This is The Best Tiramisu Recipe! Adapted from Barefoot Contessa. Easy to make and bursting with chocolate, dark rum and espresso. What’s not to love! It really is a restaurant quality no bake dessert.
Why This Best Tiramisu Recipe Is So Good!
- A classic Italian dessert that’s bound to please
- Easy to make and delicious!
- A great dessert for big dinner parties.
- Rich and creamy.
Best Tiramisu Ingredients
- Egg yolks
- Sugar
- Mascarpone creme & mascarpone cheese
- Dark rum
- Espresso (or strong coffee)
- Espresso syrup
- Italian lady fingers
- Dark Chocolate bar
How To Make The Best Tiramisu – Step By Step
Spoon out the mascarpone into a bowl – with fork or whisk, whisk the mascarpone just a bit to soften and make it easier to mix in later. In your mixer whisk yolks and sugar on high for 5 minutes. It should be creamy and light yellow. Lower speed to medium. Add the cooled espresso, rum and marscapone.
In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients of the Espresso Syrup together.
Quickly dip the ladyfinger in the Espresso Syrup. Then line the dipped ladyfingers on the bottom of the pan/cups). Follow this with another layer of dipped ladyfingers. Finish with remaining mascarpone Cream. Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
A Super Easy Tiramisu Recipe
If the food gods could create the most perfect dessert, it would combine my three favorite ingredients: espresso, chocolate and dark rum. Surprisingly, Tiramisu is very easy to make, especially since it sounds so fancy and costs $8.95 at an Italian restaurant. If you don’t have an espresso maker, you can just brew super-strong coffee or even use instant espresso granules in a pinch. You can make Tiramisu in a large pan, or as I prefer, in cute little individual dessert cups. These were made in ice cream bowls I found on sale at Marshalls.
I also found that the original recipe left me with runny mascarpone creme – I’ve modified the technique to include whisking the mascarpone to lighten and fluff just a bit. If you don’t soften the mascarpone cheese to room temp before mixing it in, your creme mixture will be lumpy. If you don’t cool your espresso before adding to the egg yolk/sugar, the creme mixture becomes too runny.
In case you do run out of the mascarpone creme before you finish assembly – you can just spread the creme as evenly as you can and then top with whipped creme to cover. I often use whipped creme to add more height to the dessert. Sometimes I sneak a little more dark rum into the whipped creme too!
Can I Substitute The Rum?
You can use dark rum or golden rum. You can also substitute the rum with a little Grand Marnier, or amaretto. If you prefer to omit the alcohol completely, you can just leave out the rum or add a little bit of vanilla extract to taste.
Can I Freeze Tiramisu?
The tiramisu can be made 1 to 2 days ahead and stored in refrigerator. It will keep for up to 4 days in total and leftovers should be refrigerated immediately. Freeze Note: The tiramisu can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator and top with nuts and cocoa, as directed in recipe.
Top Tips For The Best Tiramisu
- Make sure you coffee and creme cheese is cooled to room temperature, before incorporating into the recipe.
- Swap alcohol for vanilla extract, if you want a booze free dessert.
- Soak the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture briefly. Don’t let them get soggy, it will ruin the dessert.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Check Out These Other Delicious Desserts
- Sweet Pumpkin Fried Wonton Desserts
- Chilled Tapioca Pearls with Sweet Coconut & Melon
- Easy Apple Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream
- Nutella Bread Pudding
I love hearing from you! If you have made this Tiramisu recipe, be sure to leave me a star rating and a comment below!
Best Tiramisu Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 extra large egg yolks at room temperature (or 7 large egg yolks)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Mascarpone Creme
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- 1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee - cooled to room temperature
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese - softened to room temperature
- Espresso Syrup for dipping
- 1/3 cup dark rum
- 1 1/2 cups espresso or strong coffee - cooled to room temperature
- 30-40 Italian lady fingers
- Dark chocolate bar shaved with vegetable peeler
Instructions
- Spoon out the mascarpone into a bowl – with fork or whisk, whisk the mascarpone just a bit to soften and make it easier to mix in later. In your mixer with whisk attachment,whisk yolks and sugar on high for 5 minutes.
- It should be creamy and light yellow. Lower speed to medium. Add the cooled espresso, rum and marscapone.
- In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients of the Espresso Syrup together. Set up your assembly line - from left to right:
- Ladyfingers - Espresso Syrup - Pan/Indiv Cups - mascarpone Creme
- Quickly dip the ladyfinger in the Espresso Syrup - a 2-second dip is all that you need. If you dip too long, too much of the syrup gets absorbed and the ladyfinger will get too soggy to lift out of the bowl.
- The ladyfinger should still be a little hard - don't worry, they will all soften up in the refrigerator.
