Tiramisu Cake
Tiramisu Cake: A layered, Italian espresso-infused mascarpone dessert, in cake form. Get your caffeine fix, plus a boozy kick!
Would you look at that tiramisu cake?
I mean, what a stunner! Imagine the reaction this would get from your guests!
There’s just nothing like an amazing cake recipe to make a special occasion. They give that wow factor like nothing else!
I’m all about a magnificent ice cream cake to celebrate a birthday, a fluffy cloud of a coconut cake, or an eye-catching red velvet cake for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or the Fourth of July.
But if you have a coffee lover in your life, you’re going to want to make them this tiramisu cake recipe!
Table of Contents
- What is tiramisu cake?
- What’s great about this tiramisu cake recipe
- What does tiramisu birthday cake taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make tiramisu cake
- How to serve tiramisu cake
- Expert tips
- FAQ’s
- A few more of my favorite Italian recipes
What is tiramisu cake?
The word tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian. It’s pronounced “TIER-ah-mee-sooh” or “tier-ah-MEE-sooh.”
Tiramisu is a classic dessert made with ladyfingers soaked in espresso and layered with a fluffy, sweet cheese filling and whipped cream. It’s soft, creamy, and rich, and it’s got a toasty, warm flavor from the coffee and alcohol.
If you want to learn more about it, click here: Classic Tiramisu Recipe.
This recipe is just like the traditional Italian dessert, only in layer cake form.
Rather than using ladyfingers, aka Savoiardi, we are baking three layers of genoise.
Genoise is just like a light, fluffy sponge cake, with the added richness of melted butter. If you’ve ever made homemade ladyfingers, it’s pretty much the same thing. Only instead of piping it into long lines, you just bake it in cake pans.
The genoise is cooled and then soaked with a rich coffee syrup. I added brandy for a boozy kick, but if you don’t like the taste you can totally leave it out.
The filling is light and fluffy, yet rich at the same time. It’s made with mascarpone, which is a soft, buttery Italian cheese similar to our cream cheese (but without the tang). It’s folded together with an egg and sugar mixture, then lightened even more with whipped cream.
When the genoise, coffee syrup, and mascarpone mousse have all had a chance to meld, it’s pure heaven. Moist, soft, and so creamy, with tons of rich flavor. We frost it all with whipped cream and sprinkle it with a little cocoa powder for garnish.
Delizioso!
What’s great about this tiramisu cake recipe
- Tastes amazing: The coffee, brandy, and marsala flavors come together in the most delicious way!
- Light yet rich: The texture is unlike anything else. Rich and creamy, yet whisper-light!
- Stunning presentation: Your guests’ jaws will drop!
What does tiramisu birthday cake taste like?
If you like tiramisu then you’ll love this cake! It’s got all the same flavors, but in layer cake form.
The first thing you’ll notice is the creamy richness. The cake is covered with my famous whipped cream frosting and the filling is very rich and creamy as well, with a hint of marsala wine.
Marsala is a sweeter wine that’s been fortified with brandy, so it has a very deep, toasty flavor.
The cake layers are soaked in an espresso-infused simple syrup that also has a touch of brandy.
So everything comes together in a cohesive way and all the flavors speak to one another. It’s incredibly delicious!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this showstopper of a cake.
Genoise cake
Genoise is a light and airy sponge cake that’s enriched with a kiss of butter. Because it’s so spongy it really soaks up the espresso syrup well.
You’ll need three 8-inch diameter layers of Genoise to make this tiramisu cake. You can find tons of details on how it’s made here: Genoise Cake.
Water
This forms the base of the simple syrup soak. Warm or hot water are best, but it’s not critical.
Espresso powder
This ingredient may also go by the name “instant espresso powder.”
I typically order it online; here’s a link: Instant Espresso Powder.
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit that’s made by distilling wine. It has a fruity, slightly sweet taste and gives a pleasant warmth at the back of the throat.
This ingredient is also used in the soak, but if you don’t want to use it you can leave it out.
Powdered sugar
Just a little bit, to sweeten the syrup.
Eggs
This is a very eggy dessert! There are a lot of eggs in the cake layers as well as the filling.
The eggs and egg yolks provide a rich flavor and allow lots of air to be incorporated, so the final result is almost mousse-like.
