The BEST Tiramisu Recipe
Dish out the best tiramisu you’ll ever eat with this easy-to-follow recipe. Made with layers of coffee-dipped ladyfingers, Kahlua flavored mascarpone custard, and cocoa powder, this Italian dessert is perfect for an extra-special birthday, dinner party, or holiday!
Growing up, we sometimes frequented the Olive Garden for a family dinner out, and that meant multiple things: lots of salad and breadsticks, leaving with a fistful of Andes mints, and getting a piece of tiramisu for dessert. I fell in love with this dessert at first bite as a kid and I still love it so much all these decades later.
I first tackled tiramisu at home more than 10 years ago, when I first saw a recipe pop up in an issue of Cook’s Illustrated. However, that recipe utilized raw eggs and, while truly authentic, I just couldn’t get past it, even using pasteurized eggs. I re-worked the recipe with a cooked custard and I think it’s just absolutely fabulous.
What is Tiramisu?
This coffee-flavored, no-bake Italian dessert is made with ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with mascarpone custard, and topped with cocoa powder.
It’s a traditional Italian dish that means “pick me up” and after one bite, I am sure you will agree! Typically served cold, this layered dessert is the perfect finish to an Italian dinner.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Coffee + Espresso Powder: Mixed together to make a deep coffee base for soaking the ladyfingers.
- Kahula: Adds a little pick-me-up and pairs perfectly with the coffee.
- Egg Yolks: Used to make the base of the custard.
- Sugar + Salt: To sweeten and flavor the mascarpone custard.
- Heavy Cream: Whips and holds its shape in the custard.
- Mascarpone: A buttery cheese that’s milder than cream cheese.
- Ladyfingers: Savoiardi are the light egg-based cookie layers soaked in the coffee mixture. They provide a solid layer for the custard to top.
- Cocoa powder: Dusted over the custard layers, it adds a chocolaty flavor to the dessert.
How to Make It
Tiramisu is traditionally made by layering ladyfingers that have been soaked in espresso and alcohol with a mascarpone cheese custard and a dusting of cocoa powder.
Many recipes call for using raw eggs in tiramisu, but I made a cooked custard instead (much like you would do to make pastry cream) and beat it into mascarpone cheese with heavy cream. The flavor and the texture are superb.
Step 1: Make the Mascarpone Custard
- Beat egg yolks: In the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks at a low speed until just combined.
- Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice.
- Pour in heavy cream: Add 1/3 cup of heavy cream to the yolks and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape the bowl.
- Temper the eggs: Set the bowl with the yolks over a medium saucepan containing 1 inch of gently simmering water; cook, constantly scraping along the bottom and sides of the bowl with a heatproof rubber spatula, until mixture coats the back of a spoon and registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer, 4 to 7 minutes.
- Cool the custard: Remove from heat and stir vigorously to cool slightly, then set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
- Add Kahlua and mascarpone: Whisk in remaining Kahlua until combined. Transfer to standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
- Beat heavy cream: In an empty mixer bowl, beat the remaining cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Increase to high and continue to beat until the cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer.
- Fold in mascarpone mixture: Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set aside.
Step 2: Assemble the Tiramisu
- Make the coffee mixture: In a wide bowl or baking dish, stir together coffee, espresso powder, and 2 1/2 tablespoons Kahlua until the espresso dissolves; set aside.
- Dip ladyfingers in coffee: Working one at a time, drop half of the ladyfingers into the coffee mixture, roll, remove, and transfer to a 9×13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Note: Do not submerge ladyfingers in coffee mixture, the entire process should take no longer than 2 to 3 seconds for each cookie. If submerged, the ladyfingers will disintegrate.
- Make a ladyfinger layer: Arrange the soaked cookies in a single layer in the baking dish, breaking or trimming the ladyfingers as needed to fit neatly into the dish.
- Spread mascarpone over ladyfingers: Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers; use rubber spatula to spread mixture to the sides and corners and smooth surface.
- Dust with cocoa powder: Place 2 tablespoons cocoa in fine-mesh strainer and dust cocoa over mascarpone.
- Repeat dipping and arrangement of the ladyfingers; spread with remaining mascarpone mixture, and dust with remaining cocoa powder.
- Wipe the edges dry with a paper towel.
- Refrigerate: over with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 to 24 hours.
- Serve: Cut into pieces and serve chilled.
