sponge fingers in flat.
- Quickly dip each biscuit into the soaking liquid and lay them side by side in a 9 inch square tin – roughly 14 in the first layer – press down lightly to make them all level and trim some if you need to.
- Top the cookies with half the mascarpone cream mixture, spreading it over evenly with an offset spatula.
- Spread the orange curd over the cream layer.
- Add another layer of savoiardi biscuits then drizzle over any remaining orange juice mixture.
- Pipe or spread the remaining mascarpone mixture over the top of the curd.
- Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight before serving. If you want nice neat slices, place in the freezer for 45-60 minutes before slicing. Make sure it’s not firm inside when you serve though as this should be a nice soft set dessert.
- Right before serving, add some orange slice quarters or zest to garnish.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- The number of Savoiardi’s you’ll need will depend on their size. I use ones that are just over an inch wide and I fit two layers of 15 into a 9 inch tin.
- Savoiardis are a sweet, dry Italian biscuit about 1 inch wide by 4 long with a crusty sugar coating on one side. You’ll find them often in the biscuit / cookie aisle or in the international section.
- If you can’t find Savoiardi, use a sponge cake, cut into fingers and dried, uncovered overnight on a wire rack.
- You could also use orange segments, cut away from the white skin that contains them, in place of the orange curd or marmalade.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Orange Tiramisu”
Third time I have made this now, it is devine. Someone else made it for dinner and gave me the recipe. I have oassed it on to a friend now too. Fresh, creamy, tasty, just devine.
I’m so happy you love it, Allie. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.