Desserts

Classic Tiramisu

Name: Classic Tiramisu
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 4 h 30 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 egg yolks; 100 g sugar; 500 g mascarpone; 240 ml heavy cream; 350 ml strong espresso, cooled; 2 tbsp coffee liqueur, optional; 24 ladyfinger biscuits; 2 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting

Coffee-soaked ladyfingers layered with a mascarpone cream, no baking required.

Vegetarian

Slice of tiramisu dusted with cocoa powder on a plate — The cocoa dusting goes on right before serving, not before the chill.

Prep30 min

Cook--

Total4 hr 30 min

Servings 8 servings

DifficultyMedium

Espresso-dunked ladyfingers layered with a whipped egg and mascarpone cream, dusted with cocoa and chilled until set -- the classic no-bake Italian dessert.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
100 g sugar
500 g mascarpone
240 ml heavy cream
350 ml strong espresso, cooled
2 tbsp coffee liqueur, optional
24 ladyfinger biscuits
2 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting

Instructions

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and thick.
Beat in the mascarpone until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, then fold into the mascarpone mixture.
Folding rather than stirring keeps the cream light -- overmixing deflates it and the tiramisu ends up dense instead of airy.
Combine the espresso and coffee liqueur in a shallow dish. Dip each ladyfinger briefly and arrange in a single layer in the baking dish.
Spread half the mascarpone cream over the ladyfingers.
Repeat with a second layer of dipped ladyfingers and the remaining cream.
Cover and refrigerate until set. 240 min
Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.

Notes

Dip the ladyfingers quickly, just a few seconds per side -- lingering too long makes the base soggy instead of tender.
Keeps 3 days refrigerated.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (1 slice) -- estimated, not lab-tested.
Nutrient	Amount
Calories	420 kcal
Total Fat	30 g
Saturated Fat	17 g
Carbohydrates	28 g
Fiber	1 g
Sugar	18 g
Protein	7 g
Sodium	90 mg
Cholesterol	190 mg
Values are estimates based on standard ingredient data, not laboratory analysis.

Photo: Alexis Fam, CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 3:2 and re-encoded as WebP/JPEG for web delivery.