- Line the dipped ladyfingers on the bottom of the pan/cups).
- Follow this with another layer of dipped ladyfingers. Finish with remaining mascarpone Cream.
- Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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I like the tip on replacing the alcohol, as I’d like to make this for someone who shouldn’t consume any alcohol at all. The recipie looks nice and not too complicated, unlike others I’ve come across, which I found too intimidating to cook. Thanks!
Hi Julia – I’ve never made it without the alcohol, but you can just leave it out of the recipe.
I have a Pillivuyt dish 9.5 x 8.5 X 2.5 Inches deep and I used Vincenovo brand ladyfingers from World Market and they fit neatly in two rows per layer.Â
BelGioioso now offers an espresso flavored Mascarpone. Use liqueur of choice, I pulled Capt. Morgan spiced rum and Tia Maria.Â
You need to beat the egg yolks and sugar to the ribbon. Perhaps this is what causes your mixture being too thin. I beat in the Mascarpone next until smooth and finished up by adding the espresso-liqueur portion of the liquid last after it was cooled to room temperature.Â
I felt there was plenty of the cream mixture to cover both layers of cookies nicely using the dimension of pan I had available. It’s chilling in the refrigerator and I am confident it will firm up overnight to meld into a softly spoonable, luscious dessert.
Thanks so much Joan! – jaden
Your instructions for assembly are not complete. You forgot to spoon on a layer of the cream sauce over the first layer of ladyfingers in the dish.Â
Hi,
What are the proportions to make super strong coffee as required for this recipe if one doesn’t have a machine? Can I do that with instant coffee?
I have been afraid to use the raw egg yolk in the past as well, but for some reason the sugar (with in the sugar/egg mixture) “cooks” the egg yolk.
No, it doesn’t. Â The sugar won’t kill salmonella if it is present. Â However, the risk is very low. Â If you are worried, get your eggs from a reputable source. Â I get mine from a friend that has her own chickens. Â
I’ve been tempted to make Tiramisu several times however I’ve frightened off by the raw egg yolks. What are the chances of catching salmonella from that?
Now this one I am going to bookmark.
Wow! This looks incredible!!
I make my Tiramisu with the same recipe by the Barefoot Contessa and it’s a hit every time! I had the same problem with the pan size but luckily my pan was deep enough that I decided to create a 3 layer tiramisu rather than the 2 layers as directed to do so in the recipe. My 1st batch had an excess of Rum but ohhh how delicious it was! 😉
Jaden, I’ve never even made Tiramisu but my new girlfriend is a huge fan!As a novice I have been trawling the internet and found one Tiramisu Recipe
using a combination of Tia Maria, Kahlua and Amaretto. My girlfriend isn’t a fan of any of these or dark rum!:s Could you suggest any other alcohol that can be used in the recipe?
Hey Steve, Honestly, I’d try the recipe and wouldn’t tell her there was dark rum in it. I bet she’d love it anyways.
I used this recipe yesterday and it turned out wonderful. The only thing is the lady fingers weren’t soak enough … should I double the liquid?
Overall, this is a good recipe since Tiramisu is my fav dessert of all =)
Doubling the liquid would make the cake too soggy – try 1.25 times the liquid recipe? Just be careful not to use too much ~j
I am an American living in London and stopped into an Italian bakery (Exeter Street Bakery, http://www.exeterstreetbakery.co.uk) to pick up lady fingers for my tiramisu. While I was waiting to pay, 3 other customers as well as the woman working behind the counter randomly said to me “I see you are making tiramisu, you can just go to Starbucks and get a large ‘Mocha’, then let it get cold in the fridge and use that to dip the lady fingers.” Since so many people in the bakery just offered this advice to me without my asking, and they all seemed to be Italian, I did exactly that and it worked out perfectly. I just wanted to offer that suggestion since Starbucks is now everywhere, and you can buy gigantic size drinks that should have enough liquid to soak all of your lady fingers. You can add alcohol too it if you like, but it’s also great without.
Steve-no need to use alcohol. Just replace with more espresso.
Looks wonderful! Living in the rural part of your state (Hardee County) I’ve often wondered what this dessert was that I heard so much about. My question is: can this be made without the alcohol? Or would that defeat the purpose?
i follow GIADA CHEF INSTRUCTION .IT WAS EASY &DELECIOUS. YUO DONT HAVE TO USE SWEETEND ESPRESSO CUSE LADY FINGER IS ALREADY COVERED WITH SUGAR.ALSO YUO CAN WISK EGGYOLKS ON WATER BATH.
as Giada chef said cuse lady finger is sweety yuo dont have to use sweetened epressos.
and i prefer to whisk eggyolks on water bath .
it is realy easy &deleciuos.