This Italian Tiramisu recipe consists of a sweet creamy mascarpone filling layered with espresso-dipped lady fingers and topped with a thick dusting of cocoa powder. Serve this no-bake dessert following a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and a crisp caesar salad (or one using kale).

A few years ago I went to Northern Italy and every.single.restaurant I went to, I tried the tiramisu. I wanted to compare and contrast various types of tiramisu. We had it in Verona, Bologna and Milan. I hear that it actually comes from Veneto but it doesn’t matter because in every single place, It was a trip full of stellar tiramisu.
It was on this trip that realized that I like my tiramisu more of a scoop-able variety vs. a sliceable one. I like it to be creamy, a bit messy and topped with such a thick layer of cocoa that have to be sure to not inhale when you take a bite.

What is Tiramisu
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that consists of lady fingers dipped in espresso and layered with a sweet, fluffy mascarpone cheese and topped with a thick layer of cocoa powder.
Listen, I'm also not a total classic girl. I love some variations on this recipe. I have one with earl grey tea and another using chai. Both delicious!
How to Make Tiramisu
- Make the filling. You can do this in the bowl of a stand-up mixer OR you can do this in a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer. I like using the paddle attachment. You want all of the ingredients to be cold.
- Beat all of the filling ingredients together until nice and fluffy. I set my timer to 1 minutes. I then scraped down the sides and then beat it again for an additional minute. As a result, everything was silky smooth.
- Grab your espresso (mixed with water) or strongly brewed coffee. You have choices! Either will work.
- Dip your lady fingers into the coffee. And then immediately transfer it to a baking dish. I used an 8x8 baking dish, but any comparable one will do.
- Add half of the mascarpone mixture, spreading it out, creating an even, smooth layer.
- Top it with the rest of the dipped lady fingers.
- And then finish with the remaining mascarpone mixture.
- Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top, pressed onto the surface. And then transfer it to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, I like to leave it overnight.
- When you unwrap it and are ready to serve, you may have to smooth out the top a bit.
- And then dust it with a thick coating of cocoa powder.
- Scoop and serve!

Can You Freeze Tiramisu
Yes, you can freeze tiramisu. But I would advise putting it in a freezer safe dish. Pyrex says that freezing their products are absolutely fine. I say go for it. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. And thawed in the fridge. I would recommend to leave off the cocoa powder topping and then add that just before serving.
Tips and Tricks
- Tiramisu is seriously the EASIEST recipe to make. It doesn’t take much skill or cooking/baking experience. But I will say that every time I’ve come into a problem with tiramisu it’s because the filling ingredients are at various different temperatures.
- In order to achieve a nice, smooth filling EVERYTHING needs to be cold. That way it all emulsifies well together. Not room temperature whatever you do. Straight from the fridge. Cold.
- DO NOT use Whole Foods brand mascarpone cheese for this recipe. It's incredibly thin and will yield a watery-like result. If you do use it (say you bought it before you read this part), completely skip the rum and add it to the espresso mixture.

Substitutions
Mascarpone is an essential ingredient to Tiramisu and unfortunately there just isn’t a substitute.
Dark rum can be substituted for brandy, port, Irish Cream (like Baileys) or madeira. Obviously I love the flavor of rum the best.
How to Make Tiramisu Non-Alcoholic
Whether you don't drink alcohol, don't have it in your house OR you simply don't like the flavor, no worries. I would suggest replacing it with 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or leaving it out together.

If you make this recipe, let me know on Instagram!
Looking recipes to pair with tiramisu? Here are a few:
- Meatball Pasta Bake
- Tallarines Verdes
- Best Caesar Salad
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Lobster Mac and Cheese
- Cacio e Pepe Mac and Cheese

