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). If you want to use pasteurized eggs go to the paragraph “how to pasteurize eggs” or read the recipe “how to make mascarpone cream with pasteurized eggs”.
Meanwhile we’ll give you the recipe to make coffee mascarpone cream without 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!
Do you want to make a delicious, coffee-free and fruit-flavored Tiramisu? Check out our Strawberry Tiramisu recipe! Delicious and easy to make
READ:
How to make tiramisu cake roll, a delicious tiramisu made with sponge cake instead of savoiardi.
Tiramisu Authentic Italian Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 Min
- Cooling Time: 3 Hr
- Yelds:
Ingredients
- 300 g (10,5 oz) Savoiardi Ladyfingers. We recommend BALOCCO SAVOIARDI LADYFINGERS, or make homemade ladyfingers with our recipe, which are great!
- 500 g (1,1 lb) of mascarpone cheese
- 4 medium eggs (about 220 g – 7,7 oz without shells)
- 100 g (3,5 oz) of sugar
- 300 ml of coffee (better if espresso)
- 2 tablespoons of rum or MARSALA (optional)
- unsweetened cocoa powder
Tiramisu Recipe: Kitchen Tools and Equipment
For this recipe we opted for:
- a ceramic baking pan of 30 x 19 cm (12 x 8 inch). 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 opted for 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 )
Directions
Step 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.
Step 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.
Step 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.
Step 4) – When ready add mascarpone cheese.
Step 5) – Whisk the cream slowly with the electric mixer. Now add stiffen egg whites.
Step 6) – Mix with a wooden spoon, from bottom to top. Mix slowly until it’s smooth and creamy.
Step 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.
Step 8) – Spread the mascarpone cream on top of the Savoiardi.
Step 9) – Add another layer of Savoiardi and then cover with more mascarpone cream.
Step 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.
How to Pasteurize Eggs For Tiramisu
Tiramisu in Italy has always been made with fresh eggs and it’s well known that it would be a good idea to pasteurize the eggs before using them to make this dessert. Here then we will explain how to pasteurize egg yolks and whites using a hot syrup made with sugar and water.
How to pasteurize the yolks
Step 1) – First, place 50 g (1,80 oz) of sugar with 25 ml of water in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar as much as possible and then bring this syrup to a boil, always stirring. The syrup will be ready when it reaches the temperature of 121 ° C (250 F). It’s very important that the syrup does not exceed 121 ° C (250 F), temperature after which the sugar starts to caramelize (you’ll know it because it starts to darken). So measure the temperature with a kitchen thermometer; if you don’t have a thermometer, the syrup will be ready when small and white bubbles will form on the surface.
Step 2) – Meanwhile, start to whip up the egg yolks with a stand mixer #ad at maximum speed. When the syrup is hot and ready, pour it over the egg yolks and keep whisking. Work the cream until completely cooled (about 10 minutes). You’ll feel that the cream is cold by placing your hands to the bowl. When the bowl is cold the cream is ready. This is the famous pate à bombe, a fluid and clear cream, made with eggs, sugar and water, that is the basis of many pastry preparations.
So following Tiramisu recipe, now it’s time to add the mascarpone cheese. But first look at how to pasteurize the egg whites, which in the recipe are whipped until stiff.
How to Pasteurize the Egg Whites
Step 3) – As for the egg yolks, make a syrup with 50 g (1,80 oz) of sugar and 25 ml of water. In the meantime, start whipping the egg whites with the stand mixer at maximum speed. When you see that they are whipping pretty good, add the hot syrup slowly. Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff for another 10 minutes.
Now the pasteurized egg whites are ready. Add them to the mascarpone cream and keep following the tiramisu recipe.
How to Pasteurize Whole Eggs.
