Recipe
Matcha tiramisu replaces the coffee soak with matcha, which sounds trivial and is not. Coffee is a thin liquid that ladyfingers drink politely. Matcha is a suspension that either sits on the surface or drags the biscuit into mush. Getting it right is mostly about the soak, and about accepting that this dessert needs more matcha than seems sensible.
The short answer. Whisk 8g of matcha into 200ml of hot water and cool it. Beat 250g mascarpone with 300ml whipped cream and 80g sugar. Dip ladyfingers in the matcha for one second each, layer, chill four hours, dust with sifted matcha at the moment of serving.
Ladyfingers are dry sponge, and they absorb liquid fast. Coffee tiramisu tolerates a two second dip. A matcha soak is thicker and clings, so one second per side is the limit, and the biscuit should still feel firm in the middle when you lay it down. It will continue absorbing moisture from the cream for the next four hours, which is the actual mechanism by which tiramisu sets. Soak it properly wet at the start and you will be serving green soup.
Mascarpone is roughly 44% fat, and fat mutes matcha aggressively. 8g across a dish of six to eight servings sounds like a lot next to a 2g bowl, but most of it is in the soak, where it is diluted through 200ml of water and then partly left behind in the bowl. Cut it to 4g and the dessert tastes of sweet cream with a green tint.
Classic tiramisu uses raw yolks in a zabaglione for richness and structure. This version uses whipped cream folded into mascarpone instead, which is safer, faster, and holds its shape better in a warm kitchen. The trade is a slightly lighter mouthfeel. In Indian summer conditions the whipped cream version is the more reliable one by a wide margin, and it will not weep if it sits out during a dinner.
Use a culinary grade for the 8g in the soak, where it is competing with sugar, cream and biscuit. If you want, use a small amount of a better ceremonial grade for the final dusting, because that matcha is eaten dry and undiluted and it is the first thing that hits the tongue. This is a genuine, cheap upgrade, and the only place in the dessert where a premium tin earns its price.
Matcha dusted onto a cold, moist surface starts absorbing water immediately. Within an hour a beautiful even green layer turns patchy and dark, and within a few hours it looks brown. Sift the dusting matcha over the dish in front of the people eating it, or at most a minute or two before. Every photograph of a sad, mottled matcha tiramisu is a picture of matcha dusted too early.
Mascarpone is expensive and inconsistently available. Full-fat cream cheese thinned with a little cream is the standard substitute and works well, though it is tangier. Hung curd is often suggested and is not a good swap here, because its acidity fights matcha's savoury character rather than supporting it as it does with coffee. If you use cream cheese, drop the sugar slightly, since the tang reads as needing less sweetness than it actually does.
Four hours minimum in the fridge, and overnight is better. Tiramisu is one of the few desserts that improves on day two, because moisture continues equalising between the biscuit and the cream. It does not improve on day three. Matcha oxidises, and by then the layers have gone visibly olive.
A no bake matcha tiramisu made with mascarpone and whipped cream instead of raw eggs. Six to eight servings, four hours to set.
Ingredients
Method
FAQ
About 8g in the soak for a six to eight serving dish, plus roughly 2g for the final dusting. That is far more than a single drink uses, because the soak is diluted through 200ml of water and much of it stays in the bowl, and because mascarpone's fat content mutes matcha heavily.
Yes, and it is the better choice in a warm kitchen. Folding whipped cream into mascarpone replaces the raw yolk zabaglione, sets more reliably, and will not weep if the dish sits out. The texture is slightly lighter.
You soaked the ladyfingers too long. Matcha soak is thicker than coffee and clings, so one second per side is the limit and the biscuit should still be firm in the middle when you lay it down. It absorbs more moisture from the cream over the next four hours, which is what makes it set.
Immediately before serving. Matcha dusted onto a cold moist surface absorbs water and goes patchy within an hour and brownish within a few. Sift it at the table.
Full-fat cream cheese loosened with a little cream is the closest substitute, though tangier, so reduce the sugar slightly. Avoid hung curd here. Its acidity works against matcha's savoury character in a way it does not with coffee.
It is better on day two than day one, because moisture equalises between biscuit and cream. Day three is too late. Matcha oxidises and the layers turn visibly olive.
Health claims about matcha are graded by evidence strength on our benefits page, and anything we have got wrong and fixed is logged on our corrections page. We do not sell matcha and we do not sell rank order, which is explained in our editorial policy.