Can You Make Tiramisu Without Eggs?
An egg-based custard is definitely the traditional way with tiramisu, but you can make a perfectly delicious tiramisu without them!
In fact, a few years ago I set out to make a very easy and less time-intensive version of tiramisu and turned it into a tiramisu trifle. I scrapped the custard and instead simply folded whipped cream into the sweetened mascarpone cheese for a lighter, mousse-like texture that could be easily layered. You could certainly use that filling recipe instead of the custard here.
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What Type of Alcohol is Used in Tiramisu?
Most recipes use Marsala wine in tiramisu, however, I have always loved Kahlua since it pairs so well with the espresso that’s already in the recipe. Use any of these or your favorite liquor:
- Marsala wine
- Rum (dark rum would be best!)
- Brandy
- Coffee liquor (i.e. Kahlua)
- Almond liquor (i.e. Amaretto)
If you are looking for an alcohol-free option I would suggest omitting the Kahlua entirely from the coffee mixture and replacing it with coffee in the mascarpone mixture.
Making Ahead and Storing
Tiramisu is one of the BEST desserts for making in advance. It allows all of the layers to marry together and for a light and airy dessert.
- Storing: Keep this homemade tiramisu in the dish you assembled it in and cover tightly with plastic wrap for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Make-Ahead: For the freshest flavor, make this classic Italian dessert 1-2 days in advance of when you plan to serve it and dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
Serving Suggestions
I’m all in favor of grabbing a spoon and scooping this delicious tiramisu straight from the pan, but if you are planning to share this tiramisu with others, here are a few different ways to dish it out!
- Shave dark, milk, or white chocolate over the tops before serving.
- Add a dollop of homemade whipped cream to the top of your slices.
- Serve with espresso or a cup of decaf coffee.
Tiramisu FAQs
You can use cream cheese in place of mascarpone but it will change the taste and texture of the filling. The best way to substitute would be to mix 8 ounces of softened cream cheese with ¼ cup of whipping cream.
Most tiramisu recipes contain alcohol. You can follow my suggestions listed above for replacing the alcohol in this recipe with additional coffee.
Extra Egg Whites?
Don’t throw out those extra egg whites! Save them to make one of these delicious egg white-based recipes.
- Pavlova Layer Cake with Whipped Cream and Berries
- Chocolate Pavlova with Mascarpone and Raspberries
- Traditional Pavlova
- Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
- Homemade Marshmallow Creme
If You Like This Tiramisu Recipe, Try These Next:
- Easy Tiramisu Trifle
- Tiramisu Cupcakes
- Mini Tiramisu Cheesecakes
- Homemade Rum Cake
- Panettone Recipe
- Zeppole (Italian Doughnuts)
Creamy layers of mascarpone custard top coffee-soaked ladyfingers in this classic Italian dessert. This homemade tiramisu is truly the perfect pick-me-up!
Watch How to Make Classic Tiramisu:
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Tiramisu Recipe
Ingredients
- 2½ cups (592.5 ml) strong brewed coffee, room temperature
- 1½ tablespoons (1.5 tablespoons) instant espresso powder
- 6½ tablespoons (6.5 tablespoons) Kahlua, divided
- 6 egg yolks
- ⅔ cup (133.33 g) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- ¾ cup (178.5 ml) cold heavy cream, divided
- 24 ounces (680.39 g) mascarpone cheese
- 14 ounces (396.89 g) dried ladyfingers, savoiardi
- 3½ tablespoons (3.5 tablespoons) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Instructions
- Stir coffee, espresso, and 2½ tablespoons Kahlua in a wide bowl or baking dish until espresso dissolves; set aside.
- In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat yolks at low speed until just combined. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1½ to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once or twice. Add ⅓ cup of the heavy cream to yolks and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape bowl.
- Set the bowl with yolks over a medium saucepan containing 1 inch of gently simmering water; cook, constantly scraping along bottom and sides of bowl with heatproof rubber spatula, until mixture coats back of spoon and registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir vigorously to cool slightly, then set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk in remaining 4 tablespoons Kahlua until combined. Transfer bowl to standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, add mascarpone, and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer mixture to large bowl and set aside.
- In now-empty mixer bowl, beat the remaining cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1½ minutes. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until the cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1½ minutes longer. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set mascarpone mixture aside.
