The literal meaning of tiramisu is pick me up or cheer me up in Italian and that is exactly what a dreamy combination of creamy whipped filling and concentrated espresso. And while a classic is all fine and good, but having a twist on something doesn’t hurt — enter the Oreo Tiramisu. A traditional Italian dessert cream is paired with America’s favorite chocolate creme sandwich cookie for a decadent and whimsical dessert.

This recipe has some delicious deviations that will have very few people objecting to. The Italian zabaglione cream’s mascarpone cream is swapped out for an easily accessible cream cheese. The espresso also gets exchanged for a strong cup of Joe.

To start the recipe, you go about making the zabaglione filling. Over some simmering water, you place a bowl that has the egg yolks and sugar, whisking until the sugar dissolves and the mixture turns a pale yellow color and thickens slightly, it’ll almost look like melted ice cream. Once the mixture gets to this stage, you go about straining the mixture to remove any odd egg lumps and let it cool to room temperature.

When the egg-sugar mixture gets to room temperature, mix the zabaglione mixture with softened cream cheese, followed by the whipped cream.

Now comes the fun part – assembling! Before you get started, you’ll want everything ready to go — cooled coffee, cream mixture, and Oreos. Unlike lady fingers, which need a few seconds to absorb liquid, Oreos don’t need a wait time. If you let the Oreos sit in the coffee, they’ll dissolve into the liquid never again returning to a cookie form. Drop the Oreos in one at a time gives you the quick control needed. One at a time may sound daunting but these Oreos only need a quick kiss of coffee.

Layer your coffee-soaked Oreos into the bottom of an 8-x-8 pan. You may have to break some of the cookies in half to fit them all in.

Next, layer the zabaglione cream into the pan.

Keep repeating the process of Oreos, then cream until you reach the top of the pan. The final layer should be the zabaglione.

The hardest part follows — waiting. This tiramisu needs time to firm up. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can simply put it in the fridge, but if you’re short on time, pop the tiramisu into the freezer.

It’s hard to cut into pieces but use a spatula to get to the bottom of the pan.

One bite of this Oreo Tiramisu, and you’ll wonder what stopped you from trying it sooner.

The Oreos are laced with an aromatic injection of coffee and softened with creamy zabaglione that has a perfect tang from the cream cheese. Topping the tiramisu with cocoa powder balances the sweetness and drives home the chocolate flavor from the Oreos.

While this is a great dish to have in the refrigerator, it’d make a great icebox dessert as well that you can have on standby for any event or craving you have in the future!