Tiramisu Authentic Italian Recipe

Here is Tiramisu authentic Italian recipe, the most famous Italian dessert in the world born in Treviso (a lovely town near Venice), delicious and easy to make. Follow the directions of this recipe and make the best Tiramisu you have ever eaten!

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert made of savoiardi ladyfingers soaked in coffee, arranged in layers and filled with a cream made with mascarpone and eggs. Try Savoiardi Ladyfingers BALOCCO, a company famous in Italy for its pastries and biscuits.

There are many variants of tiramisu recipe; the following recipe is the authentic Italian tiramisu recipe, the one of the Italian tradition, the one that we make on Sundays, the one that you will eat when you’ll come to Italy, made with eggs and mascarpone.

But we know it’s hard to find mascarpone in other countries and not everyone eats raw eggs.

So we’ll give you some tips to make an exceptional tiramisu even without those ingredients (at the end of this recipe).

Meanwhile we’ll give you the recipe to make coffee mascarpone cream without using eggs. You can eat it in bowls or in little cups made of chocolate cookies, as explained in the recipe. Or you can use it to make tiramisu. A variant. It’s delicious! You find it here.

Tiramisu Authentic Italian Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

For this recipe we used:

• a ceramic baking pan of 19 x 30 cm (7.8 x 11.6 inches). If you want something more elegant look it here.
• An electric stand mixer that really is a great help for making a perfect tiramisu. We have used the KitchenAid but there are other really great brands (which you can find them here). You can also make tiramisu recipe with an electric hand mixer (some here) or with a whisk and lots of muscles (why sweating? We are not sure..however you can find it here)

And now let’s start!

1) – First of all, make the coffee. For a quick and delicious Italian coffee we used an Espresso Machine. Here you can find some options. Now add 2 tbs of rum or Marsala wine (that’s optional. If you don’t like liqueurs or you are making tiramisu for children, don’t use it) then set aside and let it cool. Separate egg whites from yolks and remember that in order to whip the egg whites pretty stiff there should not be any trace of yolk.

2) – Take a bowl and whip the egg whites until stiff: you will get at it when the the egg whites will not move if you turn the bowl over. When ready, set aside.

3) – Now in another bowl (or the clean same one) whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.

If you want to know how to pasteurize the eggs, go to the “How to Pasteurize Eggs” section at the bottom of this recipe.

4) – When ready add mascarpone cheese.

5) – Whisk the cream slowly with the electric mixer. Now add stiffen egg whites.

6) – Mix with a wooden spoon, from bottom to top. Mix slowly until it’s smooth and creamy.

7) – Now dip quickly Savoiardi Ladyfingers into the coffee. IMPORTANT! Cookies should not engage too much coffee, otherwise your Tiramisu will turn out too soggy. Then place them in a ceramic or glass cooking pan.

8) – Spread the mascarpone cream on top of the Savoiardi.

9) – Add another layer of Savoiardi and then cover with more mascarpone cream.

10) – Finally sprinkle with cocoa powder. Let rest 3 hours in the refrigerator before serving (even better if you make the tiramisu the day before, letting it to rest all night long in the fridge). You can add chocolate flakes on top according to taste.

Tiramisu Authentic Italian Recipe, Some Tips and Variants

How to Replace Mascarpone Cheese for Tiramisu

When talking about mascarpone, one refers to a very famous cheese, especially in Northern Italy. It differs from most other cheeses because it’s not obtained directly from milk but from its cream. It has a color that is usually between white snow and straw yellow; regarding the flavor, however, is very delicate, slightly tending to the sweet.

As we said before, Italian traditional Tiramisu recipe is made with mascarpone. However, there are some variants without mascarpone.

To prepare a delicious tiramisu without using mascarpone among the ingredients, it’s necessary to change the cream recipe. How so? Let’s see:

As an alternative to mascarpone, you can use:

• cream cheese;
• fresh ricotta cheese;
• heavy cream for desserts, vegetal or vaccine.

By employing one of these ingredients, or combining them according to your preferences, you can prepare a cream for your tiramisu, different from the traditional but just as exquisite.

For example, if you want to prepare a less caloric but still tasty tiramisu, you can mix light cream cheese and ricotta cheese.

For a softer and sweeter cream, use cream cheese and whipped heavy cream.

IMPORTANT! For 250g (1/2 lb) of cream, use the same ingredients, but, after adding 2 tablespoons of sugar, taste to figure out whether it is sweet enough or not.

Chantilly Cream

Another alternative to mascarpone cheese could be the Chantilly cream, which can be prepared very easily at home. Use heavy cream (cold, taken directly from the fridge) and icing sugar (even better if vanilla flavoured). The acing sugar can be chosen according to taste in a dose that can vary between 125 and 250 grams per liter of cream. Whip the cream with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and mix. Proceed by following the recipe without adding 100 g of sugar, because the chantilly cream is already sweet.

How to Replace Eggs for Tiramisu

Not everybody likes or can eat eggs, so here’s how to make tiramisu without eggs. 

In place of the eggs use 200 ml of heavy cream, whip the cream until stiff and add it to mascarpone little at a time. Proceed by following the recipe.

How to Pasteurize Eggs

To enjoy a genuine tiramisu without being worried about the possible contamination due to bacteria in raw eggs (such as salmonella), you can pasteurize the eggs. This procedure, which takes its name from the French biologist Louis Pasteur, is based on a low-temperature heat treatment to which to subject foods in order to kill any pathogenic germs that are dangerous to health, without damaging other beneficial micro-organisms.

To make the pasteurization you will need an indispensable kitchen tool: the digital kitchen thermometer. This way you can measure the water temperature, which should never exceed 121° C (250 F).

How to Pasteurize the Egg Yolks

you will need 4 egg yolks and 50 g of sugar and 25 g of water. Pour the water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Mix a little to dissolve the sugar then bring this glucose solution up to 121°C (250 F). Measure the temperature with a kitchen thermometer; if you do not have a thermometer, the syrup will be ready when small and white bubbles will form on the surface. It’s very important that the sugar does not exceed 121 ° C, temperature after which the sugar starts to caramelize (you realize it because it starts to darken). Meanwhile, begin to whip up the egg yolks with the electric mixer. When the syrup is ready, pour it over the egg yolks, keeping to whisk. Mount until completely cooled (about 10 minutes). The pate à bombe is thus obtained, a fluid and clear cream, the basis of many pastry preparations.

How to Pasteurize Egg Whites

Whip them first as explained in the recipe. Separately, heat 50 g of sugar in 25 g of water: let the syrup reach 121 ° C ( as above) and then turn off. Pour the syrup into the egg whites mixture, keeping to whisk with the mixer, so as to mix the syrup well with the egg whites.

Now the eggs are pasteurized and you can go on with the tiramisu recipe.

Tiramisu: How, How Long and Where to Store It

You can keep tiramisu a couple of days (at most) well covered in the refrigerator.
It can be frozen and kept in the freezer for about 2 weeks.