Classic Tiramisu

The most classic recipe for Italian tiramisu dessert

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword authentic Italian, classic, coffee, espresso, italian, mascarpone, tiramisu

Prep Time 30 minutes

Resting Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 365kcal

Author Eva

Brew the coffee, stir in 2 tbsp sugar and let chill to room temperature.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks and add them to two separate bowls. Beat with an electric mixer the whites to soft peaks, then incorporate half of the sugar and beat to hard peaks.
In the other bowl beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar until fluffy and pale. Add the mascarpone to yolk mixture and mix until homogeneous, about 1 minute. Set the mixer aside and fold in the egg whites. Refrigerate until the coffee has cooled to room temperature.
Spread a thin layer of cream over the bottom of the casserole dish. Quickly dip the savoiardi biscuits in the coffee on both sides before placing each biscuit next to each other over the cream creating a biscuit layer.
Spread half of the mascarpone cream over the savoiardi, then proceed to create a second layer of coffee-dipped biscuits. Finally spread a top layer of mascarpone cream on top and sprinkle with cocoa powder all over.
Cover with cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, but best to leave overnight.

Allow plenty of resting time. Since the biscuits are still somewhat crunchy as they go in the layers, the trick to nail the proper soft texture is to let your assembled tiramisu rest. This will allow the savoiardi to absorb moisture from the cream, softening them to the core. This step is not as crucial if using sponge cake, but even with sponge cake the flavour will develop better after a couple of hours.
Dip the biscuits in the coffee very quickly. Never let the ladyfingers soak too long in coffee. Overly soaked biscuits will bleed coffee once the tiramisu is assembled, excessively moistening the overall texture. So ideally your biscuits are still dry in the core when added to the dessert.
Classic tiramisù calls for the use of raw unpasteurised eggs. I only buy high quality free range eggs from verified farmers who comply with high ethical standard and trust their eggs to be eaten raw. If that raises a concern, you can bring half of the sugar intended in the cream to a boil with some water to make a simple syrup to be added hot to the yolks. This will pasteurise the egg yolks. Swap the whipped egg whites for whipped cream.