With this simple procedure you have separately pasteurized the yolks and egg whites, obviously because the tiramisu recipe required it. But know that it’s possible to pasteurize whole eggs. Proceed in the same way, making the syrup with 100 g (3,50 oz) of sugar and 50 ml of water for 4 whole medium eggs. Whip the eggs with a stand mixer and slowly pour the hot syrup. Continue to beat the eggs until the cream is cold (put your hands on the bowl: when the bowl is cold the cream is ready). Now the eggs are pasteurized, fresh and safe and you can use them safely for your great recipes.
Individual Tiramisu Trifle
So, let’s assume that you have guests and want to serve tiramisu in individual cups, very chic and elegant. First of all you will need individual tiramisu trifles, whether they are made of glass or plastic. Then proceed to assemble the tiramisu preparations.
Step 1) – Place a tablespoon or two of mascarpone cream on the bottom of the cup. Break a Savoiardi fadyfinger into 4 and soak the pieces in coffee.
Step 2) – Lay them on the cream. If necessary, use two ladyfinger biscuits.
Step 3) – Cover with plenty of mascarpone cream (3-4 tablespoons), level and sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder. Your individual tiramisu trifle is ready and you’ll make a great impression!
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 if you want to make the tiramisu recipe without eggs, you can replace them with whipped cream. However, the dosage of the ingredients must be slightly modified and instead of the granulated sugar use icing sugar. Here’s how to make the cream for 6 people:
- 350 g (about 12 oz) of mascarpone
- 300 ml of fresh whipping cream
- 120 g (about 4 oz) of icing sugar
In a bowl, whip the cream together with half the icing sugar and put it in the refrigerator. In another bowl, whip the mascarpone with the remaining icing sugar. Then with a spatula incorporate the whipped cream with mascarpone cream. Now mscarpone cream without eggs for your tiramisu is ready! Soak the ladyfingers in the coffee and then proceed to make the layers as described in the recipe above.
If you transfer the mascaprone cream without eggs into a pastry bag with a 15 mm smooth nozzle and form round tufts on the layer of ladyfingers, instead of spreading it, your tiramisu will be not only good but also pretty stylish!
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.
Wines
Tiramisu and wines, an extraordinary blend of flavors that must be expertly balanced to enhance the right combination between this dessert and his drink. To satisfy this need, a sparkling sweet wine, with a good level of acidity and a fair amount of sugar such as Moscato d’Asti Spumante (typical Piedmontese produced with white Moscato grapes from the provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo) is perfect.
Perfetto, buonissimo! Just the right amount for my ceramic serving dish. All the family loved it, two nieces said they had never tasted authentic Tiramisu. My sister asked for your recipe. Grazie.
It’s turned out all runny and hasn’t set :* What might I have done wrong please?
Hi Lucinda!
When tiramisu comes out runny, it’s usually because there’s too much liquid in it. The liquid can be given by:
Too many eggs – Eggs must be weighed accurately (see ingredients section)
The egg white not whipped – It must be whipped very firmly
Too much coffee
Mascarpone too soft – Mascarpone cheese must be creamy but thick. When you put a spoon in the mascarpone, the spoon must remain standing.
I have noticed that the most frequent problem concerns Mascarpone. Next time, if you have too soft mascarpone, don’t add the whipped egg whites. Make tiramisu with yolks only, doubling the doses of eggs and sugar.
I made this recipe 3 times so far. The first two times it came out so perfect i was taking pictures. The third time? Cream was runny, it didnt thicken. One out of 2 things couldve gone wrong, or both:
1) i soaked the ladyfingers too much
2) i shouldve folded the mascarpone with the yolks instead of mixing it with a mixer.
If the ladyfingers are too soaked, they wont absorb any moisture from the cream. And Mascarpone will turn to liquid if mixed too much. This is my opinion on this problem.
Nope, i was wrong. Here is the update: if you measure the yolks and whites, and make sure they are 220g, your cream will be perfect. The recipe here is perfect, someone just has to listen, and follow it 🙂
I cracked 4 eggs into a measuring cup (the same organic eggs i always use), and the total was less than 220g. I added egg number 5 and there you go, exactly 220g. See that?
