A tropical twist on a traditional Italian dessert. This version is a great alternative if you like tiramisu, but are not a fan of coffee, or if you like piña colada and want something other than a drink. 
All the amazing flavors of a Piña Colada without the brain freeze. Layers of coconut cream and ladyfingers that have been dunked in a combination of pineapple juice and pineapple rum.
This is a great make-ahead recipe as it should sit for at least 8 hours or even better overnight. The recipe is also super flexible, you can make this in a 13 x 9-inch pan, a trifle bowl, or even in smaller individual serving bowls.
I even made these in small one cup size Ziplock containers for my daughter’s soccer team. It was quite time-consuming to make so many small containers, but great fun to hand these out for the coach’s birthday.
Piña Colada Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed coconut milk or coconut cream
- 1 (8 oz) package ⅓ less fat cream cheese
- 1 cup milk - anything but skim
- 1 (1.5) oz package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 (8 oz) tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed i.e. cool whip lite
- 2 (20oz) cans crushed pineapple in juice
- 30-48 ladyfingers
- 1 cup Malibu® pineapple rum or sub in extra pineapple juice to be alcohol-free
- ½ cup shredded coconut toasted
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl), mix the sweetened condensed coconut milk and cream cheese until no lumps remain.
- Add in the milk, vanilla pudding, and coconut extract and whisk until combined. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture (to keep the pudding from forming a skin) and chill for 30 minutes or until it is firm.
- While the pudding is setting, place the crushed pineapple in a strainer over a bowl. Collect 2 cups of juice and set the remaining pineapple aside. Add the 1 cup of pineapple rum to the 2 cups of juice and mix. You will use this on the ladyfingers and for the pineapple puree.
- Place the drained pineapple and 1 cup of the juice/rum mixture into a blender or food processer and puree until smooth.
- Remove the pudding from the fridge and gently fold in the entire tub of thawed whipped topping.
Building the layers
- Line a 13 x 9-inch pan with ladyfingers. You can also use a large trifle bowl and make several layers, or small mason jars for individual servings.
- Drizzle 1 cup of pineapple/rum juice over the ladyfingers. Place ½ of the pudding mixture onto the ladyfingers and use an offset spatula to spread the pudding evenly over the ladyfingers.
- Gently spoon most of the pineapple puree on top of the cream and spread it out evenly covering the cream layer completely. The excess is a chef treat.
- Place another layer of ladyfingers on top of the pineapple puree and drizzle with the remaining 1 cup of pineapple/rum juice.
- Spread out the remaining pudding mixture over the ladyfingers. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of the pudding. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (overnight is good).
Notes
The recipe tasted great with either and no changes were necessary even though the volume of the coconut is a little different. I also tried unsweetened coconut milk and unsweetened coconut cream, neither of them tasted as good so I do not recommend those. After all of the mixes are ready (making the cream, draining and pureeing the pineapple, and mixing in the rum) – it is easy to put together. Ladyfingers in the bottom with a drizzle of pineapple/rum juice.
Next a layer of 1/2 the cream and most of the pineapple. Make sure to spread out both layers evenly.
One more layer of ladyfingers topped with pineapple/rum drizzle followed by a cream layer. Finally, top the whole thing off with some toasted coconut. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight. Enjoy! It is truly delicious. Bring it to your next potluck you will not be disappointed.