Sugar
The rough texture of granulated sugar creates friction with the eggs and helps to create that airy texture.
You can sub for another type of sweetener if you like. As long as it has a crystalline texture and swaps 1:1 for granulated sugar it should work.
Marsala
Marsala wine is typical in a lot of Italian desserts, particularly tiramisu.
It’s a sweet wine that’s fortified with brandy, so the flavors of the soak echo those of the filling.
If you would prefer to make a tiramisu cake without alcohol, I’d suggest leaving this ingredient out.
Mascarpone
Mascarpone is basically just Italian cream cheese. The texture is nearly identical, but the flavor is more mellow and less tangy.
Cream
Use full-fat heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks. If you are outside the US, this product may also go by the name “double cream.”
Whipped cream frosting
I love this to ice the cake because it’s quick and easy to make and it’s more stable than regular whipped cream.
One batch should be more than enough, and you can find all the details here: Whipped Cream Frosting.
Cocoa
I forgot to show this one in my photo, but the top of the cake gets garnished with a dusting of cocoa powder.
For what you see in the images and video here, I used regular unsweetened cocoa powder. But you can use any kind of cocoa you like!
Special equipment
If you have these tools in your kitchen, recreating this recipe should be a snap!
- Measuring cups and spoons: So your ingredients can be measured precisely. Baking is a science!
- Large mixing bowl: You’ll need either metal or glass.
- Whisk: For whipping up the filling as it cooks.
- Medium pot: Filled with simmering water, over which to cook the eggs.
- Springform pan: An 8-inch diameter springform pan with tall, removable sides makes the assembly of this so much easier!
- Silicone spatula: For folding ingredients together and making sure you get every last drop!
- Offset spatula: Makes frosting the cake a breeze!
- Piping bag and tip: To make the garnish. I like a 16-inch featherweight bag and a jumbo round tip.
- Fine-mesh sieve: For dusting the cocoa.
How to make tiramisu cake
Let’s walk through the process, step by step.
Step 1: Make the cake layers
You’ll want to bake these in three 8-inch diameter cake pans that have been greased, floured, and lined with circles cut from parchment.
I’ve got a dedicated post to the cake layers here: Genoise Cake Recipe.
Step 2: Make the filling
Set a metal or glass bowl over a medium pot with about an inch or two of simmering water, and add the egg yolks, sugar, and marsala.
Cook the mixture over this double-boiler style setup, whisking, until it becomes thick. It should register a temperature of around 150 degrees F.
Next, add the mascarpone cheese.
Once that’s incorporated, fold in the whipped cream.
That’s your tiramisu filling made! Pop this into the fridge while we make the soak for the cake.
Step 3: Make the coffee syrup
This is super-simple. Just whisk the espresso powder, brandy, and powdered sugar into the water until everything is dissolved together.
Step 4: Assemble the cake
Place the first round of genoise in the bottom of a springform pan, and soak it with about 1/3 of the syrup.
Smooth about half the tiramisu filling on top.
Then top it with another cake layer, and repeat.
Soak, add filling, layer on the last circle of cake, and soak again.
Finally, place the whole thing in the fridge to chill and set up. The longer this sits the better it gets! And that goes for the flavor as well as the texture.
Similar to tres leches cake, this needs some time to absorb all the liquid. I like to give it at least overnight; 24 to 48 hours is even better.
Step 5: Frost and decorate
Place your serving plate upside-down on top of the springform pan, and flip both over in a swift motion.
Remove the sides and bottom (which would now be on top) of the springform, and cover the cake in whipped cream.
Again, I have a dedicated post for that here: Whipped Cream Frosting.
Dust the top with cocoa powder.
And pipe on the garnish.
Ta-dah!
How to serve tiramisu cake
Cut the cake into slices and present it on serving plates.
It can be enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.
Expert tips
Make the genoise ahead
There’s a lot going on in this recipe! A lot of components and a lot of steps. It’s a labor of love!
But making the cake the day (or even a few days) before can really help it all to feel more manageable.
Give it lots of time
Lots of time in the fridge will help this cake to hold together, as well as improving its taste.
The filling stiffens up as it chills, the cake absorbs all the liquid, and the flavors “meld” into something truly magical!
