A fun fall twist on a classic Italian dessert, this Pumpkin Chai Tiramisu has chai tea-dipped lady fingers, creamy pumpkin mascarpone with a touch of rum, and is topped with cinnamon and cocoa powder. Add or omit the alcohol to suit your needs, but you'll love this unique tiramisu with or without it.
Tiramisu is a classic for a reason. It's incredibly flavorful with the espresso, rum, and pairs perfectly with a cool, fluffy and lightly sweet mascarpone whipped cream next to the bitter cocoa powder.
We love to serve the classic version as individual mini tiramisu cups, but it's also fun to mix it up with some new flavors. That's where this pumpkin tiramisu version comes in, as well as a summery cherry almond tiramisu and bright lemon earl grey tiramisu!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Tiramisu with a twist - Pumpkin tiramisu follows all the same steps as a traditional tiramisu recipe, just with slightly different ingredients. This recipe is made without coffee, and instead uses masala chai (tea bags or homemade spice blend) to soak the lady fingers for a nice warm spice. Want to turn this into a dirty chai version? Add some coffee or espresso, too!
Classic textures - soft spongey lady fingers and creamy, luscious mascarpone cheese layer. This recipe cuts like soft butter - just like in this pumpkin mousse pie!
Quick to assemble - While this dish does need to rest for about 6 hours for the lady fingers to soften, flavors to meld, and cream to set, you'll have this in the fridge in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- Chai Masala or chai tea bags. I’m sure most will opt for tea bags (which is how I’ve photographed this recipe), but I urge you to purchase this chai masala blend if you’re a frequent user. You can also make your own homemade spice blend if you have a spice grinder.
- Mascarpone cheese. This can be found in most grocery stores, usually near the specialty cheeses. I prefer to use Bel Gioioso or Vermont Creamer brands, as they get the fluffiest!
- Granulated sugar. This is used to sweeten the mascarpone mixture.
- Egg yolks. Tiramisu uses egg yolks to help make the mixture extra creamy and rich. See the FAQ section at the end of the post for more information.
- Dark rum. This gets mixed into the mascarpone mixture. Feel free to omit if you’re not into alcohol. Or, feel free to add slightly more if you’re feeling it!
- Heavy whipping cream. Only two tablespoons are needed, but this is also key to getting a super fluffy pumpkin cream layer.
- Pumpkin puree. This is added to the fluffy mascarpone and provides a nice orange tinge to the filling! Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie mix (which already includes sugar and spices). This recipe was tested with Libby's brand.
- Lady fingers. You can find lady fingers in the Italian section of most grocery stores! I am usually all about making items from scratch, but this is just not one of those times. There are lots of brands that carry these, and I don’t find one is better than the other. Just be sure the package reads “lady fingers” specifically.
- Cocoa powder & ground cinnamon. These get mixed together and dusted completely over the top of the final layer of mascarpone. This should be done just before you are ready to serve.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add 1 shot of espresso to the dipping liquid to turn it into a dirty chai version!
- Add the rum to the chai instead of the pumpkin (or in addition to for a very boozy version).
- Omit the alcohol completely, if desired.
- Add 1 tablespoon maple syrup in addition to the sugar for a slight flavor enhancement.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Steep the chai tea until deeply fragrant and flavorful.
Two: Beat together all ingredients for the pumpkin mascarpone until light and fluffy.
Three: Dip enough lady fingers to layer them into the bottom of the loaf pan.
Four: Spread half of the pumpkin mascapone over top.
Five: Repeat with another layer of dipped lady fingers.
Six: Spread the remining pumpkin cream on top and smooth it out completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
Seven: Mix together the cinnamon and cocoa powder and dust it over the top until completely coated.
Eight: Slices or scoop and serve!
Expert Tips
- Use cold egg yolks, heavy cream, and mascarpone. Fats in these ingredients trap air best when cold, so cold ingredients are needed to make a light and fluffy mixture!
- Dip the lady fingers quickly - don't allow them to soak! Dunk, roll, place in pan.
- Use an offset spatula to easily smooth out the pumpkin mascarpone.
- Add the cocoa powder no more than 1 hour prior to serving or else it absorbs the liquid and gets soggy. If this happens, dust a bit more on top before serving.
- Use a damp paper towel to clean off cocoa powder from the edges of the serving dish after dusting it on top.
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Recipe FAQs
By all means! Simply omit the rum from the filling - it is still absolutely delicious this way.
Be sure the egg yolks, mascarpone, and whipped cream are very cold before whipping. If you can also add the pumpkin puree to the fridge before using it, that's also a great step!
Storage
Store the pumpkin chai tiramisu covered in the fridge for up to four days.
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What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
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📖Recipe
Pumpkin Chai Tiramisu
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- 5x9 inch loaf pan
- Small fine mesh strainer
- Offset spatula, optional
Ingredients
- 3 chai tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea + 1 tablespoon masala spice blend
- 8 oz mascarpone cold
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks cold
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream cold
- ⅓ cup pure pumpkin puree*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 14 lady fingers
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Steep tea in 1 cup of boiling hot water and allow it to sit until cool. If using loose leaf tea, strain before dipping your lady fingers.3 chai tea bags
- Once the tea is cool, make the pumpkin mascarpone. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer, beat the mascarpone, sugar, egg yolks, rum, heavy cream, pumpkin puree, and vanilla on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.8 oz mascarpone, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 large egg yolks, 1 tablespoon dark rum, 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, ⅓ cup pure pumpkin puree*, 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- Get your lady fingers, tea, and loaf pan ready for assembly. Dip one lady finger into the tea and rotate quickly to saturate, then gently lay in the loaf pan. Repeat the process until the bottom of the pan is covered.14 lady fingers
- Cover the first layer of lady fingers with half of the pumpkin mascarpone mixture, then repeat the dipping and layering process of the lady fingers. Add the remaining pumpkin mascarpone and smooth into a very clean and flat layer.
- Cover the tiramisu with cling wrap and allow it to sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Before serving, remove the cling wrap and combine the cocoa powder and cinnamon. Sift the mixture over the top to cover completely, then wipe down the edges of the pan with a damp paper towel to create clean edges.1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Slice or scoop and place onto plates or bowls.
Jessica says
Made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was delicious! Was concerned at first when the filling seemed liquid-y but whipping it long enough made it turn perfectly luscious. Might add a bit of extra espresso in the dunking liquid next time for a bit of an extra kick. Thank you for a great recipe!
Callan Wenner says
Hi Jessica, glad it turned out for you and that you trusted your gut and kept whipping! Love the idea of extra espresso - sounds perfect. Thanks so much for trying it!
Morgan says
This came out delicious and was the perfect festive addition to our Thanksgiving meal! I don’t have a stand mixer so used the whipping attachment on an immersion blender. Will definitely make again!
Callan Wenner says
So smart using the attachment on the immersion. Glad you enjoyed this and thank you for trying it!
Matt Cooper says
If I double the batch do I still use the same 5x9 pan and it's just a taller Tiramisu?
Callan Wenner says
Hi Matt, you'd want to use 2 loaf pans, or something closer to an 8x11" pan for a double version.
anon says
This did not turn out for me. Whipped layer stayed liquid.
Callan Wenner says
Hi there - this would occur if the mascarpone ingredients are not whipped long enough (or are not cold enough). The entire dish also needs to set for a number of hours in the fridge to re-solidify after whipping.
Laurel says
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was so good!! Getting ready to make it again, this time for my work holiday dessert contest 😋
Callan Wenner says
Oh yay! So happy to hear this - good luck on the dessert contest!