As an Italian, I’m always on a quest to find the best tiramisu. For those who have yet to experience the beauty of tiramisu, it’s a traditional Italian dessert made up of coffee-soaked ladyfingers, layered with a mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese (or another cream cheese mixture). It’s then sprinkled with cocoa powder.
Whether you get tiramisu at the restaurant and take it home, buy it at the store, or make it yourself, it’s so good you’ll want to save some for later. Can you freeze tiramisu? The good news is, yes you can! Freezing leftover tiramisu can keep it fresh for up to 4 months.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about extending the shelf life of your tiramisu recipe!
Can Tiramisu Be Frozen?
Tiramisu actually freezes better than you’d expect it to.
Given it contains eggs, mascarpone, whipped cream and coffee-soaked ladyfingers, it almost seems impossible to think the dessert would be able to freeze well enough that you’d be tempted to eat it later. But as long as you seal it right, you’ll be able to enjoy tiramisu for a little while longer.
How to Freeze Tiramisu
It’s better to portion the leftover tiramisu into individual slices and put them in their own containers. This helps each piece hold its flavors and texture nicely.
Once portioned, tightly wrap each piece in plastic wrap or parchment paper. You should wrap your dessert several times to keep the air out of the product and prevent freezer burn.
Once it’s nice and wrapped, place it into a freezer bag. If you’re low on freezer bags, you can double up (or even triple up) with other pieces. To avoid squishing the leftover tiramisu, use foil takeaway trays for each portion, giving your tiramisu a little stability.
You are then ready to freeze your tiramisu to enjoy at a later date.
How Long Can Tiramisu Be Kept in the Freezer?
The freezer is great for expanding the life of most foods, tiramisu being one of them.
Lucky for you, tiramisu can actually last a decent amount of time in the freezer. Tiramisu-lovers have the ability to last up to 4 months frozen. However, if you want the tiramisu at its best quality, then you should enjoy it for up to 4 weeks in the freezer. That’s the longest it will last without compromising the ladyfingers’ texture when thawed.
Can You Refreeze Tiramisu?
Although tiramisu can give us 4 extra months of Italian goodness, once it’s defrosted,you shouldn’t refreeze it.
Because there’s so much dairy in the dessert, it makes it that much harder to freeze in general, so freezing it again would be very difficult.
That’s why it is suggested to portion, so you’re not taking out larger pieces you won’t eat.
How to Defrost Tiramisu
Frozen tiramisu is super easy to defrost, which is another reason to love it. All you have to do is make sure you give yourself enough time to defrost it (which means patience).
Take your frozen tiramisu out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge overnight, allowing it to defrost at a good pace.
If you want to wait another 15 more minutes to get the tiramisu at room temperature, you can do so by placing it on the counter from the refrigerator.
If you don’t feel the need to do that (which is my take because it tastes just as good cold), then you do not have to do this step.
Related Questions
How to Tell if Tiramisu Has Gone Bad
There are a few ways to tell if the tiramisu has gone bad. Starting with the texture, if your tiramisu is overly soft, mushy, and wet, then those are signs it went bad. Refrigerating the dessert will help the mascarpone cheese maintain its structure and prevent it from going mushy.
When it comes to taste, you will be able to tell tiramisu has gone bad by a sour taste. This indicates spoilage. Tiramisu is known for its sweet and creamy taste, so if you do not taste that, it’s time to discard it.
Lastly, if you see mold, get rid of it. That’s why it’s also essential to wrap your food tight and make sure no air gets through.
Air can contain mold spores, so make sure when you store the goods away safely. If you happen to see mold, do not try to cut it off. The whole dessert will be contaminated even if you can’t see it.
How Long Can You Keep Tiramisu in the Fridge?
If you didn’t freeze tiramisu and only put it in the refrigerator, you could expect it to go bad after 4 days.
Although it doesn’t last as long, this is definitely the best way to make sure your tiramisu is at its freshest when you’re eating it.
It also means you’ll get to enjoy tiramisu every day for 4 days!
Where Does Tiramisu Come From?
Obviously, tiramisu was first created in Italy. However, there are a couple legends about its history. The first rumored discovery was in the Tuscany region in Siena during a visit by the Grand duke Cosimo III de Medici. Originally it was called “del duca,” or the Duke’s Soup.
Another tale was that it started in Turin, the capital city of Piedmont. It was said that the dessert was invented for Camillo Denso, the count of Cavour, and then arrived in Emilia-Romagna via Forli writer Pellegrino Artusi. In 1891, he published a book where he describes a similar recipe, but instead replaces mascarpone with butter.
However, these rumors were not considered credible, but the *real* story started in between the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the areas of Treviso and Udine. Originally in Treviso, the dessert was called “Tiremesù” in the late 1960s at the restaurant called “Le Beccherie” from an idea by pastry chef Loly Linguanotto to rework a typical Venetian desert, the Sbatudin, a mixture of egg yolks whipped with sugar.
As for Friuli Venezia Giulia, they say “Tirimisù” appeared at hotel-restaurant Roma in Tolmezzo (Udine) during the 1950s. However, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Resources has deemed the birthplace of traditional tiramisu to be Friuli, adding the dessert to the Friulian list of PAT – Traditional Agri-Food Products.
Wherever tiramisu came from, we can all agree that because of the discovery, we are better for it. And although it’s my go-to at any restaurant, I personally haven’t found one better than my mother’s, so I thank her for perfecting the recipe!
