Tiramisu

Ingredients

• 24 Ladyfingers (savoiardi)
• 1 ½ cups Strong brewed coffee or espresso, strong, cooled
• 1 cup Mascarpone
• 1 cup Heavy cream
• 3 Eggs (large), yolks only
• ½ cup Granulated sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 oz Dark chocolate (70%), shaved (optional)

Method

1. Whisk the yolks and sugar in a bowl set over barely simmering water for 6-8 minutes, until pale, thick and hot to the touch — about 160°F. This is a zabaglione, and cooking the yolks is what makes the dessert safe as well as stable.
2. Cool it 10 minutes, then beat in the mascarpone until smooth. Do not overbeat; mascarpone splits.
3. Whip the cream to soft peaks with the vanilla and fold it in, in three additions.
4. Dip each ladyfinger in the coffee for one second a side. One. They go on absorbing for twenty minutes afterward, and a soggy tiramisu is always an over-dipped one.
5. Layer: biscuits, half the cream, biscuits, the rest of the cream. Smooth the top.
6. Refrigerate at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. Dust thickly with cocoa immediately before serving — cocoa dusted early turns to mud.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

A pinch of salt in the cream. Every rich dessert improves with it and nobody can identify why.

🧒 For the kids

Make a small dish with strong hot chocolate instead of coffee. It works, and it is a genuinely good children's dessert.

🥡 Leftovers

Keeps 3 days and is best on day two. It does not freeze.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.