Monday 11 February 2019

Tiramisu - Sugar free, grain free

This is heavily adapted from primalpalate.com, thanks for the paleo starting point!  Anyone happy to eat maple syrup, go use the original recipe!

Blogging because I thought I'd lost my hand typed, printed, then annotated version of this after 3 tests and adjustments, but found it while I was cleaning up and don't want that hassle again!!!

Make the 3 components, then assemble, preferably a day before you plan to serve - it needs a bit of time to soak up the syrup.

Coconut Flour Lady Finger sponges
Makes 30 (some times!)
4 eggs, separated
scant 1/4 c xylitol + 1/4c coconut milk (or dairy)
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/3 c coconut flour
1 t freshly ground coffee


  • Preheat oven to 200°C.
  • Beat egg whites until stiff.
  • In another bowl, combine egg yolks, baking soda, vanilla extract & sweetener + milk.  Whisk until combined. Add coconut flour and whisk until smooth.
  • Fold in the egg whites, followed by the coffee grounds.
  • Line a baking tray with baking paper, pipe out 7.5cm long sponges using either a piping tube, or just cut the corner off a snap lock bag.  Mine are usually about as wide as my thumb, so not as fat as the traditional ones you'd buy (at least not in NZ).
  • Bake at 200°C for 7-9 minutes. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't burn. NB: My oven cooks pretty hot, you may find you need a longer cooking time - the original recipe was 13 minutes.
  • Allow to cool.


Coffee & Amaretto Syrup
2/3 c cold drip coffee - failing this, use cold strongly brewed coffee, but the liqueur-like quality of the cold drip is amazing in this recipe.
scant 1/4 c xylitol
1/4 c amaretto


  • In a small sauce pan, combine all ingredients, bring to a light boil and simmer about 5 minutes.
  • Allow to cool.

Cream Filling
300 ml whipping cream
3/8 c xylitol (1/2 was too much, 1/4 too little!)
2 t vanilla extract
400g mascarpone


  • Whip the cream to soft peaks - it will get more whipping soon, so you don't want to take it too far!
  • In another bowl, combine xylitol, vanilla & mascarpone.
  • Add cream to mascarpone mix and whip again until stiff peaks (ish).


Tiramisu!!!
1 batch of each the above
1/4 c cocoa powder or cacao ( I don't actually measure this, I just sift enough over until it looks suitably chocolately).


  • Place a layer of lady fingers in the bottom of a 22.5cm x 15cm x 6.5cm dish (I often use the Tupperware clear mate large rectangle #2 - because I take this to picnics, and this works perfectly!
  • Drizzle half of the coffee & Amaretto syrup over the lady fingers. 
  • Top with half of the cream filling.
  • Repeat with a 2nd layering - you may choose not to use all of the remaining syrup, especially if you're serving it the same day, but if you can leave it over night, don't worry about it being a bit wet for now.
  • Dust with sifted cocoa/cacao powder.
  • Cover with a lid or your preferred clingy covering and refrigerate for for 24 hours before serving, if you can! It will be much better for the wait time, so do try and plan ahead!