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Tiramisu Pie is the answer to “what if tiramisu was a cream pie?” Rich espresso rum custard filling on a chocolate cookie crust all topped with mascarpone and cocoa powder.
This tiramisu pie! I made this pie a few times to recipe test it, pretty normal stuff, but after I finally nailed it, I loved it SO much that I decided it was going to be my Thanksgiving pie.
It was really easy to make, which is why I made it, and right before I started to make it, I remembered that a friend of mine is gluten-free. Luckily I found out that you can totally make this pie with gluten-free ginger snaps and itโll be just great.
I needed a tablespoon less butter but it worked! I was pumped to find that out.
So, what is Tiramisu Pie?
The pie goes like this: chocolate cookie crust on the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Then itโs filled with an espresso cream custard that is SO good. At the end of making the espresso cream, I mixed in a few tablespoons of rum and it is BOMB. It tastes just like tiramisu. Then, the pie is filled and chilled. Right before serving, you pipe on some mascarpone cream and top it with a bunch of cocoa powder.
How to Make Tiramisu Pie:
- Make the cookie crust. Blitz the cookies in a food processor until you get fine crumbs then add the melted butter and salt and mix until it resembles wet sand. Press the crust into a pie dish and bake to set it.
- Make the Espresso Cream. Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, espresso powder, and milk in a pot. Bring to a simmer, use it to temper the eggs, then add it all back to the pot. Cook until it’s thickened then strain through a sieve to catch any eggy bits and add the rum and vanilla extract.
- Chill. Add the filling to the crust, press plastic wrap directly on the top and chill for a few hours.
- Make the mascarpone cream. When you’re ready to serve, beat together all the ingredients for the mascarpone cream until smooth then pipe it onto the pie.
- Dust and Serve. Dust generously with cocoa powder then slice and serve the pie.
Tips and Tricks:
- Now, Iโm gonna keep it real and say that the slices arenโt beauties. Theyโre not perfect slices but I realized that to achieve that it would require more corn starch in the cream filling and I liked the texture how it was. So, itโll be messy slices but itโll still tastes really amazing.
- Also, another idea about this recipe. You could make the espresso cream, fill it in bowls and top it with either lady finger crumbles or cookie crumbles and then the mascarpone cream. It would be so good. Think of it like a whole lot of flavors of tiramisu but just reimagined a little bit.
Tiramisu Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookie Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Espresso Cream:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mascarpone Topping:
- 1/2 cup mascarpone
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
- To make the Cookie Crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, add the cookie crumbs and salt. Pour the melted butter on top and mix with your hands until the butter is evenly distributed. It should feel like wet sand. Add the mixture to a 9-inch pie dish and press it onto the bottom and up the sides of the dish until itโs one even layer. Transfer to the oven to bake for 10 minutes, until the bottoms and edges have set. Remove and allow to cool completely before filling.
- To make the Espresso Cream: Place a sieve or strainer over a bowl and set aside. In a medium skillet, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt and 1/4 cup milk together until the corn starch has dissolved.. Turn the heat to medium and then pour in the remaining 2 1/4 cups milk. Whisk until completely combined. While the milk is heating up, add the espresso powder and whisk until dissolved. Bring the entire mixture to a slight boil and then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until thickened, stirring the entire time. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks; add a few tablespoons of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper them and then pour the egg mixture into the milk mixture. Bring it to a simmer, cooking for the custard for about 3 to 3 minutes, stirring the entire time, until thickened. Pour the espresso cream through the strainer into the bowl, catching any eggy bits. Immediately whisk in the rum and vanilla extract.
- Pour the espresso cream into the prepared pie cookie crust and smooth out the surface with a spatula. Immediately place a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface of the custard. Allow to come to cool slightly on your kitchen counter for 10 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight.
- To make the mascarpone cream: add the mascarpone, sugar, egg yolk and heavy cream to the bowl of stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto the top of the pie however you like. You can also spoon it on and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Dust the topping with cocoa powder and slice it up and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more pie recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
I made this pie for Thanksgiving this year and got some raving reviews. I used Kahlua for the rum (since it was the the only option I could find at home), hoping that the added coffee flavor wouldn’t overpower the rest of the pie in addition to the instant espresso. I’m not a huge coffee person so the coffee taste (to me) was a little too strong for my liking when trying the expresso cream by itself, but it came together perfectly combined with the two other layers. My version personally tasted more like a mocha pie than tiramisu, but I still really enjoyed it. I would definitely make it again.
This looks great! Quick question: I know you commented below that you use famous chocolate wafers. How many packages do you use for the crust? I’m planning to make it for Thanksgiving ๐
for others curious, I made it today and it’s a little less than 1 package of the Nabisco famous chocolate wafers!
I think this is my new favorite pie! We’re over here in Italy and I was looking for something to make for pi day to ‘pick me/us up’ during these lockdown days- this definitely did the trick! I added a layer of ganache under the espresso cream using a 1-1 dark chocolate to cream ratio and it was so good! Even the cream by itself would have been great and I plan on making it again asap in a bowl topped with ladyfingers or cookie crumbs like you recommended. We didn’t have rum on hand, but we had some coffee liqueur so I added that and it worked well as a substitute. My pie, as you and others noted, came out into jiggly, creamy slices on top, but the crust held it together at the bottom. I like eating pie with a spoon anyway, so this was perfect! Thank you for this great recipe, Adrianna!
Made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was amazing ๐ Pretty sliceable. I cooked the custard to the point that it was the consistency of a thicker pudding. The family favorite of the dinner and a new addition to our Thanksgiving traditions!
yay! so wonderful to hear!
What chocolate cookies do you use for the crumbs?
famous chocolate wafers! they’re amazing for any cookie crust. you could also use oreos and just scrape off the filling. here’s a photo of the famous chocolate wafers:
https://www.google.com/search?q=famous+chocolate+wafers&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj558mryO3UAhWqxVQKHV5iCkIQ_AUICygC&biw=1261&bih=677#imgrc=_
How many packages of the famous chocolate wafers do you use for this recipe? Looking forward to making it for thanksgiving!
Hi,
So I made this pie yesterday and have kept it in the fridge overnight, but this morning when I checked it it seems pretty wiggly. What is the consistency this pie is supposed to be? I know you said it’s messy, but I’m not sure mine seems custard-like. I’m not sure it will hold up if I cut a slice….any thoughts/advice?
That sounds about right. It won’t be sliceable, it’ll definitely be a messy slice.
Awesome and lovely!!!