Authentic Italian Tiramisu

This Authentic Italian Tiramisu features homemade airy ladyfingers that are layered in between light mascarpone cream, rich espresso, and a touch of cocoa finish. Dolce vita! You absolutely have to make this recipe, no excuse!

Jump to:

• 📖 Tiramisu origin
• 🌟  Why this is the best Authentic Italian Tiramisu recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 🎓 Expert tips
• 🍓 Flavor variations
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• 😋 More Tiramisu recipes
• 🍮 More Dessert recipes
• Authentic Italian Tiramisu

📖 Tiramisu origin

I assume most of you know what tiramisu is, however, maybe you never tried it before and wonder what is this fuss about!

Tiramisu is a Classic Italian dessert and is said to be invented in the 1960s or 1970s, but where and when exactly is unclear. What a time to be alive! In short, tiramisu is a coffee-flavored creamy Italian dessert that is served cold. It is made of ladyfingers (savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, and flavored with cocoa powder. Tiramisu is originated from the Veneto region, Italy - in all the restaurants people were proudly mentioning this when I was visiting the region - but nowadays widely popular across the entire world.

Check out some of my other coffee desserts as well!

🌟  Why this is the best Authentic Italian Tiramisu recipe

I have had my fair shares of tiramisu desserts over the years from Italy and all around the world, believe me, you can easily make your own tiramisu from scratch with this recipe! This is hands down the best tiramisu recipe that I would be happy to serve to my Italian friends, a true Italian grandma’s tiramisu.

1. It is rather easy – As fancy as it looks, this is an easy tiramisu recipe using a few easily available ingredients. Feel free to use store-bought ladyfingers, in that case, this will become an even easier no-bake tiramisu recipe
2. It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! How does this tiramisu taste? Fluffy ladyfinger cookies, luxurious mascarpone cream, and deep coffee flavor with a touch of cocoa make this homemade tiramisu absolutely irresistible! It is creamy, fresh, rich, but very well balanced in sweetness! You will love it!
3. It is an honest, detailed tutorial – While this recipe might look long, all the information I have written here, every tip and trick will help you achieve the perfect results without any issues on the way. Remember, baking is science, and every little detail written here is to help YOU!

📝 Ingredient notes

Home made ladyfingers (savoiardi)

1. Egg: The tiramisu ingredients are really simple. For making ladyfingers you will have to use egg white and yolk separately. Egg white plays a key role in getting the airy ladyfinger sponges light and fluffy so make sure you use fresh eggs in order to be able to successfully separate the yolk from white
2. Sugar: You can use granulated sugar or superfine sugar, the important part is to cream it with egg all the way up until sugar fully dissolves. If want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my sugar guide
3. Pastry flour and corn starch: Homemade ladyfinger recipe calls for a mixture of fine texture pastry flour as well as starch for the fluffiest results. Alternatively, use all purpose flour and corn starch mixture but do not skip the starch. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read  my flour guide
4. Salt: Use just a pinch of salt

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the mascarpone cream filling

1. Eggs: Authentic Italian tiramisu recipe calls for raw egg yolk and please please do not skip it. If you are uncomfortable about row eggs just think about how many times you enjoyed tiramisu before and yes, those must have been all made with raw egg yolk. Always use fresh, free-range, pasteurized eggs
2. Mascarpone: Very rich Italian cream cheese, exceptionally smooth, and easy to spread or whip. Make sure to use the full-fat version (41%). The flavor is milky and slightly sweet. If mascarpone is not available for you, check my mascarpone substitute article which also has a homemade mascarpone recipe.
3. Heavy whipping cream: Also known as heavy cream or whipped cream has a fat content between 36% and 40%, I always use 36% cream. Use it very cold and do not substitute with vegetable-based “whipping cream”
4. Sugar: A small amount of granulated sugar will be added to the mascarpone filling

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

Coffee and cocoa powder

1. Coffee: Classic Italian Tiramisu is a coffee-flavored dessert so the ladyfingers must be lightly soaked into the coffee. I prefer to use espresso type of coffee here for rich, deep coffee flavor. Freshly brew, only very slightly sweet. If you don't want any caffeine in your tiramisu, just use your favorite decaf coffee.
2. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Generally always use unsweetened, 100% cocoa powder in baking. I use dutch-process cocoa powder, it has a lovely dark color and it is lower in acidity

Alkohol like Marsala wine can be added to the coffee, however, not mandatory. I, in fact, tried several tiramisu desserts in Italy without alcohol.

