By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026
Tiramisu is Italy's layered dessert of coffee-soaked biscuits, a creamy filling and a dusting of cocoa, and its name is usually translated as “pick me up”. Here strained kefir cheese takes the place of mascarpone, egg yolks and whipped cream, so the filling is thick, tangy kefir sweetened with honey, with a little vanilla in the coffee. A few hours in the fridge let the coffee-soaked biscuits soften into the cream.
Two places claim the first tiramisu
A restaurant in Treviso says its tiramisu went on the dessert menu in 1972, made with coffee-moistened savoiardi, egg yolks, sugar, mascarpone and cocoa. Friuli tells a different story, crediting a cook at a hotel restaurant in Tolmezzo with an earlier recipe, and in 2017 Italy's agriculture ministry listed tiramisu as a traditional product of Friuli Venezia Giulia. What is clear is that the dessert does not appear in cookbooks before the 1960s. It now even has its own day, 21 March.
Kefir cheese in place of mascarpone
Strained kefir thickens the way other cultured dairy does: lactic acid sets the milk proteins into a soft network, and draining away the whey leaves a thick, spreadable cheese. That body comes from losing water rather than from fat, so the filling tastes tart before it tastes rich. Honey softens that tartness. For a richer filling, fold in a little whipped cream, or add grated lemon or lime zest to lean into the tang.
Keep the biscuits from going soggy
Kefir cheese is wetter than mascarpone, so the biscuits need an even shorter dip, a second or two at most. Long soaking turns biscuits mushy and leaves liquid at the bottom of the glass, and warm coffee softens them too fast, so cool it to room temperature or colder first. Black coffee makes a less bitter dip than espresso. Sift the cocoa over only at the last moment, or the cream absorbs it.
Egg-free kefir-cheese tiramisu
Ingredients
Tiramisu
- 300 g plain kefir cheese Drain about 750 g plain milk kefir in the fridge for a day (the Greek Yogurt Maker or a cloth-lined sieve), then weigh. Unsalted and thick enough to spread.
- 2–3 tbsp honey Sweeten the cheese to taste.
- 200 g egg-free plain biscuits Choose sweet, unfilled biscuits labelled egg-free; plain digestive biscuits can work. Check the ingredient list for egg.
- 200 ml black coffee Filter out the coffee grounds before measuring, then let the coffee cool completely.
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
You will need
- Mixing bowl
- Fork and spoon
- Shallow bowl
- Dessert glasses
- Small fine-mesh sieve
- Refrigerator
Instructions
Layer and chill
- Mash the kefir cheese with the honey using a fork until smooth and easy to spread. Taste and add more honey if you like.
- Mix the vanilla extract with the cooled coffee in a shallow bowl.
- Line the bottoms of 3 dessert glasses with half the biscuits, dipping each in the coffee for a second or two, just until the surface is wet, and breaking it to fit as needed. Do not pour leftover coffee into the glasses.
- Spread half the kefir cheese over the biscuits, dividing it evenly among the glasses.
- Add a second layer with the remaining biscuits, dipping each briefly in coffee.
- Spread the remaining kefir cheese over the biscuits to cover them.
- Refrigerate the covered glasses for at least 5 hours.
- Sift the cocoa powder evenly over each cup just before serving.
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