FAQ’s
If you don’t want to use the marsala wine or brandy, you don’t have to. You can just leave them out and have a coffee-flavored cake.
Or, you can make a chocolate version that is non-alcoholic and (nearly!) caffeine-free. Just use the filling recipe found here: Chocolate Tiramisu.
I like the 8-inch size best but yes, you could do it in a 6-inch size as well. It could just get a little wobbly since it’s so tall.
Nine inches may come out a little flatter than you would like.
The short answer is no, but I find the springform to really make the assembly so much easier.
The first time I made this, I did not use a springform pan. The filling really wants to slide out the sides. It can be frustrating, even for an experienced baker.
A tall-sided springform pan holds everything together and upright, and just makes the whole process foolproof.
This 8-inch diameter cake cuts into 10 generous slices.
The nutritional info in the recipe card below reflects a serving size of 1/10th of the whole cake.
This cake can keep at room temperature for a few hours, or in the fridge for several days, maybe a week.
Or you can wrap it tightly and keep it in the freezer for around 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge.
A few more of my favorite Italian recipes
- How to Make Gnocchi
- Pork Milanese
- Chicken Piccata
- Almond Biscotti
This post contains affiliate sales links.
Tiramisu Cake
Ingredients
For the genoise cake
- 6 (264 g) eggs, large (at room temperature)
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) kosher salt
- 1 cup (125 g) cake flour, sifted
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the espresso simple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups (354.88 g) hot water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (12.5 g) instant espresso powder
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37.5 g) brandy
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (5 g) powdered sugar
For the mascarpone filling
- 4 (72 g) egg yolks, large
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 g) dry Marsala wine
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) mascarpone cheese, cold
- 1 cup (238 g) heavy whipping cream, cold
For the whipped cream frosting
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) cream cheese, (the kind in a brick)
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar
- 2 1/4 cups (535.5 g) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 2 teaspoons (2 g) cocoa powder, (for garnish)
Instructions
To make the genoise layers:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, mist three 6-inch diameter cake pans* with non-stick spray, dust them with flour, and line them with circles cut from parchment.
- Whip the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large mixing bowl on high speed until tripled in volume (approx. 5 to 7 minutes).
- Sift in about 1/2 of the cake flour, and fold it in gently until almost combined.
- Fold in about 1/2 of the melted butter, then sift in the remaining flour, folding gently until amost combined.
- Fold in the remaining butter and tranfer the batter to the prepared pans.
- Bake until the cakes are set on the edges, deeply golden, and springy in the centers (approx. 20 to 25 minutes). A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Cool completely in the pans, then run the tip of a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the cakes before turning out.
To make the espresso simple syrup
- Stir the hot water, instant espresso powder, brandy, and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.
- Place one layer of cooled genoise in the bottom of a tall-sided 8-inch springform pan.
- Soak the cake with about 1/3 of the espresso mixture, and top with half the mascarpone filling.
- Repeat, then top with the last layer of cooled genoise and soak with the remaining espresso mixture.
- Frost with whipped cream frosting, dust with cocoa, and top with dollops of whipped cream frosting..
To make the mascarpone filling:
- In a medium mixing bowl set over a pot of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and marsala wine together until pale, thick, and doubled in volume.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the mascarpone.
- Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks, then fold into the mascarpone mixture.
To make the whipped cream frosting:
- Place the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Fit the mixer with a whisk attachment, and whip on medium speed until the mixture is smooth.
- Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed and pour the heavy cream down the side of the bowl in a very slow and steady stream.
- When all the cream has been added, turn the mixer up to medium-high and whip until the frosting holds stiff peaks.
First of all, this cake was so delicious! Everything just came together beautifully in terms of taste. I found that the filling itself was very runny, i had to do it three separate times! It was good to have the video to follow what to do along the way. Even with following the instructions to the dot, the filling was still too runny on the third attempt. My mum had the brilliant idea of just whipping it with a mixer/blender, and it actually made it thicken up! The folding did help thicken it initially, but it wouldn’t thicken any more. The mixer/blender is the secret to this recipe!
The genoise was done in one pan because I didn’t have enough pans to do it in. I put the cake in the oven at the same temperature as the recipe, however I extended the cooking time to 30-35 minutes which in my opinion was just right.
