To make tiramisù at home you need six ingredients: mascarpone, eggs, sugar, espresso, savoiardi biscuits and cocoa. No whipped cream, no gelatin, no oven. The recipe takes about 30 minutes of actual work, plus at least 4 hours in the fridge. That resting time is the step most people cut short, and it is the one that makes the difference between a good tiramisù and a great one.
What ingredients do you need for a classic tiramisù?
These quantities serve 8 people in a rectangular dish of roughly 20 by 30 centimetres:
- 500 g mascarpone, straight from the fridge
- 4 very fresh medium eggs, separated into yolks and whites
- 100 g sugar, split into 70 g for the yolks and 30 g for the whites
- 300 g savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits), about 30 pieces
- 300 ml espresso, unsweetened and cooled to room temperature
- Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
- Optional: 2 tablespoons of Marsala or dark rum mixed into the coffee
Mascarpone is a fresh Italian cream cheese with about 80% fat. It must be cold when you use it, otherwise it loosens and the cream never firms up. The eggs are used raw, so buy the freshest you can find, or read the section on pasteurizing them below.
How do you make the mascarpone cream without it turning runny?
Whisk the 4 yolks with 70 g of sugar until the mixture is pale, thick and has doubled in volume. With an electric whisk this takes 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the cold mascarpone one spoonful at a time, on the lowest speed or by hand with a spatula, and stop as soon as the cream is smooth.
This is the point where most tiramisù fail. Mascarpone is mostly fat, and if you beat it too long or too fast the fat separates. The cream turns grainy first, then runny, and there is no way to fix it. Thirty seconds of gentle mixing is enough.
In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the 4 whites with the remaining 30 g of sugar until they hold firm peaks. Fold them into the mascarpone mixture in three additions, lifting from the bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Stop when no white streaks remain. The finished cream should hold its shape on a spoon.
How long should you dip the savoiardi in the coffee?
One second per side. Two at the very most. Savoiardi are extremely absorbent, and a biscuit that sits in the coffee for 5 seconds will collapse into mush and release liquid at the bottom of the dish. The coffee must be at room temperature and unsweetened, because the cream already carries all the sugar the dessert needs. If you use liqueur, stir it into the coffee before you start dipping.
Lay the biscuits in a single tight layer with the sugared side facing up. Break a few in half to fill the gaps at the edges.
How do you assemble tiramisù and how long does it need to rest?
The order is simple: one layer of dipped biscuits, half of the cream, a second layer of biscuits, the remaining cream. Smooth the top with a spatula, cover the dish with cling film without touching the surface, and put it in the fridge.
The minimum resting time is 4 hours. The ideal is 8 to 12 hours, which means making it the evening before you serve it. During this time the biscuits finish absorbing moisture from the cream, the two layers merge, and the cream sets to a sliceable consistency. Dust with cocoa only right before serving: cocoa added earlier absorbs humidity from the fridge and turns dark and damp.
Can you make tiramisù safely with raw eggs?
Yes, in two ways. The first is to pasteurize the eggs with a hot sugar syrup. Heat the 70 g of sugar with 25 ml of water to 121 °C, pour it slowly over the yolks while whisking at high speed, and keep whisking until the bowl is cool to the touch. Do the same with the whites and the 30 g of sugar and a further 10 ml of water. The heat of the syrup brings the eggs above 65 °C, which is enough to make them safe.
The second way is to skip the egg whites entirely and replace them with 200 ml of whipped cream. It is not the traditional version, but the cream is more stable and the recipe becomes easier for beginners.
Tiramisù keeps for 2 days in the fridge, covered. It also freezes well for up to 1 month: cut it into portions first, and thaw them in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.
The five mistakes that ruin a tiramisù
- Mascarpone at room temperature. It loosens and the cream never sets.
- Biscuits soaked too long. The base turns soggy and the dessert collapses when cut.
- Sweetened or hot coffee. Hot coffee melts the cream, sugar makes the whole dessert cloying.
- Cocoa dusted too early. It absorbs moisture and looks muddy.
- Serving after 1 or 2 hours. The layers have not merged and the cream is still loose.