Tiramisu did not survive decades just to become a nightmare Pinterest desert board brick and mortar. Somewhere along the way, New York decided that any layered dessert in a clear cup deserves the name. All they do is dust it with something, pipe something creamy, and call it tiramisu. Collect the clout.
No. Absolutely not.
Real tiramisu is one thing and one thing only: ladyfingers soaked in espresso, mascarpone whipped with eggs and sugar, cocoa powder on top, and maybe a splash of Marsala if you’re feeling a little manic. Here’s my hit list, rapid fire:
Cafe 2by2 is out here with seaweed pork floss taro tiramisu and taro mochi tiramisu. Pork floss is not tiramisu, it’s a layered snack cup.
Cafe 2by2
Mammamisu leans into Lotus Biscoff and pistachio. Delicious flavors. Not tiramisu. What are we doing to this desert without an eyedropper of espresso?
Mammamisu
Moon Man has a jasmine tea longan tiramisu. Mokafe is pushing a Dubai chocolate tiramisu. (Dubai chocolate deserves a hit piece of its own).
Nippon Cha and Oncheon both sell a matcha tiramisu.
Nippon Cha
Elorea x Jamesyworld did matcha strawberry and mugwort injeolmi tiramisu for a limited pop-up that thankfully ended. At this point, we are just stacking creams and calling it a day.
Here is the problem. When everything is tiramisu, nothing is.
When you swap the coffee for jasmine tea or matcha or fruit puree, you are not riffing flavors. You made a mousse cake. And yes, I am aware that flavors evolve. I am not asking for dessert purity laws. I am asking for honesty. Call it a jasmine layered cake. Call it a matcha mascarpone cup. Call it taro dream fluff. Just stop hijacking a classic because the word tiramisu sells.
There is a difference between tiramisu flavored and tiramisu named.
Tiramisu flavored gelato? Fine. Tiramisu cookies? Great. Even tiramisu pancakes if you are actually using espresso and mascarpone and cocoa. That feels like appreciation. You are borrowing the profile. You are not pretending.
The things on this list are tiramis-not. If you like a layered dessert in a plastic cup with trendy powder on top, call it what it is.
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