This easy Tiramisu is simple to make, no bake and fabulous for feeding a crowd! This is a traditional Italian recipe by Vanessa Martin, ex-chef of Mercato e Cucina, a fabulous Italian emporium in Gladesville, Sydney. Made the real proper Italian way – and it’s easier than other methods used! (Also see Note 6 of the recipe for why this the tempering of eggs is not required!).
An amazing Italian chef’s recipe for Tiramisu
There are many, many Tiramisu recipes out there in this big wide world. Some are complicated. Some are very shortcut, made using cream in a can.
Traditionally in Italy, Tiramisu is made using raw eggs. Somewhere along the lines of history, I am guessing that someone got scared about eating raw eggs and decided to start making Tiramisu using tempered eggs (eggs whisked over a water bath). I’ve never made it that way – actually, it’s the extra steps that turn me off!
Also, I’m not scared of eating raw eggs! There is nothing raw tasting about Tiramisu! The egg yolks are beaten until thick and creamy which is what creates the richness in the cream. Then the egg whites are beaten until stiff, then folded into the cream to lighten it up. Dip lady fingers into liquor laced coffee, spread with cream. Easy!
Do you want to see just how easy Tiramisu is to make? Here you go – a cooking video! Now a warning – you’re going to get a real close up look at my Baby Hands in action. No laughing! Concentrate on the Tiramisu!!! ?
So this easy Tiramisu is made the real, traditional Italian way – with raw eggs and not a drop of cream in sight.
The key ingredient in this is the mascarpone cheese which tastes like cream but is much thicker. You’ll see in the video that it has a consistency almost like goat’s cheese, nothing like Western cream which is pourable.
Tiramisu is assembled in many different ways. Fancy individual glasses, round cakes, loafs, cake rolls – the list goes on. Me – I like to keep it simple. Just a square baking dish.
Oh, and one other thing – dust with cocoa just before serving. It gets soaked right up into the cream pretty quickly.
If you do want to serve up a pretty Tiramisu with chocolate already on it, just use shaved chocolate instead of cocoa.
Made the proper Italian way, this easy Tiramisu is indulgent and yet light. The richness of the yolks and mascarpone cheese are lightened up by folding in stiffly beaten egg whites. And there’s only 1/2 cup of sugar in this whole recipe!!! Are you surprised?
As for what to lace the coffee with to dip the lady fingers in – the options are endless! Rum, brandy, Kahlua, Frangelico, Bailey’s – go wild, use what you love, or even keep it virgin!
Anyone for afternoon tea at my place??? ? There’s certainly plenty of Tiramisu to go around! – Nagi x
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Easy Tiramisu (Chef Recipe)
Ingredients
- 3 eggs , yolks and whites separated
- 1/2 cup caster sugar (known as super fine / baker's sugar in the US)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz / 250g mascarpone (Note 5)
- 1 1/4 cups hot espresso coffee - strong! (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp (or more!) of liquor of choice - I like Frangelico and Kahlua
- 6.5 oz / 200g (24 - 30) lady fingers , pavesini or savoiardi biscuits (Note 2)
- Cocoa , for dusting
Instructions
- Beat yolks and sugar in stand mixer on medium high for 12 minutes or until white and thick. (Note 3)
- Add vanilla and mascarpone, beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl, set aside.
- Clean bowl and whisk. Beat egg whites until stiff.
- Fold 1/3 of the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Then gradually fold the remaining yolk mixture in and mix until just combined. (Note 4)
- Mix coffee and liquor together. Quickly dip biscuits in and line the bottom of a 8”/20cm square dish. (See video to see how I arrange them).
- Spread over half the cream, then top with another layer of coffee dipped biscuits.
- Spread with remaining cream.
- Cover, refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight
- Dust with cocoa powder just before serving - either before you cut or after placing onto serving plates. (Note 5)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Everything is perfect with this recipe! Thank you! May I know what brand of mascarpone you used? Yours is much denser than most so the cream holds better.
Hi Rachel, I made this a few years ago now, the brand I used is no longer available but I’ve successfully made this with a few different brands just bought at the local supermarket – N x
Hi nagi
Your recipe rocks ! Cheers bj
Thanks so much Bj!
I just put mine into the fridge. It was easy to put together and looks fabulous! Can’t wait to try it at an Italian dinner party tonight!
I hope you love it Mary!
You can buy Schar brand (bright yellow pack) gluten free saviordi biscuits – I use two packs of 150g and you need more coffee as they are much harder than normal biscuits. Works out really well!! Have tried other gf biscuits but they are generally too heavy or rich. Try the schar ones you can buy them online.
That’s great to know Nikki!!
Hey thanks for the wonderful recipie, but do you have any recamandetions on how t macke a gluten free version
Hi there,
Very excited to try this recipe. Unfortunately, I need to use gluten free lady fingers and I can’t find any 🙁 If I use a hard GF cookie instead and just soak a bit longer in the coffee… would that work? Thanks!
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tried sorry so can’t guarantee it will work – N x
Thank you, the recipe worked perfectly.
Awesome!
I can’t find espresso coffee what can I use instead instant
Sure can Candace!
Hi Nagi,
Thank you so much for this sooooo easy Recipe, I have made double the ingredients, and your pavlova recipe perfect every time.
Forgot leave rating for the commanting earlier, I love to put ten stars or thousand thousand of star rating 😃
I made three of your amazing desserts last night for a party and this was my favourite and I really love your caramel tart but this tiramisu was just perfect in flavour and texture. I made it in individual glasses which was great for serving and portion sizes.
That’s a great serving idea! (Also stops you from eating too much… Well, mainly ME!) 😂
Awesome!! So easy and soooooo delicious. I probably soaked my biscuits for a little too long- they were quite wet, and made the whole dish wetter than in the video, but delicious! Thx- all your recipes I make turn out perfectly
Woohoo! I’m so happy you loved it!!
Have made it again and only briefed dipped the biscuits- but looking at your video, it seems the marscapone cheese I’m using is less “stiff” than yours- it seems to have the consistency of double cream?? What brand marscapone do you use?
Hi, Kevin from Kevin is Cooking suggested that I try your tiramisu, looks yummy! Can I double the recipe? Can I make it a trifle? Thanks
Hi Patty, yes you can double it! I hope you love it!
This is indeed a traditional and authentic Tiramisu recipe. I’ve been making this exact same recipe (from an Italian chef) for years and it’s delicious. I’ve never had issues with the raw eggs. SO much better than the whipped cream filling wannabes! 😉
Congratulations! This recipe easy, tastes great. A huge hit.
Could It be doubled for a large family.
My egg mixture didn’t completely dissolve the sugar, i tried to heat it a little to melt it but its still incredibly grainy! What did i do wrong?
Hey Nagi!
I had a company cook-off for which I was in charge of dessert. I have a go-to Tiramisu recipe I’ve used for years, but your recipes have always been solid hits, so I figured I’d give it a go. I made a total of 77 individual servings (4 batches) and one batch for the fam. This recipe is not only easier than my go-to, all have agreed it’s tastier.
We found it a bit sweet, so the final batch used about 1/3C less sugar. Used Patron XO Cafe for the liqueur and fresh ground espresso for the coffee.
Long story made short (too late!), yet another hit from the RecipeTinEats family! Thank you for my new go-to recipe 🙂
77! WOW!!!!!!!!!