Tiramisu

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Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert with coffee-soaked ladyfingers, creamy mascarpone, and a dusting of cocoa on top. Simple, elegant, and irresistibly delicious!

Prep Time35

Chilling Time6

Total Time6 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Tiramisu

Servings: servings

Author: Chelsea Lords

Cost: $7.45

Equipment

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder see note 1
Cooking spray
3 large pasteurized eggs at room temperature, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese see note 2
1-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
3/4 cups heavy cream cold
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons coffee liqueur or dark rum or brandy; skip for alcohol-free
1 (7-ounce) package ladyfingers savoiardi or pavesini, see note 3
1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder divided

US - Metric

Instructions

Make espresso mixture (see note 1). Set coffee mixture aside in a shallow bowl that has room to dip the entire cookie at once. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch pan with cooking spray; set aside. Separate 3 eggs—yolks from whites. Add yolks to a bowl attached to a stand mixer and whites to a separate bowl for now. Take mascarpone out of the fridge.
Pour sugar on top of egg yolks. Attach whisk attachment and beat at high speed 6 for 10 minutes or until its color changes to a very light (almost white) yellow and becomes thick. Scrape sides occasionally as needed. Turn off mixer, then use a spatula to scrape in all the mascarpone. Add vanilla. Beat on low speed just until combined and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape all this mixture to a separate, very large bowl.
No need to clean out stand mixer bowl or whisk yet. To the stand mixer bowl, add in heavy cream (cold—straight from the fridge) and beat, still with whisk attachment, at high speed 6 for 3 minutes or until medium peaks form (not soft but not stiff—here's a helpful graphic). Be careful to not overbeat. Use a spatula to gently mix cream into egg yolk mixture. Now wash out stand mixer bowl and whisk and thoroughly dry both.
Add egg whites and salt to stand mixer bowl. Beat on high speed 6 until eggs are stiff, bright white, and foamy, about 2–3 minutes. Add 1/2 the egg whites to the cream mixture and very gently fold into the mixture with a spatula. When mostly incorporated, add remaining egg whites and again, very gently fold egg whites into the mixture to combine.
If using, add in the liquor to the coffee and stir. Very quickly dip one cookie at a time in the mixture (don’t soak at all!), then line the base of the pan with cookies, breaking cookies apart to fit if needed.
Spread half the cream mixture on top. Sift 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder through a fine-mesh sieve on top. Then repeat—cookies dipped in coffee followed by the remaining cream mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 6–8 hours, preferably overnight.
Right before serving, sprinkle remaining 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder on top through a fine mesh sieve. Cut into pieces, serve, and enjoy! (To get clean cuts, use a sharp knife. Run the knife under hot water, quickly dry it off, and make a cut. Repeat for each cut.)

Video

Notes

Note 1: Espresso: Boil 1-1/4 cups water; whisk in 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (This is much stronger than brewed espresso, which is what we are going after for this dessert. An okay substitute is very strongly brewed coffee).

Note 2: Avoid any low-fat/low-quality mascarpone that are likely to make the cream layer runny. Typically, you can find mascarpone in the dairy case. Eggs and mascarpone should be at room temperature, but mascarpone shouldn’t sit out longer than 15–20 minutes, or it could get too warm and break.

Note 3: Your local grocery store may carry ladyfingers, but I've never had any luck! I order them online—I’ve tried Alessi Ladyfingers and Balocco Ladyfingers. Only use the crunchy ladyfingers; cake-style ladyfingers will get too soft.

Storage: Tiramisu is particularly sensitive to temperature because of the cream layer. Promptly return any leftovers, tightly covered, to the fridge, and consume within 3–4 days. You can freeze it, but because of the dairy, it is prone to weeping or separation when thawed.

Nutrition