Oh boy, do I have a great recipe for you this week! It’s a crowd favourite – Tiramisu! If you like coffee desserts then this is the recipe for you. We're preparing everything from scratch: savoiardi sponge (ladyfingers), espresso syrup, and the mascarpone filling. This recipe differs from most other recipes in that you must bake the savoiardi sponge instead of buying premade ladyfingers. However, this means that you get incredibly moist layers.
This has been a recipe that has been a long time coming. I have been developing the best tiramisu for months now, ever since the start of Whisked Away. I’m honestly kind of embarrassed to admit how many times I’ve made tiramisu these past few months. "Over time, I've experimented with various aspects of Tiramisu, including trying different brands of store-bought ladyfingers, making the sponge cake, adjusting the amount of mascarpone, and testing different types of liquor. After all the hard work, I can proudly say that I've finally created the ultimate Tiramisu recipe.
What Is Tiramisu?
For the uninitiated, Tiramisu is an Italian dessert traditionally made with ladyfingers soaked in coffee, layered with a mascarpone cream then topped with cocoa powder. The coffee and mascarpone filling is typically spiked with some sort of liquor like rum, amaretto, marsala, brandy or a coffee liqueur like Kahlua. The name "tiramisu" translates to "pick me up," reflecting its invigorating ingredients: coffee and cocoa.
What Makes A Good Tiramisu?
In my opinion, the perfect tiramisu has to check all these boxes:
1. It has to be coffee-forward: You should be able to taste the coffee well.
2. Only mascarpone cheese should be used: No substituting for other cheeses like cream cheese.
3. No soggy cake: The cake should be able to withstand and soak high amounts of coffee without it being soggy.
4. The final product should hold its shape: You should get nice slices of tiramisu without the cream flowing out too much.
Main Components
This is what makes up the tiramisu:
1. Savoiardi Sponge Cake/ Ladyfingers: I baked the sponge cake in an 8-inch springform pan and then cut it into thirds. When assembling the tiramisu, I transferred it into an 8-inch cake ring lined with a sheet of acetate. You can alternatively just build the tiramisu in the 8-inch springform pan. You can also use store-bought ladyfingers and then quickly dip them in the coffee syrup. However, you might have a higher risk of getting soggy layers.
2. Coffee Syrup: I used espresso, dark rum and sugar to make the syrup. You can also use a strong brewed coffee or instant. If you want to omit any alcohol in this recipe, feel free to do so.
3. Mascarpone Filling: The mascarpone filling consists of three components. The mascarpone and marsala mixture, zabaglione (whipped egg yolks + hot sugar syrup), meringue (egg whites + hot sugar syrup) and whipped double cream. Marsala wine and gelatin are also added to enhance the flavour and make a more stable cream when set, respectively.
Special Ingredients
Mascarpone Cheese: Use the highest quality mascarpone you can find as it is a prominent flavour in tiramisu.
Sweet Marsala Wine (optional): A fortified wine from Sicily that brings complexity to the mascarpone filling. It tastes of dried apricots, honey and brown sugar. I used Florio Vecchioflorio Marsala Superiore Dolce.
Dark Rum (optional): Used in the coffee syrup to bring complexity to the dessert. I used Plantation Original Dark Rum.
Gelatin: This makes the mascarpone filling more stable, giving you nice and even cuts.
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