Follow the recipe!
Ok I see where you pasteurized your egg whites and yolk with sugar syrup. Do you still add the remaining sugar after you add the syrup to your yolk?
Hi Tricia!
So for 4 eggs you need 100 grams of sugar. If you want to pasteurize the eggs, use 50g + 25ml of water for the yolks and 50g + 25ml of water for the egg whites. You can also make tiramisu with just the yolks, without the whipped egg whites. The cream is thicker. In this case for 4 egg yolks add all the sugar, that is 100 g + 50 ml of water.
Hi Barbara! I tried this recipe out for a wine / tiramisu tasting for The Wine Wiki and it was absolutely delicious!! Just wanted to say thank you so much!
This is an excellent recipe. Many tiamisu recipes are far too sweet. I made it for my son’s birthday. Everyone loved it!
Hi. How do I adjust ingredients for 6 inch springform pan?
Hi Valerie,
I would tell you to use 2/3 of the doses … Which in my opinion becomes complicated. After all, it is a little smaller than the one we used. I would keep the doses of this recipe. With what is left over, make small tiramisu in glasses. The ones you usually use for water. You can give them to some friends or eat them on sad evenings …;-)
Hi. Thanks for your advice.
I made this recipe for Easter. My problem was that I dipped the lady fingers into the Expresso and Rum mixture very lightly. So what happened was that I really could not taste the Expresso mixture and I had a lot left over. Please tell me where I went wrong and what I should have done. Thank you.
Hi Janine,
Nothing wrong. It is true that when you dip the ladyfingers in coffee you have to do it quickly so as not to soak them too much, but at least give them time to soak … Next time try to do this: dip the cookie in the coffee on one side only, for 2 seconds. Then place it in the pan with the coffee-soaked side up. In this way the coffee gradually drops to wet the underside of the biscuit as well. Over time and a little more experience you will see that your tiramisu will be perfect! Ciao
Amore, thank you so much for the recipes! First of all, i used your recipe for savoiardi and they came out perfect! Then i did your tiramisu, and THAT came out perfect with your savoiardi. Absolutely perfect and to my own taste, and no problems at all, the ladyfingers absorbed the coffee and were not soggy but half brown half yellow. Youre amazing
Hi Sim!
Thank you so much! You are so nice!
I like this comment much more than your previous one (“without the shells” remember?). Maybe because I didn’t understand it. If I made any mistakes or wrote something funny, please let me know. Sometimes I get messed up with the English language. I live in Italy, I speak Italian, you know how it is …
Anyway I hope you are sincere.
Grazie mille amore mio ;-D
Hi the comment about the shells, you know what? I actually didnt understand it. You wrote that to let the reader know the weight of the eggs minus the shells, but i thought that you were joking and wrote not to use the shells in the Tiramisu
Either way, i meant only good ☺️
I just made my third Tiramisu, but this time the cream didnt thicken like the last two times. I think i soaked the Savoiardi too much and they couldnt absorb any moisture from the cream. Or maybe i mixed the Mascarpone too much and it became like liquid. Im still learning
Amore, im gonna come to Italia and marry you 😀 you’re such a nice persona.
Hi Barbara…I do not have a expresso coffee machine..Can I use instant expresso coffee (Lavazza) and how much per 100 ml?
Ciao Manjit!
sure you can use instant espresso coffee. I think 1 or 2 teaspoons per 100 ml of hot water, it depends how strong you want the taste of the coffee. I would make 2 … ;-D
I’m a tiramisu lovers, but in my country it is so expensive…..so thank you Barbara for sharing this recipe ……I’ve made Tiramisu for the family gathering and everybody love it.
Thank you Corina for your comment 😀
Fantastic article about tiramisu. Thank you very much xx
Thanks a lot for your message!
