Tiramisu is one of the most famous Italian desserts. Tiramisu literally means “pick me up,” and it’s true—there’s no doubt that tasting this lovely dessert will cheer you up.
For me, tiramisu is the iconic example of how to make the most out of a dessert. The bitter, strong coffee with the delicate mascarpone cream, last but not least dusted with bitter cocoa powder, creates a contrast that could seduce anyone.
It’s important to use high-quality ingredients to make your tiramisu perfect. In order to achieve that harmony of flavors, first of all you’ll need quality coffee and cocoa; choose a strong espresso and a good-quality cocoa powder.
Is There an Authentic Tiramisu Recipe?
As its origin is unclear, there’s no original or authentic tiramisu recipe. Unfortunately, many poor versions can be found worldwide, especially outside Italy.
If you check Italian versions of tiramisu, you’ll most frequently find the version that I’m sharing with you below. As the source for my recipe, I used my favorite Italian cooking blog, Giallo Zafferano. My recipe is a bit different, though, because I prefer a creamier tiramisu, so I used fewer ladyfingers.
The base is ladyfingers dipped in strong coffee. The trick here is to get the right ratio. Use too much coffee, and your tiramisu will be soggy. Use too little, and you’ll get a very dry dessert—unfortunately, the kind of tiramisu you get served most of the time outside Italy.
The cream is the other key part of this recipe. There are several variations, but mascarpone is always the base. A lot of English-language recipes use heavy cream, but I find that’s hardly ever the case in Italy. They use eggs instead, with the yolks providing the creaminess and the whites the fluffiness.
The Two Most Frequent Questions About the Ingredients
- If you’re worried about using raw eggs, you can beat the egg yolks over a double boiler.
- No, alcohol is not a mandatory ingredient of tiramisu. Some add some good quality liqueur to the coffee, some don’t.
Fresh Tiramisu Is Not at Its Best
The interesting thing about tiramisu is that it isn’t as good fresh as it is the next day.
Once I asked a waitress in a restaurant whether they had tiramisu, and she said they had a very good one made fresh a couple of hours earlier. That’s how I knew it wasn’t the real Italian kind of tiramisu.
I know it sounds counterintuitive, but this dessert has to rest for a day. The cream is too fluffy; it has to literally collapse a bit. The flavors are still too separate; they need to get to know each other better. Believe me.
Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 2 cups mascarpone 500 g
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup espresso 240 ml
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 10 oz ladyfingers 300 g
- 2 tbsp sugar for the coffee
Instructions
- Make a strong espresso coffee. Pour it into a bowl or plate, add two tablespoons of sugar and let it cool to room temperature.
- Separate the yolks and whites. Beat the yolks with half the sugar until fluffy and pale in color, for about 5 minutes.
- Add the mascarpone and whisk it until it’s light and fluffy.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the remaining sugar afterward, and continue beating for at least a minute to get a glossy, stable foam.
- Add a small amount of the whites to the mascarpone cream and whisk it in. Fold in the rest gently.
- Dip half of the ladyfingers one by one into the coffee mixture just enough to moisten them, and line the bottom of a container with them. I find around 2–3 seconds is the perfect dipping time.
- Spread half of the cream evenly over the ladyfingers.
- Optional: Sprinkle some cocoa powder over the top using a fine-mesh sieve.
- Make a second layer the same way: ladyfingers dipped in coffee and the remaining tiramisu cream.
- Sprinkle the top with cocoa powder. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid, making sure it does not touch the cocoa, and put it in the fridge. Let it rest for at least two hours—in my opinion, it’s even better if you make it the day before.
