July 17, 2023

Low Calorie Healthy Tiramisu

What’s not to love in a Tiramisu?! (Except the huge number of calories?! 😉). Tiramisu is truly a ‘pick-me-up’, true to its meaning! This popular Italian dessert is very easy to make, and melts in the mouth, like a wonderful cloud of cheese, cream, and delicate sponge. It’s easily the most favourite dessert for most people, even outside Italy.

While I did stumble upon recipes which resulted in delicious Tiramisu, it was not sustainable to eat it often. The no of calories in one serving of Tiramisu was much higher than no of calories I can eat in a meal (~+800calories!!)

HOW HEALTHY IS TIRAMISU?

There’s absolutely no doubt that Tiramisu is popular and for good reason too, its lipsmackingly tasty!. However, how healthy is Tiramisu really?

TIRAMISU NUTRITION FACTS

Let’s look at one of the most popular Tiramisu recipes on the internet. The nutrition facts for BBC Good Food Tiramisu recipe arebelow have been taken directly from theBBC Good Food website.

TIRAMISU NUTRITION INFO

per Serving	Tiramisu
Calories	853
Fat	73 g
Saturated Fat	42 g
Carbohydrates	44 g
Sugars	35g
Fibre	0g
Protein	5 g
Salt	0.3 mg

TIRAMISU MACRO NUTRIENTS

Now on its own Tiramisu is not very healthy. Most Tiramisu recipes does are high in fat (saturated) and carbohydrates. The protein content is also minimal. Tiramisu also has zero fibre. All of this combined, make it the perfect recipe for blood glucose spike and inflammation.

You will notice that one serving of Tiramisu is provides itself has higher sugar (35g) than the maximum limit of sugar an average can safely consume (30g). The saturated fat in Tiramisu is also much higher than the upper limits of recommended Saturated fat per day, which is 30g for men and 20g for women. This means, even if you don’t consume anything else in the entire day and just have one serving of BBC Good food tiramisu, you would have exceeded the acceptable levels of sugars and saturated fat consumption in a day.

Scary, right?! But, worry not, we have got you covered! Our Insanely Healthy Tiramisu recipe has only 127 calories per serving. It is well within the recommended fat and sugar consumption guidelines.

TIRAMISU MICRO NUTRIENTS

In terms of micro-nutrients, Tiramisu is not very high. It has a good amount of Vitamin C (~25% of daily recommend value based on a 2000 calorie diet). It does have small amounts of Vitamin A (~11.3% recommended for a 2000 calorie diet).

TIRAMISU CALORIE DENSITY

Tiramisu is also unhealthy because of its calorie density. One Serving of BBC Tiramisu is 853 calories. This alone is ~43% of the total daily recommended calorie intake for an average woman and close to 34% of daily recommended calorie intake for men.

So, if you like Tiramisu, it can be very easy to consume a lot of calories with what can feel like a small serving of Tiramisu. For this reason, we present our insanely healthy low calorieTiramisu alternative that provides all the flavour goodness of Tiramisu, without the calorie density to ensure that you do not accidentally cross your daily calorie thresholds.

LOW-CALORIE TIRAMISU

Our insanely healthy Tiramisu alternative can be made in minutes at home. You will need the following ingredients for it

2 large eggs (whites and yolks separated)
225g Low Fat Greek Yogurt
225g Quark
25ml Skimmed Milk
72g Xylitol
24 Sponge fingers
¼ lemon to squeeze
5g Rice Flour/ Corn Flour
2tsp Instant Coffee Granules
0.5 tspn Vanilla essence
1g Cacao Powder (for dusting)
300ml water

Making this healthy Tiramisu alternative is as easy as combining all ingredients together in a bowl and whisking them well. It needs about 30 mins of chilling time. You can make the recipe ahead of time, the previous day as well.

