This easy Speculoos Tiramisu (Biscoff Tiramisu) is an incredibly decadent dessert to serve for special occasion. Made with speculoos cookies and a biscoff mascarpone cream, this "Ch’tiramisu" is sure to be a hit!
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Why we love this recipe
When a classic Italian Tiramisu meets a traditional Belgian Speculoos Cookies, you get this decadent, moreish and delicious dessert! Unlike a classic tiramisu that uses ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi biscuits), this recipe is made spiced fragrant Speculoos and a biscoff flavoured mascarpone cream.
With 2 layers of speculoos cookies and 2 layers of mascarpone cream, you get the spice from the cookies and the fluffy creaminess from the mascarpone. A simply irresistible classic dessert with a twist!
Speculoos Tiramisu is called "Ch’tiramisu" in France. "Chti" is a dialect spoken in the North-East region of France where speculoos are (almost) as popular as in Belgium.
More Christmas Recipes:
Ingredients
What is Speculoos Tiramisu made of:
Scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities
- Speculoos Biscuits: or Biscoff Cookies, whichever you can find! Speculoos are traditional Belgian spiced cookies. Biscoff is the most famous brand of speculoos cookies.
- Coffee: freshly brewed is preferable if you have a coffee machine. Use decaf coffee if preferred.
- Egg: we are using egg yolks only for this recipe. The eggs are tempered before being used (so they are technically cooked). If you don't have an issue with eating raw (pasteurised) eggs, you can skip that step.
- Lotus Biscoff Spread / Cookie Butter Spread: I use smooth biscoff spread but it will also be delicious with the crunchy spread. I recommend slightly melting it before adding it to the mascarpone mixture as it can tend to make the mixture split.
- Mascarpone Cheese: the classic Italian cheese used for all tiramisu. It resembles cream cheese in texture but is quite mild and neutral in flavour. It has a high fat content which gives the cream a lot of richness and helps the cream stabilise.
- Thickened / Heavy Cream: with a minimum of 30% fat content or it will not whip properly.
Substitution
- Freshly brewed coffee & marsala wine: traditional tiramisu is made with marsala wine combined with the coffee. I didn't use any here to make this recipe alcohol-free but you can substitute part of coffee with marsala if you want. Alternatively, you can add any of your preferred liqueurs like a coffee liqueur, rum or brandy.
- Whipped cream & whipped egg whites: I have tried this recipe with both whipped egg whites and whipped cream. I found that the whipped cream created a much nicer flavour and gave extra creaminess to the dessert. The recipe will work with egg whites but the texture will be closer to a mousse.
- Speculoos crumbs & cocoa powder: I used biscoff crumbs to top the dessert but you could also use cocoa powder like in a classic tiramisu. It will add a nice chocolate flavour to the dessert.
How to make Biscoff Tiramisu
1. Make the Biscoff Mascarpone Cream
The first step is to prepare the biscoff mascarpone mixture.
- Photo 1: Place a large bowl over a medium saucepan filled with a few cm of water. Turn on medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Put the egg yolks and brown sugar in the bowl and start whisking.
Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water or it might cook the eggs too quickly and get them to curdle.
- Photo 2: whisk for 3 to 5 minutes or until the mixture has almost tripled in volume and turned a pale beige colour. If you rub some of the mixture between your fingers, you shouldn't feel any grain of sugar. Remove from the stove (be careful, the bowl will be hot).
Note that this step is technically only required if you want to cook the egg yolks to avoid eating raw eggs (if you are using unpasteurised eggs for example). This step will actually also add lots of micro bubbles into the mixture which will make your final mascarpone cream lighter and fluffier.
- Photo 3: Add the biscoff spread, preferably pre-melted. Whisk until combined.
Biscoff spread has a tendency of making creamy mixtures split naturally, which happened to me here. It made the mascarpone cream a little bit more grainy than I would want. Pre-melting the spread should help it mix more easily into the egg yolks.
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- Photo 4: Mix in the mascarpone until you get a smooth mixture.
- Photo 5 & 6: Optionally, add your spice mix and a little bot of salt and mix to combine. I used the same Speculoos spice mix that I use to make my homemade speculoos cookies, which contains cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and star anise. You can use just cinnamon in preferred.
- Photo 7: In a separate bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), pour the heavy cream. Whip it on medium to high speed until you reach medium-stiff peaks. No need to have super stiff peaks here.
- Photo 8: Add a little bit of the whipped cream to the biscoff mascarpone mixture and gently fold it in using a spatula. Continue to add the whipped cream a little bit at a time and folding it in until all incorporated.
2. Assembling the tiramisu
- Prepare all of different component of the speculoos tiramisu to assemble it: the biscoff cream, speculoos cookies and coffee. Have a rectangular ceramic baking dish ready.
I used a 21 x 29 cm (8 x 11 inch) baking dish.
- Photo 9 & 10: prepare your coffee and pour it into a small bowl. Working one cookie at a time, dip your biscoff cookies into the coffee. Directly place the cookie at the bottom of the baking dish. Repeat the process until you get a tight layer of cookies at the bottom of your dish. Break some cookies to fill empty space if needed.
Only dip the speculoos into the coffee for a couple of seconds as they absorb liquid quickly and start to fall apart if too wet.
- Photo 11: Pour about half of the biscoff mascarpone cream over the layer of dipped cookies and spread with a spatula to get an even layer.
- Repeat the process but to make a double layer of cookies this time: place the dipped cookies over the mascarpone cream, then cover the cookies with a second layer of speculoos. Top with the remaining mascarpone cream and smooth it out.