Wow! Just wow! Thank you so much for your delicious recipe. I had been wanting to make an authentic Tiramisu for ages but had lost my recipe and couldn’t decide which new one to follow. I came across this page and decided it looked good and easy to do. I left it overnight as suggested, but couldn’t wait until this evening to taste it. It was a bit emotional – I have now found a great recipe and can make Tiramisu at home instead of taking a chance in restaurants.
Thank you again!
Hi Theresa,
Thanks for your enthusiastic message!
I am very happy that the recipe was successful with our indications
Hello, probably a silly question, i’ve tried to look through the comments section to find the answer. Are you using caster sugar for the sugar?
Thank you
Hi! Yes, we used caster sugar
My 10 yr old son and I (2 people who don’t do anything in kitchens) made it tonight. It looks great, followed every step (very easy thanks for the pics). The taste test tomorrow will be by mama (surprise Bday), so she will be the true judge. Tiramisu is her all time favorite! I have a feeling this one will hit a home run!
I’ve made this 2 times now and both times it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe, I was looking for an authentic Italian recipe and this was perfect xxxx
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I made this with the exact proportions however the final cream mixture can out very runny and liquid. It was not at all spreadable. Any clue where I could have gone wrong?
Hi Muskan,
Usually the mascarpone cream turns out runny when the exact dosage of the eggs is not observed (about 220 g or 7,7 oz without shells) or (more likely) the mascarpone was too liquid. Mascapone cheese must be quite thick; if you put it in a bowl and put a spoon in the center of the cheese, the spoon remains standing upright.
Hi Barbara. After adding the egg whites the mixture got runny and a bit clumpy. Don’t know what I did wrong.. Is it too late to add more mascarpone to thicken it a bit more?
Add more mascarpone and keep the cream for few hours in the refrigerator.
Hi! This is a uch a delicious tiramisu! I made it last night left it in the fridge overnight. We ate it today for my birthday and everyone loved it. I used brandy cause it’s all I had and it was perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe with the world!
Nice! Thanks for your comment Jeannine!
Hello Barbara, I’m just looking for Tiramisu recipe which is genuine Italian and I found yours! I’ll definitely make this one. Just one quick question, I thought that in Tiramisu is traditionally used Amaretto liqueur? Thank you.
Hi Marketa,
Thanks for your comment! In Italy the traditional tiramisu recipe is made with marsala. Some people use rum or brandy. Amaretto liqueur is used by very few. But more and more often the greatest Italian chefs don’t add liquor in tiramisu, so….I think it’s up to you now 😉
Thank you for your answer Barbara! I have the Amaretto already at home so I will use it
Perfetto! Let me know how it is. I’ve never tried tiramisu with amaretto
Barbara, it was soooo delicious, lovely, gorgeous …….. It’s just two of us and I don’t necessarily like sweet very much, BUT this went down very quickly ! Just one thing was wrong, didn’t do any harm to flavour, and it is that the cream didn’t settle. In some places it was perfect but mostly the cream just went down in bowl (we ate it from the bowl where it was ). Thank you so very much for this delicious recipe Barbara!
Grazie a te 😀 Ciao!
No alcohol in the Tiramisu??! Well then those chefs arent so great after all. 😀
My son makes this but he uses condensed milk as he found recipe that had it where did that come from cause ive never herd the likes before
I made this for Mother’s day. It is by far the best Tiramisu I’ve eaten ever!!! Everything about it was on point. Super easy to make as well. The only minor change I made was that the mascarpone came in a 454 gr container so that’s what I used, but wow it was yummy!. I have lots of Marsala left so that will be my excuse to keep making more. Thank you for the recipe.
I’ve made this tiramisu about 5 times already because it’s delicious. My mother loves it too. Guess what she’s getting for mother’s day? The best gifts are edible
Hello I am not sure about the conversions to grams to cups/oz. Can you be more clear on the number you have in parenthesis please? I am trying this tiramisu recipe out tonight for a good friend of mine.
