Recipe video above. You will be amazed how silky rich and yet LIGHT this Tiramisu tastes! This is slightly adapted from this recipe by Vanessa Martin, a well regarded Australian-Italian chef. This is a traditional recipe made using raw eggs that are not cooked or tempered, and with only mascarpone - no cream! You just can't achieve the same mouthfeel if you use normal cream. :) (Read in post or note about raw egg concerns)
Recipe by Nagi | RecipeTin Eats on August 2, 2019
Prep time: PT30M
Total time: PT30M
Rating
4.93 stars (215 reviews)
Keywords
tiramisu, tiramisu cream, traditional tiramisu
Ingredients
3 eggs (, yolks and whites separated)
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz / 250g mascarpone (, good brand (Important - read Note 1))
1 1/4 cups black coffee (, hot and strong! (Note 2))
2 tbsp (or more!) Frangelico or Kahlua (, or other liquor of choice (skip for alcohol free))
6.5 oz / 200g (24 - 30) lady fingers, pavesini or savoiardi biscuits ((Note 3))
Cocoa (, for dusting)
Categories
Dessert
Cuisine
Italian
Steps
Beat yolks and sugar in stand mixer or electric beater on speed 6 to 7 for 10 minutes or until it changes from yellow to pale yellow (almost white), and is thick (see video for consistency).
Add vanilla and mascarpone, beat until just combined and smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl, set aside.
Clean bowl and whisk. Add egg whites and beat until it's stiff (3 minutes on speed 7, should be all white foam, see video!)
Add 1/2 the cream mixture into the egg whites. Gently fold through. When most incorporated, add the remaining cream mixture and fold through until just combined - don't bash out all the air in the egg whites! (Note 4)
Mix coffee and liquor together. Quickly dip biscuits in and line the bottom of a 8”/20cm square dish. (See video or step photos above to see how I arrange them).
Spread over half the cream, then top with another layer of coffee dipped biscuits.
Spread with remaining cream.
Cover, refrigerate for at least 4 - 5 hours, preferably overnight
Dust with cocoa powder just before serving - either before you cut or after placing onto serving plates.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 127 g
Calories: 306 kcal
Carbohydrates: 32.2 g
Protein: 5.9 g
Fat: 15.8 g
Saturated Fat: 8.3 g
Cholesterol: 121 mg
Sodium: 88 mg
Sugar: 18.7 g
Reviews
Thuie on 2026-09-05 (5 stars): This was ridiculously good, the way I had no left overs after 2 days! After 6hrs in the fridge i felt that my biscuits weren't dunked in long enough as they weren't melt in the mouth but after 24hrs, my gosh..heaven! Super easy to make even for a novice like me, ill never buy Tiramisu again! Top 5 fav RTE for me.
Katie on 2026-07-20 (5 stars): I didn't have the sponge biscuits, so I made this with some stale choc chip panettone I had leftover in the freezer from Christmas. (used Frangelico liqueur). It was AMAZING! Thanks Nagi, everyone was so impressed!
Katherine on 2026-06-26 (5 stars): At a dinner with friends this week I was served the best tiramisu I have ever eaten for dessert!!! ...of course, I asked for the recipe and the response was RTE!!!...OMG Nagi (gave me goosebumps) and then got us all talking about Jaffle next!... 😍
Srachachacha on 2026-05-11 (5 stars): Been using this recipe for ages, perfect everytime. Today I used a generous amount of Bailey's and it is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natalie Greenly on 2026-04-18 (5 stars): That was delicioous and went down very quickly. I would put a little less sugar next time. I'm in NZ and used Tatua Mascarpone and it worked a dream, I also checked out an Italian language recipe and they were adamant about leaving the coffee to cool first so that your savoiardi don't disintegrate too fast.
Cecile Muller on 2026-04-18 (5 stars): This is THE BEST tiramisu recipe! My go to recipe!
Deandra on 2026-04-05 (5 stars): Best tiramisu recipe ever!
Teresa on 2026-04-05 (5 stars): First time to make Tiramisu. First time to make a RecipeTinEats recipe.
Simply perfect.
Loved the additional comments on local brands and expected time taken to achieve the result. Thank you Nagi. You took the stress out of producing a magnificent dessert.
Soth Loeu on 2026-04-02 (5 stars): Fabulous recipe and so easy to follow! Have made it twice So far, once with La Casa Formaggio Mascarpone and most recently with generic Woolworths brand mascarpone (labelled Italian Style) and honestly shocked at how well it held up. Wasn’t runny at all and still delicious.
Dustin Adams on 2026-03-23 (5 stars): This recipe was awesome! I actually made two because even though you said this is the authentic Italian way to make Tiramisu, I always try to play around and "make it my own" (with everything 😆) I absolutely love using Kahlua in the coffee (personally I use espresso), but I also recommend adding a splash of either Amaretto or Almond extract into the cream mixture. It just elevated the flavor of the entire dessert. 😋
joanna on 2026-03-06 (5 stars): you’re right about it tasting way lighter.
i make a tiramisu every year for my birthday. so far i’ve been following a method which included cooking the egg yolks and also using whipped cream. those recipes for an 8x8 pan require about 450g of mascarpone.
your recipe requires 250g, and the only good brand sells them in 400g tubs here. since i had about 150g leftover, i immediately made another with the other method. both my family members and i can tell the difference. yours was lighter, firmer, and not as greasy. will be making it this way from now on.
also— if i scale back the recipe to just 150g mascarpone (with the leftover cheese), what size pan would be best?