- Photo 12: to finish the dessert, crush the remaining biscoff cookies to get thin crumbs. Sprinkle them over the tiramisu until all the mascarpone cream is covered.
- Place in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Recipe FAQs
Speculoos are traditional Belgian spiced cookies served around the end of the year Holidays (St. Nicholas / Christmas). They are know for their fragrant spiced flavour, deep caramelised taste and heavily decorated shapes and patterns. You can read all about Speculoos in my Speculoos Cookies recipe.
Speculoos are a traditional Belgian spiced cookies. "Biscoff" is a branded name of speculoos cookies produced by the Belgian company Lotus.
Absolutely! Use large cups or dessert cups and follow the same process of layering coffee-dipped cookies and biscoff mascarpone cream. Depending on the size of your cups, you should get 8 to 10 dessert cups.
Tips & Troubleshooting
- Cooking the egg yolk over a "bain-marie" / double-boiler is optional. This step is mostly to avoid eating raw eggs or if using unpasteurised eggs. Though potentially optional, whipping the eggs and sugar while heating them up does add lots of micro air bubbles into your mixture. This will make your final cream fluffier.
- Biscoff spread has a tendency to seize / split when mixed in with another ingredient. It is easier to incorporate into the egg yolk mixture if it has been pre-melted. The same thing can happen when making speculoos cheesecake and I have not found a way around it unfortunately.
- Don't let the speculoos soak in the coffee for too long. They absorb liquid very quickly and will start dissolving and falling apart if too soaked. A simply 1 to 2 seconds dip is enough!
- Don't overwhip the cream; medium-stiff peaks is enough. The mascarpone will help stabilise the mixture so we don't need to whip the cream all the way to stiff peaks. We want to keep some creaminess and want to avoid a "stiff" filling.
Storing & Freezing
Speculoos tiramisu should be stored in the fridge and will last for up to 3 days. Since it requires a bit of time to set in the fridge before serving, it is actually a great make-ahead dessert!
I do not recommend freezing this tiramisu; the texture will be off when thawed.
I am so excited to share that my debut cookbook
"Bite-Sized French Pastries for the Beginner Baker"
was released in December 2023!
Recipe
Speculoos Tiramisu
Equipment
- 21 x 29 cm (8 x 11 inch) baking dish
Ingredients
Mascarpone Cream
- 4 large Egg Yolks - at room temperature, preferably pasteurised
- 80 gr Brown Sugar
- 120 gr Biscoff Spread - or cookie butter spread
- 250 gr Mascarpone
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon / Speculoos Spices - optional - see note 1
- 1 pinch Fine Table Salt
- 240 ml Heavy / Thickened Cream - min 30% fat content
To assemble
- 500 gr Speculoos / Biscoff Cookies
- 180 ml Freshly Brewed Coffee
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
- Prepare a 21 x 29 cm (8 x 11 inch) baking dish.
Mascarpone Cream
- Place a large bowl over a medium saucepan filled with a few cm of water (see note 2). Turn on medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Put the egg yolks and brown sugar in the bowl. Whisk for 3 to 5 minutes or until the mixture has almost tripled in volume and turned a pale beige colour (see note 3). Remove from the stove (be careful, the bowl will be hot).
- Whisk in the biscoff spread (preferably pre-melted) then the mascarpone cream (see note 4).
- Add the spices (optional) and salt. Mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), pour the heavy cream. Whip it on medium to high speed until you reach medium-stiff peaks.
- Add a little bit of the whipped cream to the biscoff mascarpone mixture and gently fold it in using a spatula. Continue to add the whipped cream a little bit at a time and folding it in until all incorporated.
Assembling the Speculoos Tiramisu
- Brew the coffee and pour it into a small bowl. Have your 21 x 29 cm (8 x 11 inch) baking dish and speculoos cookies ready.
- Working one cookie at a time, dip them into the coffee for 1 to 2 seconds (see note 5). Directly place the cookie at the bottom of the baking dish. Repeat the process until you get a tight layer of cookies. If you are left with some empty space, simply cut some cookies into smaller pieces to fit.
- Cover the cookie layer with about half of the biscoff mascarpone cream. Use a spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Repeat the process but to make a double layer of cookies this time. Place the dipped cookies over the mascarpone cream until you get a tight layer. Place a second layer of dipped cookies over the first one.
- Cover with the remaining mascarpone cream and smooth it out with a spatula.
- To finish the dessert, crush the remaining biscoff cookies to get thin crumbs. Sprinkle them over the tiramisu until all the mascarpone cream is covered. Alternatively, dust with cocoa powder instead of cookie crumbs.
- Place in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
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Notes
- I used the speculoos spice from my homemade speculoos cookies, which contains cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and star anise (see that recipe for ratios). If preferred, simply use cinnamon only - or omit spices altogether.
- Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water or it might cook the eggs too quickly and get them to curdle.
- If you rub some of the mixture between your fingers, you shouldn't feel any grain of sugar. This step simply allows you to work with cooked the egg yolks if you want to avoid eating raw eggs (if you are using unpasteurised eggs for example). Additionally, this step will also add lots of micro bubbles into the mixture which will make your final mascarpone cream lighter and fluffier.
- Biscoff spread has a tendency of making creamy mixtures split naturally, which happened to me here. It made the mascarpone cream a little bit more grainy than I would want. Pre-melting the spread should help it mix more easily into the egg yolks.
- Only dip the speculoos into the coffee for a couple of seconds max as they absorb liquid quickly and start to fall apart if too wet.
Nutrition
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