Tiramisu Recipe
Ingredients
Filling:
- 4 large egg yolks cold straight from the fridge
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- ¼ cup heavy cream cold straight from the fridge (see note below for the brand)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 ounces mascarpone (from 2 containers) cold straight from the fridge (see below for note on the brand you're using)
For Assembly:
- 1 ¾ cup strongly brewed coffee*
- 24 lady fingers (from a 7-ounce package)
For Topping:
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder sifted for topping
Instructions
To Prep:
- You’ll need an 8x8-inch baking dish or a 2 quart dish of some kind.
To Make the Filling:
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fixed with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add all of the ingredients.
- Beat all of the ingredients together for 1 minute; scrape down the sides and then beat again for an additional minute, being sure NOT to over beat it. Stick to the two minutes total.
To Assemble the Tiramisu:
- Grab your baking dish. Transfer the strongly brewed coffee to a medium and or small bowl. Working one at a time, quickly dip each lady finger into the coffee. Be sure to not over saturate the ladyfinger with the coffee because then they’ll get a bit too soggy. All you need is a quick dip into the coffee. Arrange the dipped ladyfingers in the baking dish, side by side. I ended up filling up the empty spaces by snapping some of the lady fingers into different lengths.
- Add a few scoops of the filling on top and spread into a ¼-inch thick layer. Add more filling if you need to.
- Dip the remaining lady fingers in the coffee and arrange them so there are no gaps. Add the remaining filling on top and spread it into a nice and neat final layer. Cover the dish with plastic wrap so it hits the surface of the tiramisu; transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight.
To Serve:
- Remove the plastic wrap and discard. If the plastic wrap has left any indentations in the topping, you can always smooth it out with an offset spatula. Sift the cocoa powder on top, applying a generous coating of it. Wipe the rim of the baking dish and serve.
- This isn’t the type of tiramisu that gives you perfect slices. It’s more of a scoopable type tiramisu.
- if covered, this tiramisu lasts in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Katrina says
Hi, I reduced the heavy cream to 1 tablespoon because I saw how liquid-y the Woolworths brand of mascarpone is. Unfortunately, the final product still won't set in the fridge and it's quite a sauce-like consistency. Am I just doomed to a world of soupy tiramisu because I can't find proper mascarpone? Cursed land down under (just kidding just kidding I like it here but man is it a rough life being in a country without canned pumpkin and BelGioioso mascarpone).
Hamza says
Looks so nice!
Tate newman says
This is the best tiramisu recipe I’ve ever made. This has been my favorite dessert since I was very little and I have tried multiple recipes but this one takes the cake! My family is always asking me to make this when I visit or when they come and stay with me. It is delicious!!!
Mer says
THE BEST TIRAMISU IVE EVER HAD!!! I tried almost all the tiramisu’s in Dubai and this one beats all of them. And what’s most surprising is that it’s homemade. So delicious!! Highly recommended. Although I forgot to add 2 more shots of coffee it still tasted like a dreamy cloud ☁️
Adrianna Adarme says
wonderful! 🙂
Rochelle says
I've made this recipe a few times now and I love it so much, but man it's so easy to just take a spoon with you and stand in front of the fridge and eat it right there with the fridge door open haha. This most recent time, I forgot to add the heavy cream but I made sure to let it rest for longer to make sure everything was fully softened since there was less liquid. Still came out perfectly. Love that you can freeze this (minus cocoa powder) and defrost it easily.
Syd says
Hi Adrianna! I’ve been eyeing this recipe for months now. I think it’s now time as my parents’ anniversary is coming up and as my mom nearly dribbled at seeing this post the first time, I thought It’d be a great treat for both. My one question is, pasteurized eggs aren’t available where I live, and for ease of recipe (especially since I’ll be making my own ladyfingers)I wanted to know if it’ll be okay for me to use the double boiler method when it comes to the eggs. If so, I would really appreciate if you could tell me how exactly it should be done? I totally understand if it’s something that you cannot confidently answer having not tried it yet. I just really wanna make this! Much love, Syd.
Adrianna Adarme says
Hi Syd, I actually tried to cook them on the stove top with the sugar and they curdled the entire mixture. I even tried to cool it to room temp and still the same. I don't recommend to deviate from the recipe and if you feel uncomfortable with raw eggs and can't find pasteurized, I would recommend a different recipe, unfortunately. xoxo
Suzy says
Amazing ratio of ingredients, but however, the method/technique can be reconstructed/re-looked at.
Instead of dumping all filling ingredients into the bowl where some people seem to mess up or get nervous...), in the mixer bowl: beat the cold egg yolks, the sugar and the salt for just a couple minutes until combined and pale in color. Then add the rum, to combine for a few seconds, THEN add all the cold mascarpone at once to the bowl, and paddle for 2 to 3 minutes until no lumps appear. Scrape this whole mixture into a large bowl to set aside. Then in the cleared out (no need to fully clean) mixing bowl, add the cold heavy cream (I went for a 1/3 cup), and place in your whisk attachment. Whip until you get stiff peaks (since it's such a small amount you may need to stop at around medium peaks and grab the whisk by hand to vigorously stir for 5 or 10 seconds to get to stiff peaks. THEN, take the whipped cream and fold it into the mascarpone mixture, just until you see no white streaks.
It is correct that all ingredients should be cold from the fridge. Also, I added 2 to 3 tbsp of rum to the coffee as well 🙂
I also wanna add!...That this is definitely a sliceable tiramisu IF prepped overnight to a full 24 hours ahead of time. I ate it scooped at 4 hours chill time, then again for breakfast (haha) and the cream was thickened/hydrated enough to be wonderfully sliceable.
All in all, this is my mom's favorite birthday treat and I'm glad to have found this wonderful resource. I was a pastry chef for a few years, so mad respect for all recipe developers everywhere. I am definitely keeping this in my arsenal for mom's next bday (and many times before then). Thank you, Adrianna!
(I'm also a massive fan of your banana chocolate chip cookie and your pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes)
Adrianna Adarme says
thanks so much for this feedback. wonderful to hear that you've figured out a way that you love. and i'm so glad you love the banana/pumpkin cookies too. xoxo
Stefanie says
Silly question, but does the coffee need to be hot when dipping the ladyfingers? Also, how long do you dip them for? I’m guessing the temperature of the coffee could affect the dipping time.
Suzy says
HI this is a late reply but hopefully it will help you the next time you make tiramisu!
The coffee should be room temperature or cool. And dipping the ladyfingers should actually be a 2 to 3 second "rolling" into the coffee, not a prolonged dunking; the cookie gets soggy/soft quite quickly.
Overall, just a quick roll in the coffee and they'll soften up between the cream layers as it sits in the fridge. 🙂
Keesh F says
This tiramisu was so easy and delicious! It’s so fabulous for a get together because you can make it the night before and just dust with the cocoa powder right before serving. It was a big hit with everyone.
Adrianna Adarme says
wonderful!!
Alex says
So gooooood!
Nicole says
Took this to a family function that included 98% Italians. Not only was it completely demolished in a matter of minutes everyone told me how delicious it was
Cordelia M says
Delicious! Couldn’t stop eating!
Katerina says
Dreamy!! This recipe is super easy to make and the outcome is just delicious!! Can’t recommend enough!
Hot Flash says
YAS!
Maggie says
Oops, I just noticed the brand of lady fingers you used for the tiramisu...