- Working one at a time, drop half of ladyfingers into coffee mixture, roll, remove and transfer to 13 by 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. (Do not submerge ladyfingers in coffee mixture; entire process should take no longer than 2 to 3 seconds for each cookie.) Arrange soaked cookies in single layer in baking dish, breaking or trimming ladyfingers as needed to fit neatly into dish.
- Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers; use rubber spatula to spread mixture to sides and into corners of dish and smooth surface. Place 2 tablespoons cocoa in fine-mesh strainer and dust cocoa over mascarpone.
- Repeat dipping and arrangement of ladyfingers; spread remaining mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers and dust with remaining 1½ tablespoons cocoa. Wipe edges of dish with dry paper towel. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 to 24 hours. Cut into pieces and serve chilled. Leftovers can be stored, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Equipment: 9×13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Ladyfingers: Do not submerge ladyfingers in coffee mixture, the entire dipping process should take no longer than 2 to 3 seconds for each cookie. If submerged, the ladyfingers will disintegrate.
- Egg-Free Version: I created an egg-free mascarpone “mousse” for my tiramisu trifle recipe; you can use that filling in this recipe if desired.
- Alcohol: I prefer Kahlua, but use any of the following: Marsala wine, rum (dark is best!), brandy, or Amaretto.
- Make it Alcohol-Free: Omit the Kahlua entirely from the coffee mixture and replacing it with coffee in the mascarpone mixture.
- Serving Suggestions: Shave dark, milk, or white chocolate over the tops before serving; Add a dollop of homemade whipped cream to the top of your slices; Serve with espresso or a cup of decaf coffee.
- Storing: Keep covered tightly with plastic wrap for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Make-Ahead: For the freshest flavor, make this 1 – 2 day in advance of when you plan to serve it and dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Great recipe
Make a full day before serving
This was the first time I ever made Tiramisu. My family loved it! I will make it again! I followed your directions and everything went well. Excellent directions.
Why not simply beat the egg whites and use them instead of the heavy cream as per tradition?
Had high hopes for this recipe, but wow was this a disappointment. The custard flavor is not at all what I think of for Tiramisu. Kudos for the tip on the lady fingers, but this one is a hard pass for me.
I’ve tried several recipes for Tiramisu, and this is by far the best. This is true for many of the recipes from the “brown eyed baker”.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! A definite family favorite!
Hi Im really excited to try this! Going to 1/3rd the recipe as want a smaller portion. Hope thats ok? Also – for the strong brewed coffee – how much coffee do you add? Could i do an expresso shot here? Thanks so much!
I’ve tried several tiramisu recipes and this is just the best.
Made this Christmas Eve for my Italian family, to absolute raves. By far the best I’ve had and the difference is the real egg custard, in my opinion. I tempered them to be safer and followed the recipe as is. Well worth it and will be a go-to for special occasions.
I am pleased to say….! Everyone LOVED this dessert. The modifications you made with the cooked custard and the Kahlua were spot on. Your website is my absolute favorite!! I will definitely make this again!
Thank You so much for posting this recipe! I am so excited because I used to use a Tiramisu recipe from a favorite cookbook that I have lost track of in a move. It was made within this “Zabaglione” ( custard) and I couldn’t seem to ever find that recipe or similar! I believe your’s is “The” one! I can’t wait to put this back on my family favorite, regulars.
Where do you find the lady fingers? Did you use a specific brand?
Hi Kaleigh, I buy them at my regular grocery store, in the Italian section of the international aisle. The brands I’ve found there are Alessi and Delallo.
I havent tried this recipe yet, but have it on my list. in the past i have used Godiva liqueur and it is so good!
I loved your tiramisu recipe and have made it quite a few times. However each time I have a problem with the step of whipping up the heavy cream to stuff peaks. Without sugar added to the heavy cream, how do you whip the heavy cream to a stiff peak? Am I missing a step somewhere?
Hi Tiara, Sugar is not required to get heavy cream to whip into stiff peaks. I would try letting it go a bit longer, increasing the speed if necessary, and maybe even popping the bowl and beater in the freezer so it’s super cold in case your kitchen is warm.
I cannot for the life of me find instant espresso powder in any of the stores these days, only regular espresso coffee. Any way I can work with that?
Regular espresso won’t dissolve, unfortunately. You can use instant coffee if you can get that!
Check out Family Dollar. They carry tubes of instant espresso. Can’t remember name right now but it begins with c. Bright yellow tubes. And only $1 each
I do tiramisu similarly, tempering the yolks as a custard.
