If you want to have Tiramisu and cake at the same time, then this Tiramisu Cake is the solution. 4 ingredient genoise cake made with ladyfinger crumbs instead of flour combined with original Tiramisu mascarpone cream and strong coffee. Just 9 ingredients!
Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. It’s creamy, comes together with just a couple of ingredients, and is prepared blazing fast.
Currently, I’m working on a cookbook that is dedicated to my strong and deep Tiramisu love. So I have Tiramisu every week. Sounds like a dream come true, right?
To get an idea how the cookbook will look like, scroll down to the end of this post and subscribe to my newsletter. E-mail subscribers can download a freebie with 10 exclusive Tiramisu recipes.
Have you ever thought of making S’mores Tiramisu, Blueberry Tiramisu, or Triple Chocolate Tiramisu? Yap, as awesome as it sounds.
The cake is a genoise cake (biskvit) but made with ladyfinger crumbs instead of flour. The taste of the ladyfingers makes the Tiramisu cake absolutely authentic.
Authentic Tiramisu is made of egg yolks, mascarpone, powdered sugar, ladyfingers, coffee, and cocoa. This Tiramisu Cake recipe calls for egg yolks, mascarpone, powdered sugar, ladyfingers, coffee, cocoa (till here exactly like original Italian Tiramisu), then eggs, granulated white sugar, and baking powder.
Eggs and granulated white sugar are also involved in ladyfingers, so except the 1/2 tsp of baking powder, this Tiramisu Cake recipe is 100% like Italian Tiramisu. Just as a cake.
Genoise cake is normally made of eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder. To get the most authentic Tiramisu taste, I replaced the flour with ladyfinger crumbs. Therefore, crush ladyfingers into fine crumbs. Pulsing them in a food processor is the easiest way, but you can smash them with a rolling pin in a plastic bag too.
To get super soft and airy ladyfinger genoise cake layers, mix the eggs and the sugar about 10-12 minutes until tripled in size.
When you mix with a handheld instead of a stand mixer, it may take 2-3 minutes longer.
You know that the batter has the required consistency when you drip off batter from the mixing attachment on top of the mixed batter. The drop should be visible for 10 seconds. If it sinks into the batter before the 10 seconds are over, you need to mix longer.
Then carefully fold in ladyfinger crumbs and baking powder. Divide in three 8″ baking pans equally. For easy removing from the pan after baking, line the bottom and the sides of the pans with parchment paper.
Immediately after filling the batter into the pans bake all three pans at the same time. When the batter stands too long around before baking, it loses too much air, and the genoise cake gets flat and eggy.
After baking let stand for 5 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and remove the paper immediately. Let cool on a wire rack. The cake needs to be room temperature before filling.
The mascarpone cream filling is 100% the same as in original Tiramisu. Egg yolks, powdered sugar, and mascarpone.
Brush the cake layers with strong coffee. The more coffee you use, the more intense the taste will be, but it will also be wetter. Less coffee leads to lighter coffee taste and dryer cake. I used 1/2 cup of coffee. This was the best balance of coffee taste and consistency.
If you want to adjust the amount of coffee to your taste, I recommend staying in the range between 1/4 – 3/4 cup coffee. With 1/4 cup the taste will be very light. With 3/4 cup of coffee, the cake will be wetter, and the coffee will leak around the cake, the longer it stands in the fridge.
This Tiramisu Cake recipe is the YOUR recipe when you
- have a thing for authentic Italian Tiramisu
- want to eat Tiramisu and cake at the same time
- like easy and quick recipes
- are looking for a showstopper for your next come together with friends and family
Tell me if you eat your cake with or without whipped cream. When it comes to whipped cream, Mario and I are not on the same team. I love it with whipped cream. He loves it without. On which team are you?
If you make this Tiramisu Cake Recipe, leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #alsothecrumbsplease on Instagram! Would love to see your snap!
You may also like Authentic Italian Tiramisu, Super creamy Chocolate Strawberry Tiramisu, Eggnog Gingerbread Tiramisu, Tiramisu Ice Cream Cake, or scroll down to the end of this post and subscribe to my newsletter to get an e-cookbook with 10 exclusive Tiramisu recipes for free!
