Looking for an easy Italian dessert and also a restaurant style dessert? This classic Italian tiramisu recipe fits perfectly in both categories. Made with basic tiramisu ingredients: lady fingers, mascarpone, whipping cream, coffee, rum and cocoa powder.
Tiramisu has always been my number one pick (besides cheesecake) whenever I'm looking at a dessert menu. Why? Because you ca never go wrong with tiramisu (and cheesecake).
Despite looking a little bit over complicated, tiramisu is such an easy Italian dessert. With this detailed classic Italian tiramisu recipe, you will accomplish this restaurant style dessert in your home kitchen within an hour.
Ingredients
- Lady fingers - go for the best and most high quality ones. After all, they are the star of this dessert.
- Instant coffee - or if you have freshly brew coffee, it's even better. Pick your most favorite style of coffee: espresso, latte, or cappuccino; dark roast or blond roast; or even decaf. In this recipe I use dark roast instant coffee thus it's convenient and still tastes good.
- Rum - one of the essential ingredients found in classic tiramisu. You can totally skip this if you want to opt out for alcohol.
- Cocoa powder - I used unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder.
- Mascarpone - you can substitute this with sour cream with a little bit of sugar add-on if mascarpone is not available.
- Others - eggs, whipping cream, vanilla extract and granulated white sugar.
How to make authentic tiramisu
Make Tiramisu cream
- Set up a double boiler. Combine egg yolks, vanilla extract and half amount of sugar in a top of a double boiler.
- Place a double boiler over low heat (barely simmering water) and whisk constantly until the sauce is thick and pale yellow, approximately 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool down slowly. Or if you're in a hurry, you can whisk over an ice bath until cool.
- Overcooked egg mixture will curdle and turn into scramble eggs. If so, discard and start over again.
- Whip egg whites until foamy then add remaining of the sugar and beat until soft peaks are formed, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Whip heavy cream to soft peaks, about 4 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a rubber spatula and fold the egg yolks mixture into mascarpone.
- Then carefully fold whipping cream and egg whites in to mascarpone mixture just enough to incorporate everything. About 1 minute. Don't over mix the cream mixture.
Assemble authentic tiramisu
- In a deep dish, combine coffee and rum, give it a few stirs. Then quickly dip lady finger on both sides, one at a time, in a coffee mixture. Don’t let the lady fingers stay in the liquid for more than 5 seconds or they become soggy. If so, discard and use a new one.
- Arrange dipped lady fingers in one single layer in am 8-in baking pan.
- Followed by a layer Tiramisu cream (about 2 to 3 c). Use an offset spatula to spread mascarpone evenly on top of lady fingers or gently shake the pan.
- Repeat the process of dipping lady fingers and spreading mascarpone to create more layers.
- Put the tiramisu in the refrigerator and chill for at least 6 hours before serving.
Storage & serving suggestions
With this classic Italian tiramisu recipe, you can keep the restaurant style dessert in the chiller for up to 3 days.
Or portion them into serving size then freeze for up to a month. Let them cool down at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving if choosing this option.
Authentic tiramisu can be served with whipping cream and fresh fruits such as: berries, mangoes. According to La Cucina Italiana you can even pair tiramisu with a good bottle of sweet wine.
Related recipes
You'll love other no-bake sweet desserts recipes on my blog. Not only because they are delicious, but also they're super easy to make.
- Lemon chiffon pie with Oreo crust
- Pandan coconut panna cotta
- Chocolate pandan panna cotta
- Light un-bake Japanese tofu cheesecake
- Banana coconut ice cream
- Soy bean pudding with ginger syrup
Classic Italian tiramisu recipe
Equipment
- 8x8 in square pan or 8 in round pan
Ingredients
- 2 c coffee follow instruction on the label of your coffee, I used instant coffee
- 20 lady fingers
- 6 medium eggs separated: yolks and whites
- 1 tbsp rum optional
- ½ c sugar divided into 2 portions
- 2 lb mascarpone
- 1.5 c heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder prefer Hershey’s cocoa powder
Instructions
Make tiramisu cream
- Set up a double boiler. Combine egg yolks, vanilla extract and half amount of sugar in a top of a double boiler.
- Place a double boiler over low heat (barely simmering water) and whisk constantly until the sauce is thick and pale yellow, approximately 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool down slowly. Or if you’re in a hurry, you can whisk over an ice bath until cool.
- Overcooked egg mixture will curdle and turn into scramble eggs. If so, discard and start over again.
- Put egg whites in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. On medium-high speed, whip egg whites until foamy then add remaining of the sugar and beat until soft peaks are formed, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer whipped egg whites to a large bowl, set aside for later use. Clean the whisk attachment and the stand mixer’s mixing bowl. Add heavy cream in.
- On high speed, whip heavy cream to soft peaks, about 4 minutes.
- In a large, clean mixing bowl, using a rubber spatula and fold the egg yolks mixture into mascarpone.
- Then carefully fold whipping cream and egg whites in to mascarpone mixture just enough to incorporate everything. About 1 minute. Don’t over mix the cream mixture.
Assemble
- In a deep dish, combine coffee and rum, give it a few stirs. Then quickly dip lady finger on both sides, one at a time, in a coffee mixture. Don’t let the lady fingers stay in the liquid for more than 5 seconds or they become soggy. If so, discard and use a new one.
- Arrange dipped lady fingers in one single layer in baking pan. (See notes)
- Followed by a layer Tiramisu cream (about 2 to 3 c). Use an offset spatula to spread mascarpone evenly on top of lady fingers or gently shake the pan.
- Repeat the process of dipping lady fingers and spreading mascarpone to create more layers.
- Put the tiramisu in the refrigerator and chill for at least 6 hours before serving. You can dust coco powder on top of tiramisu before putting in a chiller or right before serving.
Notes
- With this classic Italian tiramisu recipe, you can keep the restaurant style dessert in the chiller for up to 3 days.
- Or portion them into serving size then freeze for up to a month. Let them cool down at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving if choosing this option.
- Authentic tiramisu can be served with whipping cream and fresh fruits such as: berries, mangoes. According to La Cucina Italiana you can even pair tiramisu with a good bottle of sweet wine.
- You can increase the layer of lady fingers to two or three layers if you like eating the cake part more than the cream part. It'll depend on your own reference.
Did you make this recipe? If so please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comment section. Also, don't forget to tag me #cookmorphosis @cookmorphosis on social media.
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