Cottage Cheese Tiramisu (A High-Protein Dessert)

5 from 2 votes

Cottage Cheese Tiramisu (A High-Protein Dessert)

This recipe literally came to me in a dream. Use cottage cheese instead of mascarpone in my beloved tiramisu recipe, and boy was my subconscious onto something! This cottage cheese tiramisu packs 10g of protein per slice with no protein powder needed. Just 20 minutes of prep, a handful of real ingredients, and way fewer calories than the original.

Prep Time20

Cook Time0

Chilling time6

Total Time6 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: chocolate, coffee, cottage cheese tiramisu, cottage cheese tiramisu recipe, high protein, high protein dessert, high protein tiramisu, no bake, protein tiramisu, tiramisu without mascarpone

Servings:

Calories: 332kcal

Author: Mika Kinney

Equipment

1 hand mixer
1 blender or food processor
1 large bowl
9x9 pan or 9x13 for thinner layers

Ingredients

Whipped Cream

2 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar can omit for less sweetness
2 teaspoon ground coffee
¼ cup collagen peptides unflavored, optional for more protein

Protein Cream

5 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
16 oz cottage cheese
⅛ teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

The Rest

2 packs Lady fingers depending on pan size it will take 1-2 packs
1.5 cups coffee strongly brewed
2 tablespoon cocoa powder extra dark if possible
3 tablespoon coffee liquor like Kaluha, optional

Instructions

Brew a strong 1.5 cups coffee. When the coffee is done, pour into a wide bowl and mix with the 3 tablespoon coffee liquor.
While it's brewing, begin whipping the 2 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream. Once stiff peaks form, add the ¼ cup powdered sugar and 2 teaspoon ground coffee. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
In a blender, combine 5 egg yolks, ½ cup sugar, 16 oz cottage cheese, ⅛ teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and ¼ teaspoon salt until smooth to make the protein cream.
Remove ¼th of the whipped cream and keep it in the fridge for now. Add the protein cream to the other ¾ths of the whipped cream. Gently fold it in with a spatula, being careful to not deflate it too much. It doesn't need to be fully incorporated, just mostly.
Grab your pan and set up a layering station with the 2 packs Lady fingers, then the bowl of coffee, then the pan, and the protein whipped cream on the other side.
Now, dip each side of the lady finger into the coffee mixture for 2 seconds, or just until they feel slightly heavy. Then transfer to the bottom of the 9x13 dish. Repeat until you have a single layer of lady fingers on the entire bottom of the pan.
There is an art to this because if dipped too long, they will fall apart.
Top the cookies with half of the protein whipped cream, spreading evenly to get it into all the nooks and crannies. Repeat the lady finger process, placing another even layer of the soaked cookies on top of the cream. Spread out the remaining protein whipped cream on top.
Finally, grab your remaining whipped cream from the fridge and spread or pipe it evenly over the top.
Let this chill, covered, in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. Dust with the 2 tablespoon cocoa powder just before serving.

Video

Notes

Do I need to cook the egg yolks?

Traditional tiramisu doesn’t cook the egg yolks because it uses such high-quality ingredients. And if you think about it, we eat over-easy eggs with runny yolks all the time, so no, you don’t need to cook the egg yolks.

But, if you are nervous here’s what you can do.

Mix together the egg yolks and sugar in a cold saucepan until a paste forms.
Bring to a low heat while constantly whisking.
Continue cooking and whisking for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture has turned light yellow (more golden in color) and appears silky.
Then add this mixture to the blender with everything else and continue on.

To add more protein

Try using ¼ cup of collagen in the whipped cream to add an additional 20 grams of protein to the dish. This takes the total protein per slice to 13g.

Storage & make ahead tips

This dessert should be kept in the fridge or freezer in a covered container. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for 3 months. It freezes really well (after soaking for the recommended time) and I’ve been able to slice it, wrap it with plastic wrap, and then place them in a ziplock bag for double freezer protection.

It should be eaten cold and if eating from the freezer, let it thaw a bit on the counter for 15-20 minutes (for a single slice) before digging into the tiramisu.

Freezer Tip! I always try to portion desserts into individual serving sizes when freezing. This makes it easy to remove just 1 or 2 to enjoy for dessert. If I’m gifting this, then I will make and freeze the whole tray.

Make ahead

Tiramisu is the perfect dessert to make in advance! You can make it up to 2 days before. Just wait to dust with chocolate until right before. You can also make it, let it soak, and then freeze it for up to 3 months. Just pop it in the fridge the night before you want to enjoy it or let it thaw on the counter. Dust with cocoa and enjoy!

Gluten-free: Yes, you can use gluten-free lady fingers to make this protein dessert.

Single serve protein tiramisu: You can layer the lady fingers (or rice cakes) in small storage containers, jars, or ramekins with the cream for single serve sizes.

Nutrition