However, this recipe perpetuates a pet-peeve myth about tiramisu. The “traditional” alcohol to use in tiramisu is NONE! The original version of tiramisu was NON-ALCOHOLIC! As tiramisu became popular, other chefs began adding alcohol, perhaps as way to give their versions different flavor, or perhaps simply to appeal to the drunks & lushes who would typically order alcoholic desserts like rum-cake but pass up non-alcoholic desserts.
In any case alcohol can be omitted entirely from tiramisu without detriment, in fact it tastes better without it!
One thing I do add to mine however is a teaspoon or so of vanilla to the custard!
Looks like a wonderful recipe! I am serving this to children but want the flavor of the Kahlua. Is it possible to cook the Kahlua with the eggs over the bain-marie? Can I also put the coffee, espresso, and Kahlua in a pot and simmer in order to burn off the alcohol?
Thank you!
Perhaps the best tiramisu ever! Followed the instructions to a tee but used decaf coffee and omitted the espresso. The best part was a. the taste. b. it wasn’t soggy c. it was so light. Thanks brown eyed baker! x
Question! I was a little bit confused about the heavy cream. First, how much is 3/4 minus 1/3… 😅 I’ve tried 1/2 cup in the last step but that was too low volume for the machine to beat it. So it did not end with hard picks. So, at the end my mascarpone + heavy cream mixture ended too liquid. I put everything together anyway, let’s see how it comes out tomorrow. That being said, please, what I am doing wrong with the heavy cream? Thanks a bunch!
Hi Mary, I have a few liquid measuring cups, so I just measure out 3/4 cup, then measure 1/3 cup into another measuring cup. Hope that helps!
I use the soft ladyfingers. They are packaged in lines and are easy to layer the outer edge in a springform pan. I brush them with the coffee mixture and place the outside ring layer first. Then place a bottom layer and so on. I get compliments everytime. There will be extra coffee mixture which I drink. I use Bailey’s Irish Cream (minis) as my choice of liquor.
An excellent recipe – so important to heat eggs! I will absolutely make this my go to recipe.
My only comment / question is whether the marscapone could be reduced to 2 cups and then increase the whipping cream in its stead? I have 1 cup of leftover marscapone in the fridge with no idea how I might use it up. Its a a busy time of year so it may go to waste just because I am too busy to get to it. As it is expensive I wonder about making a slight change to using more whipping cream?
Just wanted to add that I made this a second time for a large gathering this season, but this time used duck eggs. It turned out smoother, fluffier and richer, and was altogether wonderful. I managed to find real ladyfingers (Biscotti Savoiardi) at a specialty shop – they are three times as big and lighter than the little ones you find in grocery stores. Nice recipe.
It looks good I really want to make it. Is there anyway to make the tiramisu without the liquor
Yes, absolutely! You can omit it without an issue.
Hi,
Can unsweetened cocoa powder be used in place if the ditch processed cocoa?
Thank you!
Hi Antonia, Yes that would be fine!
Your recipe looks wonderful for the tiramisu.
But just being honest I have never heard of that cheese. Can you please tell me where I can find it .
Thank you
Hi Gloria, Mascarpone cheese can be found in nearly all supermarkets of a decent size. Mine is located in the cheese department (separate from the dairy aisle), with the Italian cheeses. It comes in a tub. Here is a reference for you: https://www.belgioioso.com/Products/Mascarpone
I just made this for a special garden party potluck, and it was VERY popular. This makes a big dessert, but was cleaned up. Just one question. Don’t think my mascarpone mixture was quite as smooth as yours – had a slightly curdled appearance, though it didn’t seem to detract from anything in taste, and no-one seemed to notice or care.
I have another recipe (from bbcgoodfood.com) without eggs – an option you also mention – and I might try that another time, just to see the difference. Anyway, thanks for the recipe – another success!
Do you see any issues with doing the same quantities but breaking into 2 8×8 dishes?
Hi Carolyn, None at all, that would work out just fine. Enjoy!
This was amazing! I made this over the weekend. Your directions and the video made it so easy. It came out perfect! Delicious! This is a perfect dessert to serve when you are having guests. I would recommend to let it chill overnight, before serving. It was even better after 24 hours. This gave the ladyfingers time to really soak up the flavors. I highly recommend trying this recipe! Not difficult and very impressive.