Layering the cake was a challenge, because the filling was runny. I would suggest putting the filling in the fridge to let it harden up a bit while you prepare the rest of the cake’s ingredients or while you’re making the frosting. When layering the cake, make sure you’re fast or else everything will just ooze out.
I found that the cake would also leak the espresso mix, so make sure you keep it not in a normal paper cake box, but in a plastic airtight container otherwise you’ll end up with espresso mixture where you leave your cake!
Aside from that, the cake was really delicious, and was an absolute challenge to make. I would do it again, this time now having learnt a lot from this. Great recipe!
So glad you were pleased with it! Thanks for the positive feedback!
Hi, I have a question. I’m making a tiramisu modification with using crushed cookies. I want to layer it cream cookies berries, cream, cookies berries + finish with cream but would it better to start the layer with crushed cookies or cream. Lastly if I use cookies on the bottom layer, should I grease the bottom? Thanks for your help.
Hello, I am planning to make this cake for my daughter’s wedding, I would like to know for how long can the cake be out of the fridge, is there a frame of time? I have seen the other post that some people will ask for a wedding cake, but now one has ask for how long can the cake be out on the table at the wedding, since it is a soak cake with cream cheese icing.
Maria
If you are concerned about spoilage, I don’t think you need to worry about that happening within the first day or so of it being made. Congratulations on your daughter’s marriage!
Hello!
I made this cake this week for my baby cousin’s 30th birthday. Not a baby anymore, huh? Haha! At any rate – it came out spectacularly. So much so, that me, the person who doesn’t really care for tiramisu had seveal slices!
In the crowd of guests was another cousin who is getting married later this year. After tasting this cake, she said – i might have a change in plans on my cake choice!
My question/problem is that when soaking the layers, the cake absolutely cried the liquid. Not just seeped. CRIED. Of course, the obvious solution to me would be a) putting less liquid in as a sum total but b) putting less on the bottom layer and gradually more towards the top. Any suggestions or ideas why i had such a liquid issue? (Followed the recipe to the letter.)
Thanks so much for a winning recipe! Five Star!
Regards,
Janie of JanieSweetCakes
Hey Janie! So glad you were happy with the cake! There is quite a lot of liquid, if your cake isn’t soaking it all up (it could take a while), feel free to use less next time. Thanks for the 5-star review!
Hello again! If i laid the layers out individually to soak, and chill in the fridge, do you think they would fall apart when attempting to stack? I worry that i did something incorrectly to produce such an effect like i saw. But also, I’d hate to miss any of the delicious flavor by using less liquid. Just thinking through all my options before committing a customer to this flavor on her big day!
Regards,
Janie
No problem Janie! But yes that would be my worry, that the layers might be really hard to handle once they’re saturated.
Less liquid it is!
Thanks so much for replying to all my questions. It’s greatly appreciated on this journey!
Regards,
Janie
It’s my pleasure Janie!
I live in New Zealand and I can’t find cake flour here. Can you please tell me how much baking powder to add into flour?
Please help. so eager to try this recipe.
Thanks
There is no baking powder in this recipe. Please click the link on the words “cake flour” in the recipe card to understand what cake flour is.
I cant seem to see the video link, Can somebody give it to me. I am planning to bake this one this weekend 🙂
The video is embedded within the recipe card. It’s just below the instructions.
I’m surprised there is no baking powder and such little cake flour used. The cake layers were very thin, not like a cake at all even after the 12 minutes of beating and careful folding of the flour.
It’s a genoise cake so there is no leavening. It’s a classic French cake recipe and the layers do bake up quite thin. But there is a lot of filling and that builds up the height of the cake, as well as soaking into it and making it expand a little and become very moist.
Hi. Can I leave out the Brandy? Do I need to replace it with something?
Yes, as noted in the post, the brandy can be left out.
Hi Allie, I am going to make this for a Christmas party tomorrow and wanted to find out what is on top of the cake with cocoa powder? Small merengues? Did you buy those pre-made or made them yourself? Thank you!
That’s just frosting Masha! The same frosting that was used to ice the cake. If you watch the video you can see how they’re piped on. Good luck and enjoy!
