Strawberry Tiramisu

 Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and are a staple in my fridge all year round. With strawberry season just around the corner, there have been some early crops resulting in lots of strawberries on sale lately. I wanted to create a light and refreshing dessert for my child’s homecoming dinner to make use of the strawberries I picked up. This recipe I came across for Strawberry Tiramisu was a perfect ending to our delicious and special meal…

Tiramisu is a popular dessert made with layers of ladyfingers cookies, sweetened mascarpone cheese, espresso and cocoa. The traditional recipe is delicious but for a different twist, this version incorporates plump fresh strawberries, strawberry preserves and orange juice concentrate. The original recipe calls for Cointreau, an orange liqueur and orange juice, however I substituted both these ingredients with frozen orange juice concentrate instead. The concentrate really gives a defined orange flavor to the dish and is a great substitute if you don’t want to use Cointreau. I definitely recommend making this dish at least a day in advance in order for the flavors to meld and for the crisp ladyfingers to fully soften.

1 1/4 cups strawberry preserves
2/3 cup frozen orange juice from concentrate plus 4 tablespoons, thawed & divided
1 pound mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream (also known as heavy cream)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract