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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.
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. I had it in Verona, Bologna and Milan.
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. This recipe is award-winning and won a bake-off with the Pancake Princess for Best Tiramisu!
Ingredients for Tiramisu
- Mascarpone – An Italian soft cheese that is absolutely delicious in tiramisu.
- Lady fingers – You can make them homemade or simply buy them from the store. I find that Italian markets have the best quality lady fingers.
- Heavy Cream – This is essential for a light and airy tiramisu. The heavy cream is whipped with the mascarpone.
- Liqueur – Sweet marsala wine is typically used. For this recipe, I used rum but feel free to use sweet marsala wine, Bailey’s or amaretto.
- Eggs – Egg yolks are used to give the filling a very light, whipped and creamy texture.
For the rest of the ingredient list, please refer to the recipe index below!
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 tiramisu, matcha tiramisu, chai tiramisu and my latest creation, limoncello tiramisu. All use this base recipe and are absolutely 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 8×8 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!
Tiramisu Tips and Tricks
- Temperature of ingredients is key – 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.
- Everything should be cold – 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.
- Not all mascarpone is good for this – 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 reduce the heavy cream to 1 tablespoon.
- Add the cocoa powder just before serving or else it’ll get damp and soggy and won’t look very cute at all. We are going for authenticity and beauty.
Tiramisu Recipe Faqs
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.
Unfortunately mascarpone is an essential ingredient in tiramisu and there is no substitute.
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.
I used organic good-quality eggs. If you’re concerned about the raw eggs that this recipe calls for, feel free to use pasteurized eggs.
What to Serve with this Tiramisu
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Tiramisu Recipe
Equipment
- 8×8 glass baking dish
Ingredients
Filling:
- 4 large egg yolks, cold straight from the fridge
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, cold straight from the fridge (see note below for the brand)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, (100g)
- 1/4 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 3/4 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 8×8-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 1/4-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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this after reading Pancake Princess’s tiramisu rankings and it was a hit! Super easy to make but turned out so delicious. I used a little bit of rum extract instead of rum just to get the flavor without booze and it was perfect. Highly recommend!
wow amazing to hear. love that!
I blended the yokes for a few minutes until they were pale in color, and then added the remaining ingredients. Also, I saved the egg whites, whipped them, and folded it into the filling to make it extra fluffy. This was so delicious! Also I just used some vanilla extract instead of rum.
Made this for NYE and everyone raved about it! Only change was I added 1/2 teaspoon of a good vanilla paste to the cream. Amazing
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong . I’ve made this recipe a few times. The first couple times with the Whole Foods marscapone several years back before the adjustment was made in the notes. It was soupy liquid. I made it with the Bel Giorno marscapone today and it was still much more runny than it should have been, though not quite soup like and I only added 1 tbsp each of rum and cream. I don’t know if it’s my fridge or if the marscapone was off. I ended up whipping cream and folding it in with the mixture, which helped with the thickness but altered the taste. I’m considering using 1 less egg or even freezing the marscapone for 10-15 min before mixing? Curious if you have any thoughts on this! It looks so amazing and I want to get it right
Hey Jasmine! I tweaked mine a bit and whipped the 1/4c cream seperate to stiff peaks, put that in a bowl. And then i whipped the egg yolks with the sugar for a few min before adding the mascarpone, then folded in the whipped cream. I omitted the rum from the filling and added it to the coffee mix instead and it came out great!
The filling was SO delicious. I put the eggs, sugar, and salt in a bowl for a Bain-Marie and cooked the eggs a little as a precaution. Still worked out great. For the coffee dip, I added a teaspoon of vanilla and a shake or two of cinnamon. The tiramisu turned out perfect ☺️ I’ll definitely use this recipe again whenever I make tiramisu!!
Hi Suong, did you bring your eggs/sugar to cold temperature after using the bain marie method and how long did you cook the eggs and sugar for? Did you use a thermometer?
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).
Looks so nice!
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!!!
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 ☁️
wonderful! 🙂
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.