Classic tiramisu
- Published: 26 Oct 15
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
A classic Italian dessert of coffee, sponge, marsala and chocolate. You can’t go wrong with this decadent tiramisu recipe.
Fancy something a little more challenging? Try our tiramisu crepe cake.
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Serves 8-10
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Hands-on time 30 min, plus at least 8 hours chilling
Ingredients
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 50g golden caster sugar
- 500g mascarpone
- 125ml sweet marsala (see tip)
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 5 tbsp Kahlúa (or Tia Maria)
- 250ml espresso or strong black coffee, cooled
- 200g pack savoiardi biscuits (see Know-how)
- 50g good quality dark chocolate (60-65% cocoa solids; see Know- how), finely chopped, plus extra to serve
- Cocoa powder to dust
You’ll also need…
- A 25cm x 20cm x 5cm rectangulardish, or 8-10 individual dishes
Method
- Separate the eggs, setting the whites aside. Put the yolks in a large mixing bowl with the sugar and whisk with an electric mixer until pale and thick – the mixture should leave a trail when the beaters are lifted. Whisk in the mascarpone, marsala and vanilla until well combined (the mixture will be quite runny).
- Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl with clean beaters until stiff. Gently fold the whites into the mascarpone mixture with a balloon whisk or metal spoon, adding just 1 tbsp at first to loosen, then adding the rest in 2 batches. Chill for 25 minutes.
- Stir the Kahlúa into the espresso in a shallow bowl. Soak one side of the savoiardi biscuits in the mixture for a couple of seconds before turning them over and repeating (they should be moist but not falling apart; see Know-how).
- Arrange half the soaked savoiardi biscuits in a single layer in the base of a large rectangular dish, or divide among 8-10 individual dishes. Top with half the mascarpone mixture, followed by half the chopped chocolate. Repeat with the remaining biscuits, mascarpone mix and chocolate. Cover the tiramisu(s) with cling film and chill for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Take out of the fridge around 20 minutes before you want to eat it. Dust with cocoa powder, sprinkle with more chopped chocolate, then serve.
- Recipe from September 2015 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 388kcals
- Fat
- 25.2g (16.8g saturated)
- Protein
- 4.9g
- Carbohydrates
- 27.6g (20.7g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.6g
- Salt
- 0.1g
delicious. tips
We also used marsala, which gives an extra flavour that complements the richness. You could use madeira, or sweet oloroso or palo cortado sherry instead.
PLEASE NOTE; Contains raw eggsThe tiramisu will benefit from a night in the fridge, well covered with cling film.
Savoiardi biscuits are slightly more substantial than ladyfingers. If you can only find ladyfingers, dunk them for a second less each side.
Use a dark chocolate with a relatively low cocoa content so the flavour isn’t too overpowering.
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Lovely recipe. I couldn’t get my hands on the Marsala, so I just used fresh espresso from my machine and added a shot of dark rum! It’s lovely and light, not sweet at all. The chocolate goes so well with the coffee.