Indulge in all the luscious flavor and texture of classic Italian tiramisu without the carbs. This easy Keto Tiramisu features layers of coffee-soaked almond flour cake layered with mascarpone whipped cream. One bite and you will swear you are enjoying the real deal in your favorite trattoria!
Tiramisu is one of those timeless classics that surprises you with its creamy richness. I was hooked from the moment I first tried this coffee-flavored layered dessert and I ordered it every time I went to a good Italian restaurant. And when I went low carb for my health, I knew I had to find a way to make it keto-friendly.
Love coffee-flavored desserts? You will also want to try Keto Coffee Cheesecake and Keto Espresso Shortbread.
Long ago, I hit upon the idea of using thin layers of keto vanilla cake in place of the standard ladyfingers. They soak up the coffee in the same way the spongy cookies do, and they provide a great base without the added carbs. I also simplified the luscious filling, forgoing the fussy zabaglione in favor of whipped cream folded into sweetened mascarpone.
I first wrote this recipe in 2013 and since then, I’ve made a few tweaks to make it even easier and lower in carbs. But it remains an oft-requested favorite of my friends. Many of them swear that they prefer it to the original! This Keto Tiramisu offers all of the classic Italian flavor without weighing you down.
Reader’s Thoughts
“I made this Tiramisu recipe this week and all I can say is WOW! I followed your recipe exactly and the results were spectacular. My husband who rarely says more than “this is good” ate his piece (well actually 2 pieces) and declared that if I hadn’t told him it was from my kitchen he would have thought it came from an Italian bakery in our neighborhood! High praise indeed! Thank you!” — Bobbi
Why you need to try this recipe
- Updated recipe: The cake is now a bit thinner, giving the dessert a better cream-to-cake ratio. And it’s lighter in calories!
- Classic flavor: With coffee soaked cake and creamy mascarpone, this has all the tiramisu flavor you crave.
- Classic texture: The cake softens as it sits with the coffee and filling, so it has the same tender, creamy texture that yields delightfully to your fork.
- Simplified prep: No heated egg yolks for zabaglione or other complicated steps.
- Low carb and gluten-free: This dessert has no wheat or gluten, and only xx grams of carbs per serving.
- Make ahead recipe: You can easily make this recipe several days in advance and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: This is an almond flour based cake recipe. See the Tips for success if you would prefer to make it with coconut flour.
- Sweetener: The cake requires granular sweetener and the filling uses powdered sweetener.
- Protein powder: A little protein powder helps the cake be more light and fluffy. Whey protein works best but egg white and plant based protein can work as well.
- Coffee: You can use espresso or strongly brewed coffee.
- Rum: Classic tiramisu usually has a liqueur or rum, but you can skip this if you prefer.
- Mascarpone cheese: This creamy Italian soft cheese has a naturally sweet taste. If you can’t find it, you can use cream cheese, but it is more dense and heavy.
- Heavy whipping cream: Whipped cream helps make the filling more voluminous.
- Garnish: Dust the top with cocoa powder and a little shaved chocolate for classic flavor and appearance.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt.
Overview: How to Make Keto Tiramisu
- Prepare the batter: Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the eggs, butter, vanilla, and water. Stir until smooth.
- Bake the cake: Spread the batter in a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake until golden and set. Let cool completely.
- Make the coffee mixture: In a small bowl, whisk together the coffee and the rum.
- Prepare the filling: Beat the mascarpone until smooth, then beat in the sweetener and a little of the coffee mixture. Separately, whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold the two mixtures together.
- Assemble the layers: Cut pieces of cake to fit into an 8×8 inch pan. Brush with coffee mixture then spread half of the mascarpone mixture over top. Repeat with remaining cake, coffee mixture, and mascarpone mixture.
- Garnish: Dust the top with cocoa powder and grate the chocolate over top. Refrigerate until firm.
Tips for Success
- I updated the cake recipe to make the layers a little thinner. I like the ratio of cake to filling better this way. A jelly roll pan (15×11 inches) works best for this. You can use other pan sizes, but it will change the thickness of the cake and how long it takes to bake.
- Mascarpone can be a bit finicky and curdle easily, so be sure not to over-beat it. Let the mascarpone come to room temperature before beating.
- For a nut-free version, use the batter from my Keto Chantilly Cake. I am not sure how long it will take to bake in a sheet pan so keep a close eye on it in the oven.
Sweetener Options: For both the cake and the filling, you can use your preferred sweetener. The cake may brown a little more quickly with allulose so keep your eye on it in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditional mascarpone is a creamy soft cheese that has almost zero carbs per serving. It has a slightly sweet flavor because it is made with full cream. But some brands do add milk, which can add carbs. Check the labels and try to get mascarpone that has less than 1 gram carbs per serving.
Absolutely! This easy tiramisu recipe has no eggs so as long as your mascarpone and cream are fresh, it will be fine for up to a week in the fridge. As with any dessert recipe, wrap it up tightly. It can also be stored in the freezer for up to two months.
This keto tiramisu recipe has 5.8g of carbs and 2.6g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.2g net carbs per slice.
More Keto Italian Desserts
Keto Tiramisu Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 2 cups (200 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (95 g) granular sweetener
- 1/4 cup (36 g) unflavored whey protein powder, (or egg white protein powder)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 1/3 cup (75.67 g) butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Coffee Syrup
- 1/3 cup (78.86 ml) espresso or strongly brewed coffee
- 1 tbsp dark rum
Tiramisu Filling
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) mascarpone, softened
- 3/4 cup (136.5 g) powdered sweetener, divided
- 3/4 cup (178.5 g) heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) vanilla extract
Garnish
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 ounce (14.17 g) sugar-free dark chocolate
Instructions
Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a rimmed 15×11 inch rimmed sheet pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and grease the parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs, egg white, butter, water, and vanilla extract until well combined and smooth.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the top is just firm to the touch. Let cool completely in the pan.