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. How to make homemade ladyfinger (savoiardi)

Store-bought ladyfingers can be also good for this tiramisu recipe. However, if you wish to make your own ladyfingers, check out my homemade ladyfingers recipe from scratch! 

Ladyfinger is a sponge biscuit shaped like a large finger. Home-made ladyfinger is much more like a sponge than its store-bought version that is not as soft and the texture is more like a biscuit. Regardless, the cream will soften the ladyfingers even if you purchase it from the store.

Feel free to use store-bought ladyfingers, however, for those of you who are want to make the tiramisu recipe from scratch, here is the step-by-step process of making ladyfingers from scratch

1. Have your baking tray with parchment paper ready or prepare a  Silicone baking mat before the whole process. You will need 2 baking trays (for 28 ladyfingers)
2. Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 392 F (no fan)
3. In a large mixing bowl, whip room temperature egg yolk and sugar, make sure you whip it all over until sugar dissolves. When you take a small amount of egg yolk and sugar mixture between your fingers it should be smooth and not grainy
4. Sift the flour, salt as well as starch to avoid lumps and with that unnecessary foldings to fix it
5. Start preparing the meringue by whipping egg white first for a minute or two, then start adding sugar, one tablespoon at a time while the Stand mixer. The meringue is ready when it reaches early stiff, shiny peaks however do not overbeat it to a point where it would form lumps as that is a difficult texture to fold in with the rest of the ingredients
6. After meringue reached the right consistency, it’s important to first loosen up the egg yolk mixture with about ¼ of the meringue, then fold in the rest of the meringue and the flour mixture VERY carefully at 2 steps. Use a Rubber spatula to make sure that you do not deflate the batter. If it gets too runny, you won`t be able to pipe and the mixture won`t be able to hold its shape
7. For piping, use a simple small 1A Round nozzle tip. Try to pipe the batter in a finger shape, bearing in mind that the sponge will grow a lot in the oven
8. Lightly dust with powdered sugar
9. Bake in a relatively high temp (200 C / 392 F) for a short time (10-12min). If they are well baked, they get golden brown and only slightly deflate after removing from the oven
10. Chill them completely before using

💡 Top Tip: Also a good idea to prep a piping template ahead, I am using an eclair template that is 10cm / 4 inches long

2. How to make the mascarpone cream

The mascarpone cream filling mixture for this Italian tiramisu recipe should be light, airy, creamy, and only mildly sweet! Making is is rather simple, but a step-by-step process:

1. Whip up egg yolk and sugar over a double boiler. The double boiler is a common method for melting chocolate without burning it and also for egg-based creams without ending up with scrambled eggs. All you need is a saucepan and a glass bowl that rests on the rim. You might have to play around with combinations of pans and bowls to find the perfect fit but it works perfectly fine. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl
2. While whipping the egg yolk mixture over a double boiler, use a hand whisk and make sure that sugar fully dissolves. When you take a small amount of egg yolk and sugar mixture between your fingers it should be smooth. I suggest doing it slowly over low heat and as soon as sugar dissolves and the mixture is slightly whipped up, remove it from the stove. Then let it come to room temperature, before proceeding
3. Whip up the mascarpone. I recommend using an electric hand mixer as mascarpone needs to be whipped very carefully. As soon as it reaches a fluffy consistency and stiff peaks form, stop whipping it otherwise it might become runny. Make sure you use full-fat rich mascarpone
4. After the mascarpone reached the right consistency, it’s important to fold it with egg yolk sugar mixture VERY carefully with the help of a Rubber spatula. The cream should stay very airy, cloud-like texture
5. Then, whip up the cream. Cream whips up well when it´s very cold. Use an electric hand mixer so that you don´t walk away for sure. First, it will reach soft peaks, then stiff peaks, that is the stage when it is done.
6. Fold cream into the mascarpone mixture. It should be folded very carefully with a Rubber spatula

