Italian Tiramisu Recipe

5 from 38 votes

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Italian Tiramisu is a much loved dessert. But do you know how to make tiramisu at home? Follow my recipe for delicious restaurant results. This classic Italian dessert layers coffee dipped savoiardi (also known as Lady Fingers) and a wonderful mascarpone filling with no raw egg!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time10 mins

cooling zabaglione10 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: servings

Author: Marcellina

Ingredients

1 ½ cups strong coffee (350 mls (more if needed))
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar (100 grams)
½ cup Marsala (120 mls)
2 cups mascarpone (450 grams or 1lb)
1 cup heavy whipping cream (240 mls (containing at least 36% fat))
24 savoiardi cookies (approx 8oz/250 grams or enough for two layers in the pan)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

To prepare the coffee dip

In a shallow dish pour coffee. Add sugar and rum. Stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Make the zabaglione

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a glass/ heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler. Whisk lightly until combined. Whisk in the Marsala.
Place the bowl or top of double boiler over barely simmering water. The bottom of the bowl mustn’t touch the water.
Whisk continuously until the mixtures thickens and becomes pale and creamy. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Be careful not to make scrambled Marsala eggs. If necessary , take the bowl off the heat every so often if you think it’s getting too hot.
Once the zabaglione is ready, cool it down quickly so that it doesn’t keep cooking. I do this by have a bowl ready with a small amount of ice and water. Suspend the hot bowl in the ice water and stir with the whisk until the zabaglione has cooled to room temperature.

To make the Mascarpone filling

Whisk the cream either by hand or with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Mix in the mascarpone. Don’t over beat because mascarpone can split.
Fold in the zabaglione.

To make Italian Tiramisu

Briefly dip half of the savoardi in the coffee one at a time and place them in one layer in a 8 x 8 inch x 2 inch (20 x 20cm x 5cm) pan. Be careful not to let the savoiardi soak too much because they will fall apart.
This should make one complete layer. If not add more.
Spread half of the mascarpone filling over the first layer of savoiardi.
Repeat dipping (you may need to make more coffee mixture if you use it all up) and layering with the remaining savoiardi and mascarpone filling.
Sift cocoa powder over the tiramisu.
Refrigerate for 6 hours or better still overnight for the flavours to combine and the filling to set.

Notes

This dessert is best made the day before but can be made even 2 days before. It will keep for at least 5 days in the refrigerator.

Tiramisu can be frozen for 3 months. Place a layer of non stick paper over the top then wrap well in plastic wrap. Defrost in the refrigerator. On hot days tiramisu is delicious eaten as a frozen dessert.

Method using egg white instead of cream for the Mascarpone Filling
Substitute 4 egg whites and a pinch of salt for the cream.
Mix mascarpone with zabaglione.
Whisk egg white and salt until soft peaks.
Fold egg whites gently into mascarpone mixture so as not to deflate the egg whites.
Use as per the recipe

Alcohol Free Tiramisu

Leave the rum out of the coffee dip and substitute 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract for the Marsala. Because there is less liquid, it will cook more quickly so watch it carefully. You could make up the rest of the liquid with grape juice but I've never personally tried that.

Nutrition