Healthy Tiramisu Ice Cream– gluten free and no refined sugar

Yes, it is possible! This decadent tiramisu ice cream is a (relatively) healthy ice cream recipe. You will love this easy twist on tiramisu so much you may not miss “the real thing”, whether your are aiming for “healthy dessert” or not!

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Have you ever tried tiramisu?

The first time I ever had it was in Italy. My German host mother made it in a vacation rental kitchen. Though not Italian, she definitely knows how to cook. In fact, I helped her make it, dipping the lady fingers in a coffee and amaretto mixture and laying them in the dish while she made the cream part.

Once you taste tiramisu, you won’t forget it. At least, I didn’t! I didn’t have it again for years. Eventually I had it a couple of times in Italian restaurants and later made a gluten free, egg free, dairy free version for my family. Which was labor intensive, considering that tiramisu is made primarily of gluten, eggs, and dairy ingredients!

This tiramisu ice cream captures the flavors and the decadence of the real thing, but with no gluten, eggs optional, and no refined sugar. Also much less effort. And it is ice cream!

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What is in tiramisu?

Naturally, recipes vary. I have read dozens of recipes for tiramisu, and there are some common ingredients to all of them. Unless a recipe is tweaked for special diets, they all feature mascarpone, lady fingers (buttery cookies), egg yolks, cream in addition to the mascarpone, coffee, and sugar.

Many recipes for tiramisu also include some sort of alcohol. While I remember amaretto, others are also popular. Marsala wine is classic, and plenty of recipes opt for Kahlua, rum, or something else. Whichever you choose will influence the flavor. You can leave it out entirely and still have a delicious dessert.

What do I need for tiramisu ice cream?

A lot of the same ingredients in real tiramisu comprise the ice cream. Mascarpone, milk, and, if you like, egg yolks. Cocoa powder for dusting.

There are some substitutions. Honey instead of sugar. I used almond extract rather than amaretto, but you could use amaretto, Marsala, or something else you like. Or leave it out.

“Leave it out” is what I decided to do with the lady fingers. In tiramisu, they are an essential element of the structure. They absorb the coffee (and any alcohol used), then meld with the cream layers to form the flavor and texture of the dessert.

No lady fingers, and you are left with rich pudding. Or ice cream, if you freeze it!

The lady fingers are the part that takes effort to make. Unless you buy them, of course. If you want them to be gluten free, and especially if you want them to also be grain free, that is a significant extra step. I decided not to take that step, which simplifies and speeds the process.

If you want to include lady fingers in your ice cream, you could crumble some up and stir them into the ice cream after churning. Or you could crumble them over the top of each serving. Or serve them alongside. I don’t bother, and I don’t miss them at all!

How to Make Tiramisu Ice Cream

Let’s start with mascarpone. Have you had it? It is available in American grocery stores, though not widely used. Sometimes described as a cheese, it is a very mild, soft, thickened cream. It is a little like cream cheese, but mild and sweet with no cheese cultures at all. Rich and delicious!

Mascarpone is also pricey. My local store carries it for $7 for an 8-ounce tub. I tried it one time, and it was good, but $7! If you purchase that quantity, you still need to add some cream to equal 2 cups, too. Which is fine to do.

I decided to make mascarpone. It is cheaper, and I thought it tasted even better. Making mascarpone is so simple, and yields such a delicious delicacy, that I will do it again. I used a quart of heavy cream, and ended up with nearly a quart of mascarpone.

How to make mascarpone

Here is what I did:

• I heated up the quart of cream to 180° F. (Next time I will just heat it good and hot but not boiling and not measure!)
• Then I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice (vinegar should work), and stirred that at a simmer for 3 minutes.
• Let the mixture cool.
• I poured the cooled cream (it was thicker by now) into a flour sack towel or something similar over a sieve, and set the whole thing on top of a bowl in the refrigerator until the next day. Maybe 12 hours; longer would have yielded a thicker result. Then I scooped it into 2 pint jars. To make the ice cream, you want about 2 pints of cream, so I added a bit of cream to fill one of the pint jars before making the ice cream.

Easy! But it takes a good part of a day, mostly to chill and drip. The result is just delicious! Read more here about making mascarpone. You can use it for sweet and savory recipes.

Step by Step Directions

If you have less than a pint of mascarpone, add cream to equal 2 cups. Add that to 2 cups of milk (I used raw milk), and add some honey. If you are using egg yolks, put them in now. I didn’t this time, but often I use them for added nutrition and texture. You can use as many as you choose– I go for 6 most times, and stick with pastured eggs since they won’t be cooked.

Flavor it

Add a tablespoon of instant coffee. I know, instant coffee is sub-par. Sometimes it’s really awful! Buy a good brand, and it will be fine in the recipe. Tiramisu uses espresso or strong coffee, which soaks into the lady fingers. We don’t have anything to sop up the liquid, and we want the ice cream to be creamy. Not icy from coffee.

The granules may look a little scary and take a minute to dissolve, but they will blend in.

Also add vanilla, almond extract, or whatever alcohol you like. You can do just vanilla if you like. Also add a dash of salt. Mix all that together until it is smooth, and no more. You don’t want to turn your cream into butter!

Process

Pour the whole thing into an ice cream maker and let it do its thing.

When the ice cream is ready, spread 1/4 of it into a container. Sift about a teaspoon of cocoa powder over it, then spread another 1/4 of the ice cream over the cocoa powder, cover with ice cream, then cocoa powder, then finish with ice cream.

So, four layers of ice cream and 3 dustings of cocoa powder. Tiramisu usually has cocoa powder dusted thickly over the top. This way, you get a bit scooped into each bite!

Freeze the ice cream until you are ready to serve it. If this is later than a couple of hours, you will need to remove it from the freezer to soften 15-20 minutes beforehand.

Some factors that make ice cream more scoop-able straight from the freezer include:

• using honey (not sugar)
• egg yolks (the more you use, the softer)
• alcohol (I’ve never actually done it, but ice creams aren’t expected to freeze quite as hard with some alcohol content. Extracts don’t seem to have much effect.)

If you like, serve your tiramisu ice cream with an extra dusting of cocoa powder, a lady finger or other cookie, and some coffee or espresso!

Looking for interesting ice cream flavors? Give these ideas a try:

5 ways to flavor vanilla ice cream

5 ways to flavor chocolate ice cream

banana split ice cream

mango pineapple ice cream