In a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream on high speed until it is no longer bubbly and it starts to thicken. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat the mixture on high until soft to medium peaks form.
1 cup (240mL) heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
Stop the mixer, add the mascarpone cheese, and gently fold it into the whipped cream until there are no more lumps. If you're having a hard time getting rid of the lumps, you can use the mixer again, but do it carefully and on low so as not to break or deflate the mixture. Set aside.
8 ounces (226g) mascarpone cheese
Arrange ladyfingers in the bottom of an 8" x 8" square baking pan, cutting some of the cookies to make them fit. I find this easiest to do with a very sharp or serrated knife.
32 ladyfingers1
Using a pastry brush, generously brush each ladyfinger with coffee, trying your best not to completely saturate the cookies but moisten them enough so they can soften.
¼ cup (60mL) espresso or very strong coffee2
Spread half of the raspberry preserves onto the ladyfingers layer, trying your best to spread it out evenly. If you're having trouble spreading it, add a little water (or even espresso/coffee!) to the preserves to thin it out.
⅔ cup (190g) raspberry preserves
Spread half of the mascarpone cheese mixture onto the lady fingers/preserves layer, then scatter about ⅓ of the raspberries evenly over the mascarpone layer.
12 ounces (340g) fresh raspberries
Arrange another layer of ladyfingers on top of the raspberries, pressing down gently but firmly. Repeat steps 4 through 6, using the remaining raspberries to top the entire dessert. Cover and allow tiramisu to chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours before serving. Store leftovers covered tightly in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Tiramisu freezes well, up to 3 months. Wrap tightly and thaw in the refrigerator at least 24 hours.
Notes
Ladyfingers: I prefer the harder, crunchy cookies, but you can also use the softer ones or make your own. There are typically 24 in a pack, but I find that 12 in each layer isn't nearly enough for solid coverage.
Coffee/espresso: you can use decaf if you are worried about the caffeine.
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.