Tiramisu Cake
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This Tiramisu Cake brings together everything you love about the classic Italian dessert, with layers of light sponge, espresso, mascarpone, and a touch of brandy, all in a beautiful cake perfect for celebrations.
Table of Contents
- Here's Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients You'll Need
- Special Equipment
- In Photos: How To Make Tiramisu Cake
- More Italian Recipes
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!
Now, if you're looking for a caffeine-free, booze-free version that's more kid-friendly, check out my Chocolate Tiramisu recipe! And be sure to check out my Father's Day category for lots more recipes.
Here's Why You'll Love This 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!
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
For the genoise cake
Genoise is a light, airy sponge cake enriched with a kiss of butter. Because it's so spongy, it really soaks up the espresso syrup well.
- Large eggs: Use the best eggs you have available, and make sure they are at room temperature before you start.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens and helps stabilize the egg foam.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract, not imitation!
- Kosher salt: Don't sub in table salt. It contains iodine, which impacts the flavor.
- Cake flour: Keeps the crumb delicate and tender.
- Unsalted butter: If you only have salted butter, you can use it, but omit the additional Kosher salt.
For the espresso simple syrup
- Hot water: Dissolves everything quickly.
- Instant espresso powder: This ingredient may also be called "instant espresso powder." I typically order it online; here's a link: Instant Espresso Powder.
- Brandy: Optional, but traditional. Adds a lot of flavor.
- Powdered sugar: Make sure you're using fresh powdered sugar. It goes stale surprisingly quickly!
For the mascarpone filling
- Large egg yolks: The base of a rich sabayon.
- Granulated 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.
- Dry Marsala wine: Classic pairing with mascarpone for 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 cheese: Mascarpone is basically just Italian cream cheese. The texture is nearly identical, but the flavor is more mellow and less tangy.
- Heavy whipping cream: Use full-fat heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks. If you are outside the US, this product may also be called "double cream."
For the whipped cream frosting
- Brick-style cream cheese: Make sure it is room temperature so it mixes smoothly.
- Powdered sugar: Fresh powdered sugar is important!
- Heavy whipping cream: Make sure this is as cold as possible for the best results.
- Cocoa powder: I used regular unsweetened cocoa powder. But you can use any kind of cocoa you like!
Special Equipment
These tools will make your life a lot easier when making this cake.
- Measuring cups and spoons: So your ingredients can be measured precisely. Baking is a science!
- Large mixing bowl: You'll need either a metal or a glass bowl.
- Whisk: For whipping up the filling as it cooks.
- Medium pot: Filled with simmering water for cooking the eggs.
- Springform pan: An 8-inch-diameter springform pan with tall, removable sides makes 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.
In Photos: How To Make Tiramisu Cake
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 of simmering water, leaving about an inch or two of water, and add the egg yolks, sugar, and marsala.
Cook the mixture over a double-boiler-style setup, whisking, until it thickens. 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 genoise round in the bottom of a springform pan and soak it with about ⅓ of the syrup.
Smooth about half the tiramisu filling on top.
Then top it with another cake layer, and repeat.
Soak, add the filling, layer on the last cake circle, 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 both the flavor and 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, then flip both over in a swift motion.
Remove the sides and bottom (which are now on top) of the springform, and cover the cake with 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!
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Make the genoise ahead: There's a lot going on in this recipe! A lot of components and 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: Refrigeration for a long time will help this cake hold together and improve its taste. The filling stiffens up as it chills, the cake absorbs all the liquid, and the flavors "meld" into something truly magical!
Recipe FAQ
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 really makes the assembly much easier.
The first time I made this, I did not use a springform pan. The filling really wants to slide out of the sides. It can be frustrating, even for an experienced baker.
A tall-sided springform pan holds everything together and keeps it upright, making 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 be kept 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.
More Italian Recipes
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
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) kosher salt
- 1 cup (125 g) cake flour, sifted
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the espresso simple syrup
- 1 ½ cups (354.88 g) hot water
- 2 ½ tablespoons (12.5 g) instant espresso powder
- 2 ½ tablespoons (37.5 g) brandy
- 2 ½ teaspoons (5 g) powdered sugar
For the mascarpone filling
- 4 (72 g) egg yolks, large
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ 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)
- ¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ 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 ½ of the cake flour, and fold it in gently until almost combined.
- Fold in about ½ 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 ⅓ 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!