Classic Tiramisu
Ingredients
4–6 servings
- Mascarpone cheese 500 g
- Savoiardi ladyfingers 1 package (200 g, 24 pcs)
- Eggs 4
- Powdered sugar 250 g
- Strong black coffee 1 cup (200 ml)
- Liqueur or brandy 1 shot
- Vanilla a pinch
- Salt a pinch (optional)
- Cocoa powder to taste
Step-by-step recipe
Preparation
Before you start making the dessert, chill the eggs: they whip up more easily and better that way. Brew a cup of strong, aromatic real coffee without sugar.
Carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks into different bowls. It’s not hard.
An important point: the eggs are used raw, with no heat treatment. So use only very fresh eggs from a source you trust.
The cream
Pour the whites into the mixer bowl and set it in cold water. Cold is very important: if the egg mixture isn’t kept cool, it will most likely separate.
Whip the whites until they form a firm foam. Pros recommend adding a small pinch of salt before whipping. Whip the whites at medium speed, adding 2 tbsp of powdered sugar (18 g) along the way. In 12–15 minutes you’ll have perfectly whipped whites.
The egg white foam turns out very stiff. When you turn the bowl upside down, the whites don’t pour out; they stay in place. Exactly the same as when making meringue.
Separately, beat the yolks until pale with powdered sugar, adding it gradually, up to 1 cup to taste, and vanilla (a pinch of vanilla or a few drops of vanilla extract). This takes a while! The beaten yolks should be almost white and look like thick custard.
In general, whipping always takes time if you want a truly well-whipped result. And most importantly, don’t whip at high speed; there’s no need to hurry here.
Put the cream cheese in a separate bowl and mash it with a spatula. Be careful when buying it: several times I’ve seen something that clearly wasn’t the real thing, even though the package looked similar. And the freshness of the cream cheese is extremely important.
Next comes an important step. Turn off the mixer and, gently folding the yolk cream with a spatula, add the mascarpone a little at a time. Carefully stir the mixture until completely smooth, until all the cheese is in.
Still stirring with the spatula, gradually fold the whipped whites into the mixture. You want a smooth, thick mass with no lumps or streaks.
Attention! Some people complain that the mixture sometimes separates when beaten with a mixer. Don’t force it. Just set the mixer aside and stir the mixture with a spatula.
That’s it, the cream is ready. Put it in the fridge for now.
Assembling
Cool the coffee to room temperature and pour a shot of liqueur into it: Baileys, Cointreau, Kahlúa and so on. Strictly speaking, liqueur, brandy or something else is up to you. We decided on Kahlúa, although we spent a long time going through the bottles in our bar.
Next you need to decide: make tiramisu in individual portions or as a cake. As I said, it’s hardly a cake. We prefer the dessert in individual glasses. But here it’s strictly up to you.
Spread a thick layer of cream on the bottom of the glass. Try to make the bottom layer about half the height of the glass.
Take one ladyfinger and quickly (!) dip it into the coffee and liqueur mixture. If the ladyfingers are longer than the glass is wide, you can cut them into pieces; that’s fine.
It really has to be quick, because the porous sponge soaks up the coffee and liqueur almost instantly and goes soggy right away.
Immediately place the savoiardi on the layer of cream. The ladyfingers should cover the whole surface of the cream, or almost all of it.
When all the glasses are filled with cream and soaked ladyfingers, carefully spread the rest of the cream on top of the ladyfingers.
Oh, I almost forgot: any leftover cream should be eaten, even if you have to scrape it off the sides of the bowl with your finger. It’s worth it! Not a drop should go to waste!
Dust the top of the dessert with cocoa powder. A tea strainer is very handy for this. Use as much cocoa as you like. Some say good dark chocolate works too.
Chilling
Now the most important part. Don’t start running around with a spoon trying it right away. This dessert is served chilled. What’s more, it needs time to set and mature.
Put the glasses of homemade tiramisu in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Better yet, overnight!
Serving
Brew yourself a cup of aromatic coffee (200 ml) and treat yourself to this heavenly dessert!
My wife and daughter brought the recipe back from Italy. We make this dessert at every opportunity. Wherever we vacation, the evening means classic, airy tiramisu. By the way, the girls admitted that our homemade dessert is exactly like the one in Venice. Thank you!
Calories and macros
1040 kcal
Serving ≈ 350 g
- Protein17 g7% of kcal
- Fat62 g54% of kcal
- Carbs100 g39% of kcal
100 g301 kcalProtein 5 gFat 17.9 gCarbs 29 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
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To Get It Right
If the cream turns runny or separates
Tiramisu cream most often turns runny or separates because it has been overwhipped: overwhipped whites collapse and weep, and mascarpone beaten too long turns into butter. Whip the whites and yolks with a mixer, but combine them with the cheese only with a spatula. The second cause is fake or stale mascarpone: a friend of ours once ruined her tiramisu with a mix of cottage cheese, sour cream and fat bought at a kiosk.
The yolks won’t turn pale
For tiramisu, beat the yolks at a moderate speed until they turn pale. They’ll never be snow-white anyway; they’ll stay slightly yellowish. Some eggs from backyard hens have yolks so dark that beating barely makes a difference.
How much sugar
The 250 g of powdered sugar for tiramisu in the list is generous: 2 tbsp go into the whites, and up to 1 cup to taste into the yolks. Many readers use less, 100–150 g. Granulated sugar instead of powdered makes no difference: it’s beaten with the yolks and dissolves.
How many ladyfingers
Tiramisu needs as many ladyfingers as it takes to cover the whole dish: use savoiardi by area, no extra. We buy a 200 g package with 24 ladyfingers; from a 400 g pack we didn’t use them all. Sugar-topped savoiardi are meant for tea, but you can lay and soak them either side up: it won’t affect the taste. You can also bake your own savoiardi ladyfingers.
For 250 g of mascarpone
If your tub of mascarpone for tiramisu is 250 g, halve everything else: 2 eggs, half the sugar and coffee. If the cream feels too rich, readers use 5 eggs instead of 4 for 500 g of cheese.
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Questions and answers
What is tiramisu, and what does the name mean?
An Italian dessert of savoiardi ladyfingers soaked in coffee with liqueur and a cream of mascarpone and eggs, dusted with cocoa. Tiramisu literally means “lift me up”: to raise your spirits.
How long should tiramisu sit in the fridge?
At least 2 hours, and better overnight: the dessert needs time to set and mature. Readers say it’s even better after a full day in the fridge.
What alcohol goes into tiramisu?
A shot of liqueur or brandy in the cooled coffee, whatever you like: Baileys, Cointreau, Kahlúa. Readers also use rum, cognac and amaretto. Original recipes do include alcohol, but you can soak the ladyfingers in a syrup instead; I’ve even seen rose hip syrup used.
What can you substitute for mascarpone in tiramisu?
Better not to substitute it; buy real Italian cheese: ladyfingers and mascarpone are the “skeleton” of tiramisu. Homemade mixes of cottage cheese, sour cream and cream give something only remotely like the original. Some readers use 35% cream, but that’s a different dessert.
How do you make tiramisu as a cake in a large dish?
We prefer individual portions, but the layers are the same: cream, soaked ladyfingers, more cream and cocoa. A large tiramisu is harder to cut, so slice it after a night in the fridge, when the cream has set and holds its shape well.