NUTRITION FACTS FOR HEALTHY TIRAMISU

Our Healthy Tiramisu is less than 150 cal dessert per serving. For the quantities mentioned above (and in the recipe below), the overall nutrition profile is

Calories: 127
Fat: 2.1g
Carbs: 19.2g
Protein: 7.6g

WHY THIS TIRAMISU IS HEALTHIER THAN REGULAR TIRAMISU

Let’s look at a comparison of Real Tiramisu with our healthy alternative below

REGULAR TIRAMISU VS HEALTHY TIRAMISU NUTRITION INFO

per Serving	Regular Tiramisu	Healthy Tiramisu
Calories	853	127
Fat	73 g	2.1 g
Saturated Fat	42 g	0.8 g
Carbohydrates	44 g	19.2 g
Protein	5 g	7.6 g
Sodium	300mg	46 mg

As you can see in the table above, the caloric density of this insanely healthy Tiramisu alternative is about one-seventh that of regular Tiramisu. This means that you can eat 7 times as much of it and have the same caloric intake. However, we don’t recommend you have six servings in a single day, You can safely enjoy 2 to 3 servings in a day, while combining it with a good amount of protein and fibre, This dessert in itself will ensure that you do not go over your daily caloric limits while enjoying this delicious alternative.

Additionally, this Tiramisu alternative also provides protein and carbohydrates while reducing the fat content in your Tiramisu. Most adults do not get their daily protein requirements met and this Tiramisu alternative takes you one step closer. However, if you really want to use this dessert to meet your protein goals, do check out our High Protein Tiramisu recipe.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THIS TIRAMISU

CAN I USE ANY OTHER TYPE OF CHEESE INSTEAD OF QUARK?

Yes absolutely. You can use Lightest cream cheese instead of Quark. This will increase calories per serving to approx. 150 calories.

CAN I USE ANY OTHER TYPE OF CREAM INSTEAD OF GREEK YOGHURT?

You can use any low-fat cream instead of Greek Yoghurt. However Green Yoghurt will offer protein while still keeping calories low.

CAN I USE REGULAR YOGURT INSTEAD OF GREEK YOGURT?

Greek yogurt is strained to remove extra liquid content and is a better choice for making this Tiramisu recipe. If you do not have greek yogurt available however, you can strain regular yogurt using a cheesecloth to get a similar consistency.

CAN I USE PLANT BASED YOGURTS INSTEAD OF GREEK YOGURT?

Absolutely, try this recipe with your favorite plant-based yogurt. Coconut/Almond/Oat yogurt should all work well with minor differences due to their base flavor profiles. Please bear in mind that using Coconut Yoghurt can give a coconut flavour to your Tiramisu. Alternately, you can also substitute Plant based cream for the same quantity of Greek Yoghurt. Please bear mind to look for plant-based yoghurt without gums if you have sensitive/leaky gut.

CAN I USE PLANT BASED MILK INSTEAD OF SKIMMED MILK?

Of course, you can try this recipe with your favourite plant-based milk like Almond, Cashew, Coconut or Oat milk. However, refrain from using Hazlenut milk unless you want the Hazlenut flavour. Please bear mind to look for plant-based milk without gums if you have sensitive/leaky gut.

CAN I USE PLANT BASED CHEESE INSTEAD OF QUARK?

Absolutely, you can use your favorite plant-based soft cheese. Cashew/Almond/Coconut soft cheese should all work well with minor differences due to their base flavor profiles. Please bear in mind that using Coconut based soft cheese can give a slight coconut flavour to your Tiramisu. Please bear mind to look for plant based cheese without gums if you have sensitive/leaky gut.

COMPATIBILITY WITH DIFFERENT DIETS

IS THIS RECIPE KETO FRIENDLY

No, this recipe is not Keto friendly due to high amount of carbs

IS THIS RECIPE PALEO FRIENDLY

Since Dairy is not allowed on Paleo, this recipe is not Paleo friendly. However, you can substitute dairy with plant based products to make it Paleo Friendy.

IS THIS RECIPE SLOW CARB FRIENDLY

Since Dairy is not allowed on a Slow Carb Diet, this recipe is not Slow Carb friendly

IS THIS RECIPE VEGETARIAN?

Since Dairy and eggs are considered vegetarian, this recipe is Vegetarian friendly

IS THIS RECIPE VEGAN?

Since Dairy is an animal product, this recipe is not Vegan friendly. However, you can substitute the greek yogurt, quark and milk with your favorite plant based alternative to make the recipe vegan. Almond or cashew based products are a great choice for this!