Tiramisu Cake
Tiramisu Cake – a layered, Italian espresso infused mascarpone dessert, in cake form. Get your caffeine fix, plus a boozy kick!
Hey there! I’m home from our vacation!
It was fun, and so busy! I felt like we did not stop walking for days. Now I kinda need another, more relaxing vacation, haha! The kids had a blast and we loved seeing Harry Potter world (and trying all the delicious butterbeer variations!).
Father’s Day was nice and low-key. We lucked out with the weather, so ended up spending the day mostly outside relaxing. I made lobster rolls for dinner and a glorious blueberry dessert (which I hope to share with you soon!).
Father’s Day can often be bittersweet for me, since I lost my dad 10 years ago, after a long and brave battle with colon cancer. I seriously can’t believe it has been 10 years since he was in my life. He was everything to me and I still hurt from losing him. I try to keep the focus on my husband, to keep the day from feeling too sad, but I can’t help but remember my sweet dad, and I always try to mark the day with some kind of recipe that was created just for him.
This year, it’s tiramisu cake.
I honestly don’t know if my dad ever had tiramisu. He was never the most adventurous eater. But he did come from a big Italian family, and he loved coffee. And booze! Lol. So I think if he were still around to taste this cake, he would love it.
It’s 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 a rich 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!
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 have a look at my Father’s Day category for lots more Father’s Day recipes.
More great cake recipes on my “Cake Recipes” Pinterest board!
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Tiramisu Cake
Ingredients
For the genoise cake
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125 g) sifted cake flour
- 4 tablespoons (59.15 g) unsalted butter,, melted
- 1 1/2 cups (375 g) hot water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (2.5 tablespoons) instant espresso powder
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (2.5 tablespoons) brandy
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) powdered sugar
For the mascarpone filling
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 g) dry Marsala wine
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) mascarpone cheese
- 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 cocoa powder, (for garnish)
Instructions
To make the genoise layers:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, mist three 8-inch diameter cake pans generously with non-stick spray, and line with circles cut from parchment.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on high speed (with the whisk attachment) until pale, fluffy, and tripled in volume (about 10 to 12 minutes).
- Add a third of the cake flour, and fold carefully, taking care not to deflate air from the mixture. Repeat, until all the flour has been incorporated.
- Fold in the butter, and transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.
- Stir the hot water, instant espresso powder, brandy, and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.
- Place one layer of cooled genoise on a serving plate. Using a pastry brush, soak the cake with about 1/3 of the espresso mixture. 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 (using a piping bag and a large round tip) 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.
Question rather than a comment: Do you think this cake can be frozen, with or without the whipped cream frosting
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure. It’s possible you could lose some of the volume through the freeze/thaw process, but if you don’t mind that it might be worth a try. Good luck!
Hi I’m baking this recipe today. I’m making mascarpone filling instead of wine I used coffee but when I mixed all together it looks like curdled! What did I do wrong?
I love the recipe,will definitely give it a try.
Hi,
I would like to try this cake but not too fan of alcohol. If I left out brandy and marsala, will there be an effect in terms of taste? Will the taste be still as good as the original recipe? Thanks for sharing this by the way, excited to try and hope it will come out perfect like yours.
I’ve tried to make this but the marscapone filling is just liquid & won’t set ?Â
Hi Allie!
I cannot wait to bake this for my boyfriend’s birthday this weekend (his favorite dessert is tiramisu); however, because I am not very familiar with brandy, I wanted to ask if there’s a particular brand that works/tastes better for your recipe??
Please and thank you!!
Hey Jazmyn! Happy birthday to your boyfriend! I think any brand of brandy will work just fine. Good luck!
Do you not need backing powder or bicarbonate sod’s for the cake?Â
No, this is a genoise. It gets all its lift from whipping the eggs. Lots more info on this topic here in the comments section.
I love tiramisu so I made this and it was delicious
So happy to hear that Debra!
I simply loved this cake. Easy and fun to make and was devoured within days. Thank you.
So glad to hear that! You’re very welcome.
I tried your recipe, and while your cake looks amazing, mine came out fully flat and very eggy. How did your cake rise w/o baking powder/soda? And do you have an idea for why mine didn’t rise? I put everything your recipe said. Thanks.
Hey Arindam! So sorry you had trouble! This is a genoise cake so there is no baking powder or baking soda. The cake gets all its “lift” from the eggs which need to be whipped until TRIPLED in volume. This usually takes at least 10 minutes on high speed. But even when done perfectly, this type of cake will not bake up super tall. As you can see in the video, the layers are actually quite thin, but they are spread with a thick layer of filling. As the cake sits, the moisture in the syrup and filling will permeate the cake and plump it up. I hope this info is helpful to you!
Can this cake sit out for a wedding? I know cream cheese frosting is pretty stable but I worry about the filling.Â
Is your worry that the filling could spoil within a few hours? If so I don’t think that would be a concern.
Hi there. My layers are flat like a pancake. I whisked the batter for 20 min until my arms were gonna fall off. It was very airy but still didn’t come out well. The whole cake is about an inch and a half tall. Not sure how to get this any better.
Hey Brian! Sorry to hear you’re having trouble. Take a look at the other comments on this post and you’ll see that the cake does bake up on the flatter side, but once it’s got the mascarpone layered in it fills out nicely. You can see this on the video as well. You haven’t done anything wrong!
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.Â
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?Â
Yes, as noted in the post, the brandy can be left out.