Please note that at this point the cream will be very airy, fluffy, and it will further set in the fridge. This kind of cream is only suitable for making traditional tiramisu which is a “bowl type” of dessert but it is not firm enough to fully hold its shape in a tiramisu cake. Please check my tiramisu cupcake or tiramisu cakeroll recipe if you are interested in making those!

💡 Top Tip: It is very important that after egg yolk and sugar are whipped up, you wait until the mixture cools to room temperature. Do not attempt to fold mascarpone in while the mixture is still warm as it will break the mascarpone, the mixture will get runny

3. How to assemble the tiramisu

Once ladyfingers and mascarpone cream are ready, here comes the fun part, assembling your homemade tiramisu dessert! You can assemble tiramisu either in a glass container, in a bowl, or in ramekins.

Make a bowl of espresso-type of coffee, soak the ladyfingers into it, then start layering the ladyfingers next to each other and finish with a layer of mascarpone cream. Repeat the process as many times it is required considering the size of your bow, then smooth the top with an offset spatula.

Now comes the hardest part; waiting! Tiramisu should set for 4 hours in the fridge, it is even better the next day.

Once tiramisu is set, dust with unsweetened cocoa powder just before serving.

Store in the fridge.

💡 Top Tip: When soaking ladyfinger into the coffee, use a generous amount of coffee to achieve that lovely coffee flavor however monitor how ladyfingers soak the coffee in and do not make them overly wet

🎓 Expert tips

1. For the homemade ladyfingers use a mixture of soft pastry flour and corn starch mixture. Alternatively, feel free to buy store-bought
2. Making the mascarpone filling is a 3 steps process, do not try to combine them
3. It is easy to over-whip mascarpone as well as heavy cream, please make sure to pay attention to the consistency and stop whipping as soon as early stiff peaks are achieved. No need to over-beat it as lumps would make it difficult to incorporate with the other ingredients
4. Prepare all the ingredients and equipment before starting making the ladyfingers and pre-heat your oven. There is no time to wander around once the batter is ready
5. When soaking ladyfinger into the coffee, use a generous amount of coffee to achieve that lovely coffee flavor however monitor how ladyfingers soak the coffee in and do not make them overly wet
6. Only dust the tiramisu with the cocoa powder before serving
7. Let the tiramisu fully set before serving

🍓 Flavor variations

Besides the authentic Italian tiramisu that is flavored with coffee, you can make endless flavor variations by swapping coffee or using berries and spices. Some ideas

• Use liquors in the coffee like limoncello, amaretto, rum, espresso martini, etc.
• Omit the coffee and use healthy matcha tea instead. Check my matcha tiramisu recipe
• Use spices in the mascarpone cream eg. pumpkin spice, vanilla bean, cardamom, etc.
• Use strawberries, and raspberries in between the layers and soak the ladyfingers in fruit syrup or puree
• Chocolate, caramel, etc. can be also a great addition in between the layers
• Feel free to experiment with special variations eg. omit the coffee and soak the ladyfingers into rum lime mint syrup just like mojitos

❓ Recipe FAQs

🥣 Equipment notes

Making this Italian tiramisu from scratch is so easy and the good news is that no special equipment is needed.

For a consistent, happy baking experience always measure your ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. This is absolutely a MUST.

For making the ladyfingers a Stand mixer is super useful. I have a KitchenAid Classic, that I love. For piping the ladyfingers, a Piping bag, and a smaller size round nozzle tip are required, alternatively cut a hole in the piping bag and try to pipe the cake batter without a nozzle.

For making the cream, I suggest using an Electric hand mixer and with that, you won´t overbeat the mascarpone.

Finally, for assembling and serving there are a few options. Either use a smaller glass container or a trifle bowl or for individual servings use Ramekins. 

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