Pumpkin Tiramisu

Author Notes

Pumpkin Tiramisu is the creamy, elegant, no-bake, holiday-spiced dessert that you didn’t even know you were missing. And in this instance, it is also one of the easiest. Moreover, pumpkin tiramisu is even better than traditional, an unpopular opinion for sure, but one that just needs to be voiced (sorry, haters). A can of pumpkin purée, plus some warm and toasty spices, is all it takes to carry this already fabulously simple and delicious treat straight over the top, in all the best ways.

Here, to avoid making a sabayon, a spiced pumpkin mascarpone whipped cream is layered with ladyfingers, providing the dessert with all the traditional tiramisu feels, but without the extra (timely) stovetop cooking step (I am a step avoider from way back, as is evidenced here). Room temperature mascarpone cheese is whisked together with heavy cream, pumpkin purée, and spices and in just a couple of minutes, a fluffy orange-hued cream is ready for prime time. Crunchy ladyfingers (I’m partial to Savoiardi) are then briefly dunked in a bourbon coffee mixture and snugly placed in the bottom of a baking dish. I like to use boiling water and a generous helping of espresso powder to make the coffee for the extra strong flavor it imparts (and because I’m not the “I have a cup of hot coffee hanging out on my kitchen counter and want to incorporate it into my baking” kind of person). Although traditional tiramisu calls for marsala wine, I like bourbon here. But you do you—even if “doing you” calls for leaving out the booze altogether (no judgment). just add a little extra boiling water or coffee to ensure you have enough liquid for soaking.

The soaked fingers are then topped with half the cream; followed by more fingers and cream. To finish the dessert, I sift a thick and luxurious coating of Dutch process cocoa powder over the final layer of cream, just as I would when assembling a traditional tiramisu. Not only is the contrast of the dark brown cocoa with the orange cream exquisitely beautiful to behold (hyperbolic but true), but pumpkin and chocolate are a match made in flavor heaven and 100 percent contribute to the next-level status of this treat. I like Dutch process for this application, due to its deep brown color. It goes without saying, however, that if chocolate and pumpkin are not your jam, by all means sift some cinnamon over the top, rather than the cocoa powder. But no matter what you choose to sift, pumpkin tiramisu deserves one of the coveted spots at your holiday dessert table—and your friends and family will thank you for including it.
—Jessie Sheehan