If you want to have Tiramisu and cake at the same time then this Tiramisu Cake is the solution. 4 ingredient genoise cake made with ladyfinger crumbs instead of flour combined with original Tiramisu mascarpone cream and strong coffee. Just 9 ingredients!
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar (150g)
- 1 + 1/8 cups ladyfinger crumbs (4.25oz / 120g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (240g)
- 6 large egg yolks
- 4 + 1/2 cups mascarpone (2.2 lbs / 1000g)
- 1/2 cup strong black coffee (120ml)
- unsweetened cocoa for dusting on top
- OPTIONAL: whipping cream for decoration
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line three 8" (20cm) baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Make the ladyfinger genoise cake: In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk eggs on medium speed just until combined. Add sugar and whisk on medium-high speed for about 10-12 minutes until foamy and tripled in size. (It takes 2-3 minutes longer with a handheld mixer compared to a stand mixer). To know if you have the right consistency, let a bit of batter drip off the whisk attachment on top of the mixed batter. The dripped batter should be visible for 10 seconds before it sinks into the batter. If it sinks earlier, you need to whisk longer.
With a wooden spoon, fold in ladyfinger crumbs and baking powder carefully. Don't overwork the batter and don't work too fast otherwise, it will lose too much air. Divide in prepared baking pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick centered in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Then remove from pans and remove the paper immediately. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Make the Tiramisu mascarpone cream: Whisk egg yolks and powdered sugar on medium speed until light and creamy for about 2-3 minutes. Add mascarpone and whisk until well combined and creamy for another 2-3 minutes.
Assemble the cake: Place the first cake layer on a cake board or cake stand. Brush with coffee. (If you adjust the amount of coffee to your taste consider following: More coffee = more intense coffee taste and wetter cake - it will leak the longer it stands in the fridge. Less coffee = lighter coffee taste and dryer cake. I recommend staying between 1/4 - 3/4 cup of coffee. I used exactly 1/2 cup of coffee for the whole cake. This was for me the perfect balance of coffee taste and consistency.) Then spread 1/3 of the mascarpone cream with an offset spatula on top. Repeat two more times and finish with the remaining mascarpone cream on top. Level the sides with the offset spatula, if desired. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Pipe whipped cream on top if desired (optional). Then sprinkle with cocoa just before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 days.
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Can you please tell me what type of ladyfingers you use – the soft ones or hard ones?
Hi Lauren, I used hard ones for this recipe.
Thanks!!
Hi! The recipe says to line the pans with parchment paper but it doesn’t say anything about greasing them. Are you not supposed to? Alicia
Hi Alicia, no you don’t need to grease the pan extra. Parchment paper on the bottom and around the sides of the pan is fine.
Any way this can be made without the egg yolks inside the filling?
You can make the filling without egg yolks. Just mix the powdered sugar with the mascarpone cheese. No substitution for the egg yolks needed.
Was looking for a recipe for dessert to take to a friend’s barbecue. Found this and was intrigued by the use of lady’s fingers biscuits. It worked! I didn’t have parchment paper but greased some non-stick, removable-base tins. Didn’t like the idea of raw eggs so improvised by folding in lightly whipped cream. I cut down the icing sugar but added Marsala. It all went down a treat! Definitely a do-again.
Julie, that sounds great! Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Hi Sabine,
Your website is full of many great ideas and recipes. I love visiting here, Every time, whenever I visit here found something new. A big thank you.
Thank you so much! I’m happy that you like my recipes.
Lady Finger biscuit?? What brand do you use? Crumbs – do you crush the biscuits?
Yes, I crushed ladyfingers into fine crumbs. You can use any brand you like.
I have a difficult time finding lady fingers in the grocery store. And a lot of store clerks don’t even know what they are! WHat is a good brand name and where the heck are they?
Because I’m currently not living in the US, I took a brand what is especially here in Austria available. I googled Lady Fingers Walmart and found a brand “Balconi Balloco” which look exactly like the ones I used. Here in Austria, they can be found at the cookies.
Hi! I only have one 8” pan. Can I bake the cake in one pan then cut the cake into three layers??
Hi, I’m sorry but because of the texture of the cake, it is not possible to cut it twice horizontally. So, you really need three pans for this recipe.