This classic Italian tiramisu recipe has only a handful of ingredients, is simple to make, absolutely delicious and tastes even better as the days go on. With layers of coffee soaked ladyfingers, a touch of (optional) liqueur, a rich and creamy custard like filling with mascarpone and a fine dusting of cocoa powder, it's luxurious and rich yet light and creamy.
Time to prepare : 20 minutes
Time to chill : 4 hours (or overnight)
Serves : 9
Ingredients
3 eggs
100g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g mascarpone*
300ml freshly brewed, strong coffee*
4 tbsp dark rum*
200g ladyfingers
Cocoa, to garnish
8 x 8" square baking dish*
Method
Brew the coffee and set to one side.
Separate the eggs into two mixing bowls, the egg whites in one bowl and the egg yolks in another bowl.
Add 50g of caster sugar in with the egg whites and use an electric hand held mixer (or standing mixer with whisk attachment) to beat the egg whites and sugar on a high speed for 3 minutes until stiff peaks form. Set the bowl to one side.
Add 50g of caster sugar in with the egg yolks and use an electric hand held mixer (or standing mixer with whisk attachment - there's no need to clean any excess egg white mixture from the whisk heads) to beat the egg yolks and sugar on a high speed for 3 minutes until a very pale yellow and a thickened consistency.
Add the vanilla and mascarpone to the whisked egg yolks and beat again for a few seconds until smooth. Pour half of this mixture in with the whisked egg whites and gently fold through until nearly combined. Add the remaining half of the mixture in and fold through again until just combined, even in colour and smooth, being careful not to beat the air out of the egg whites.
In a shallow dish, pour in the freshly brewed coffee and add the alcohol, if using.
Fully submerge one ladyfinger biscuit into the hot coffee mix, for only 1 - 2 seconds so it doesn't disintegrate, and then lay the soaked biscuit finger into the base of the 8 x 8" baking dish. Repeat until the bottom of the baking dish is filled with one layer of coffee soaked biscuits.
Spread over half of the cream and smooth it out with a spatula.
Top with another single layer of coffee soaked ladyfinger biscuits and then spread over the remaining cream, smoothing it out again with a spatula.
Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight if possible).
Dust with cocoa powder before slicing and serving.
Nutritional Information
(per serve)
277 calories
15g fat, 29g carbs, 6g protein
Good to know/alternatives:
You can use any shaped baking dish or tin for this, I find an 8 x 8" works best but you could also use a circular or rectangle dish - or double the recipe to fill a 9 x 13" baking dish.
Use a good quality, full fat mascarpone cheese. Supermarket own brands and low-fat versions tend to be quite watery, resulting in a runnier cream which doesn't "set" as well in the fridge.
Use freshly brewed, strong coffee. This can be either from a coffee machine (3 espresso shots topped up with enough boiling water to make 300ml), if you're using a Nespresso coffee pod machine I use 3 capsules, or 3 tbsp of instant coffee dissolved in 300ml boiling water.
Traditionally, Marsala wine is used in tiramisu. I love using dark rum but you could also use Amaretto, Coffee liqueur (eg. Kahlúa or Tia Maria), brandy or cognac, Irish cream (eg. Baileys) or Frangelico.
To make this alcohol free, just skip the alcohol and add in 1 tbsp of vanilla extract rather than 1 tsp.
Traditional tiramisu is made using raw eggs (just like chocolate mousse, lemon meringue pie, mayonnaise, hollandaise, bernaise sauce etc.). Generally, supermarket eggs (and supermarket own brand, especially in the UK) are high quality and from certified farms. If you're not comfortable with raw eggs you can use pasteurised eggs which have been heat treated.
Tiramisu tastes even better as the days go on as the flavours continue to develop and can be stored in the fridge, covered in cling film, for up to 4 days. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.
Tiramisu also freezes incredibly well, either freeze the whole thing or in portions, by wrapping with clingfilm and then a layer of tin foil (or place the cling film wrapped portions or dish in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.