Thank you Allie for such quick response! I also forgot to ask if cooking Marsala wine is ok or if you suggest getting the good quality Marsala wine?
I would not recommend cooking wine as it contains added salt. A good bottle of real Marsala wine would be best. Enjoy!
What can I substitute granulated sugar with? I’d like to avoid white sugar!
Hi Luna! Did you have something particular in mind?
thinking i’ll use coconut sugar! Had some buddies who said it would be fine but the cake would be porous.. What do you think?
I haven’t had much experience baking with coconut sugar (I tend to use more traditional ingredients), but if it’s something that can sub 1:1 for regular sugar, then it should work ok. If it’s porous that’s probably a good thing- you want that for tiramisu. It will allow your cake layers to really absorb that coffee soak, as well as the filling. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
I’ll be doing it tomorrow! Will let you know. Excited to taste 😀
Hi Alli!! I love the idea of this tiramisu cake and am planning on making it for my boyfriends birthday this week. We are having a party with about 15-20 people and I was wondering if I could make an extra layer of genoise cake to make it bigger. Do you think the cake will hold if I add another layer or probably not because of the moisture?
Thanks!
Alanna
Hi Alannna! Happy birthday to your boyfriend! I think it will hold, my only concern is will there be enough of the filling to balance out the additional cake. I think you’ll probably want to increase the whole recipe by 1.5x. Good luck!
Wow that makes complete sense I hadn’t even thought of making additional filling! Thanks for the quick response!
No problem! Hope it all works out well!
Hi again! I just have one more question… Can I use regular instant coffee if I cant find instant espresso instead?
Hey Alanna! You can but the coffee flavor will be milder and less pronounced.
I followed this recipe to the T! The flavors of all the creams are delish! What was hard and made everything bad was the genio cake. What did i do wrong?
Hi Marivi! Sorry you weren’t happy with the genoise cake. Can you provide me with more specifics as to what was bad about it?
Hi Allie! First the taste was so good raw… lol As I washed it bake, it didn’t rise much and when I took it out of the oven and let it cool it was rather rubbery and extremely dense,and chewy when I tried it. The bottom layer soaked up the coffee mix, but the second hardly soaked up anything. It was for my husband’s bday the cake looked gorgeous. I’ll send a pic.. I was so disappointed.
I’m so sorry to hear that. The cake does not rise a whole lot, so that is not surprising. But it should not be dense or rubbery. It sounds like perhaps the batter was overmixed and it knocked a lot of the air out. Hopefully you’ll have better luck next time. You could also try this Classic Tiramisu Recipe which uses ladyfingers so you don’t even have to worry about baking cake at all: https://bakingamoment.com/classic-tiramisu-recipe/.
Hi there
I am from NZ and unfortunately we don’t have cake flour here. I note that the recipe does not use any baking soda or power as a rising agent. Is the cake flour you use self-raising?
Hi Pip! No the cake flour is not self-raising. This recipe is for a genoise cake which only uses eggs (and lots of whipping) to leaven. There are no chemical leaveners in a genoise cake. Here’s more info on cake flour for you: https://bakingamoment.com/why-use-cake-flour/. Hope that’s helpful!
I’ve made this cake several times now, it’s a family favourite! Thank you so much for sharing. One thing I will say is that I always end up with loads of filling and icing left over. I’ve tried my best to get a thick layer of filling in between each layer but it always seems to ooze out. I think that next time I might half the icing and filling recipe. But overall the cake is incredible!
Thank you for your reply. I have a delicious cream cheese SMB recipe. I was concerned about butter flavor but I’ll try it. More importantly, I’m confused about how to convert your recipe to accommodate a 10” square pan. Would tripling the ingredients be enough?
Hey again! I’m not 100% sure what you have in mind, but tripling sounds like it may be a bit too much. If you’re looking for a tiramisu that can be served from a pan, have you considered at this recipe: https://bakingamoment.com/classic-tiramisu-recipe/?
Absolutely delicious and so easy! Thank you so much for sharing!!!! One question please, what are your thought about cream cheese SMB instead of whipped cream? I want the structure more stable but I’m concerned about heavy taste of SMB.
So glad you enjoyed! Honestly I have tried to make cream cheese SMB many times and have never had success. But if you have a recipe that works then go for it!