Thank you
Sure thing Alicia!
Check it here:
https://bit.ly/2YGvcKJ
That’s easier. Ciao!
Unfortunately that egg pasteurisation method does not work. My perfect tiramisu gave us bloaters and diarrhea, it might work if you add the eggs into the hot vessel but it does not by adding the hot sugar to the eggs. 4 egg whites is to much liquid I guess. Had made a lemon cream where you pasteurise the eggs by whipping them up on a benmari.Next time without eggs
Thanks for your comment Burci,
I’m sorry that the pasteurized eggs didn’t come out well. We will write a well detailed post on this topic. As soon as it is ready, we’ll let you know. Cheers!
Just get organic eggs, make sure they are fresh, and stop worrying about salmonella. You get salmonella from eggs and meat that are dirty because non organic products in America are filthy, look at how they raise the chickens and how they eat, it s a crime!
Get fresh organic eggs and enjoy life!
I’m planning on making this tiramisu tonight as it’s my birthday tomorrow!! I’m just a little confused on how you substitute the heavy cream for the eggs. When do you add the sugar etc.
Hi Mollie,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, you’re right, in fact that paragraph isn’t very clear. Now we re-write it so as to describe the recipe of Tiramisu without eggs more precisely. And…Buon Compleanno!
Isn’t 300g of coffee too much? That seems dangerous!
You don’t have to use ALL the coffee. It’s only used to soak the ladyfingers. And don’t soak them too much …. 😉
Hi Ali
300ml of expresso coffee in this sizable desert is not much. If you plan on eating the whole desert yourself then i’d suggest using decaf instead.
Made tiramisu yesterday using your recipe. I definitely under dipped my lady fingers because I was afraid of making them too soggy. Nonetheless the dessert was absolutely rich and delicious! Will definitely make this again in the future.
Hi!! My mom and I were in search of a true authentic Italian Tiramisu and loved this recipe; only problem is that our mascarpone cream mixture came out super runny :/ We don’t think it is going to set but we are leaving it in the fridge over night to see how it turns out. Where did we go wrong? Please Help!
Could be the mascarpone quality? Mascarpone has to be almost as thick as Philadelphia cheese. Maybe the doses? However let it rest in the fridge; the cold should make it more solid. Or add mascarpone, but the cold should be enough. And then enjoy your great Tiramisu! 😉
Our mascarpone was definitely not that thick! thank you so much!
Hi, please can you explain what heavy cream is? We have double cream, single cream and whipping cream in the supermarket. I’m thinking it’s double cream whipped up as this is quite heavy, am I right? Many thanks
Sorry I’m not sure but I think is that one. In italian is panna da montare or panna liquida so maybe is whipping cream. But sometimes the translation is heavy cream
Gratsi Barbara!! My first and last home made Tiramisu by was some 40 years back! Now to hunt for Savoiardi!
Best tiramisu I’ve ever had, let alone made.
My espresso machine is out of action, so I used dreaded instant coffee. Still amazing!
For the alcohol, I used Kahlua and Creme de Cacao White.
Well done Matt!
What is meant by 300g of coffee?
It means that you have to make coffee for 300 g (about 300 ml)
thanks and will enjoy making this recipe
Is there any alternative to ladyfingers that is gluten-free?
Try gluten-free ladyfingers from Schär, you can find them here on amazon.com . Ciao!
Great traditional tiramisu. My family makes it almost the same way. The only difference is we don’t use alcohol and we shave chocolate on top instead of cocoa powder. Molto delizioso!
Can you tell me how long this will keep? I was going to make tiramisu on Thursday for Sunday dinner. Thanks.
Hi Stephanie,
it’s better if you make it the night before, so that with 24 hours of rest in the fridge all the flavors blend together perfectly, and the biscuits take the right humidity. But if you leave it in the fridge for several days, the egg whites start to release water, even if they have been whisked stiff.
Absolutely beautiful perfect tiramisu
Try this out