Coffee Soak
- In a small bowl, whisk together the coffee and the rum. Set aside.
Tiramisu Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone until smooth, then beat in 1/2 cup of the sweetener. Add 2 tablespoons of the coffee/rum mixture and beat until well combined.
- In another large bowl, beat the cream with the remaining sweetener and the vanilla extract until it holds stiff peaks.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until well combined.
To Assemble
- Cut the cake into pieces to fit into the bottom an 8×8 inch pan. Brush with half of the remaining coffee mixutre. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over top.
- Repeat with remaining cake, coffee mixture, and mascarpone mixture. You will have a few bits of cake left over. Discard or use for snacking!
- Dust the top of the tiramisu with cocoa powder and grate the chocolate over top. Refrigerate 2 hours to firm up before cutting.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Just finished making Xmas tiramisu… it’s a family favourite these days. I back off the sweetener a bit and this time I made an extra half batch of filling and froze in portions so it’s ready to go for a mug cake here and there in the new year…
I love all your recipes. I found a torta balcarce recipe that needs to be ketofied and it seems like it could be a cross between your tiramisu and coconut cream cake-could you perfect it for us?
I am not sure what that is!
thankyou so much for this recipe, its so nice to have a lovely night in with good friends, food and family and not eat too many carbs. I’ve used this cake recipe to make a strawberry and a lemon tiramissu by swapping a few things, nice to not have fomo.
Ok i tried this over the weekend and the sponge worked really well. I did need to keep it in for much longer but that’s most likely because of my oven or something. Otherwise the cream and everything tastes amazing 🙂 going to keep experimenting and changing up the flavours!
Is there something I can use instead of protein powder
Not if you want it to rise properly! 🙂
I have a nut allergy and am super new to this diet. What would you recommend using instead of almond flour?
Don’t use this recipe for the cake. Grab the coconut flour cake recipe from my Chantilly cake and use that instead!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s been a hit for our keto eaters and non-keto eaters alike! To simplify things, I use a Duncan Hines keto yellow cake mix for the cake and it works great.
This recipe is wonderful, and very forgiving. I am not low carb, but I eat very low sugar and due to a medical issue, I have to eat lower/low fat. I subbed applesauce for half of the butter and for the eggs, I used one whole egg and two eggs whites. I also subbed light cream cheese for the mascarpone. It turned out really great and tastes terrific. This might be helpful for anyone else out there who needs a lower fat version. Your recipes are always great!
This was delicious and easy to make! Tiramisu is one of my favorites and, boy, was I skeptical. Did not disappoint! Thanks for all you do!
Hello! I am wanting to try making this right now. However, it is called pumpkin Tiramisu, I don’t see where the pumpkin is added? Did I miss something here? .
https://swervesweet.com/recipes/pumpkin-tiramisu
I know this is an older post, but I just recently found it. I just finished filtering a recipe of your coffee liqueur. I have made this several times and this time I used spiced rum rather than vodka (quite tasty I must say). What would you think of trying that liqueur rather than the coffee & rum syrup in this tiramisu? Or maybe it would be too sweet? Maybe the spiced rum would be the wrong flavor profile? I have been finding all sorts of ideas for the liqueur and when I read this recipe I immediately thought of it. Thanks for all your hard work to bring us such fantastic recipes.
I say go for it!
OH. MY. GOODNESS!
This recipe is amazing! The cake is perfect and even though I messed up and only bought half the amount of mascarpone (I subbed cream cheese), the frosting is delicious! (I could eat it as a pudding!). Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your delicious recipes!
PS I do believe I’m going to have to share this with my friends or I’ll run the risk of gorging it all myself! ????
I wasn’t a fan of the cake and I can taste the dryness of the coconut flour. The tirumusu filling partially saved this cake. I made some modifications by subbing canned coconut milk for heavy cream, then whipping it with mixer. I also omitted the rum flavor because I didn’t have any. As for the cake assembly, I cut the coffee macerated cake into ladyfinger logs, and layered it with the filling and sprinkled over cocoa powder. Otherwise it was ok.
Personally I don’t think its fair that you made changes to the recipe and then complained that it was too dry and gave the recipe 3 stars. Maybe it was a bakers error on your part. If you had made the recipe as is and then given a review then and only then would I take your review for face value, but since you pretty much changed multiple factors, which i might add that both of those things add moisture to the cake and a depth of flavor that one cannot acquire by simply swapping to coconut milk. I say you should try this recipe again and stick to the exact recipe without any tweaking of ingredients and then come back and give an honest review of said recipe. Her recipes have never steered us wrong, they are the way they are for a reason 😉
This ^^
it turned out too dry to be a tiramisu.. apparently I needed more coffee syrup and maybe the cake was overcooked a bit.
yes, it sounds like you over-baked it.
Hi Caroline, I made this Tiramisu recipe this week and all I can say is WOW! I followed your recipe exactly and the results were spectacular. My husband who rarely says more than “this is good” ate his piece (well actually 2 pieces) and declared that if I hadn’t told him it was from my kitchen he would have thought it came from an Italian bakery in our neighborhood! High praise indeed! Thank you!
WOW! Thanks so much!
in the filling would it be better to use powdered bocha sweet so you dont get crystallization?
If you’d like! Since it’s not heated at all, you shouldn’t get much recrystallization anyway…
I know to someone who bakes a lot this will be a dumb question BUT when you say strong coffee what are the ratios for coffee/espresso to water? How much of each would one use. Thank you for your time
No specific ratio… simply brew it more strongly than you normally would. It will have plenty of flavor.