This Tiramisu Cake is made of genoise cake layers brushed with espresso and filled with irresistibly creamy coffee mascarpone cream. There are no raw eggs in the frosting and is therefore safe to eat. All you need are just 10 ingredients! By the way, have you tried my tiramisu recipe?
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Photo tutorial
Genoise cake layers
Note: You can mix the cake batter with a handheld mixer, but I encourage you to use a stand mixer (if you have one) just because it is so much easier and also faster. The cake batter needs to be mixed about 10 minutes when mixed with a stand mixer when you use a hand mixer plan 3-5 minutes longer to get the required consistency.
Start with mixing the eggs just until combined. Then add sugar and mix for 10-15 minutes on medium-high speed. Watch the following pictures to see how the egg/sugar mixture transforms while mixing it.
Mixing progress after 1 minute:
Mixing progress after 5 minutes:
Mixing progress after 8 minutes:
After about 10 minutes mixing with a stand mixer or 15 minutes with a hand mixer, the egg mixture is pale white, fluffy, and tripled in size. 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.
Using a wooden spoon, carefully fold in flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Do not overwork the batter or work too fast. Otherwise, you will destroy all the air pockets which are necessary to create light and airy cake layers, which don't fall flat.
For easy removing the cake from the pan after baking, line the bottom, and the sides of three 8" baking pans with parchment paper. Therefore cut out a circle for the bottom and stripes for the sides. I always spray a little bit of non-stick spray under the paper that it sticks to the pan.
Divide the batter into the three baking pans equally. Immediately after filling the batter into the pans, bake all three pans at the same time. When the batter stands too long 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 (caution: it's still hot). Let cool on a wire rack. The cake needs to be room temperature before filling.
Mascarpone frosting
Mix the mascarpone on medium speed just until it is creamy for about 1-2 minutes.
Sift in powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until creamy and combined about 1-2 minutes.
Add the strong coffee and don't stop mixing until it is completely combined and creamy. The coffee needs to be cold and chilled. Watch the two photos below to see how it looks when you add the coffee and when it is completely combined. You see that it looks curdled in the beginning, but this is normal. Keep mixing until it comes together (it will). Mix on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes.
Then add the heavy cream (straight out of the fridge). Watch the following three process photos how the consistency changes. In the beginning, when you add the heavy cream, it seems to be very liquid, but this is normal. You add a lot of liquid to the frosting. Just keep mixing on medium speed until it is creamy and stiff peaks form for about 2-3 minutes.
After 1 minute it starts to get creamy.
That's how the mixed frosting looks like.
Assemble
Now we assemble the cake. Cut off the edges of the cake layers to create a flat surface if needed. Then place the first layer on a cake turner or plate. If you have a cake turner, use it. It's easier to frost cakes with a cake turner. Lightly brush the cake 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 layers. I used ½ cup of coffee because for me it 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 ¼ - ¾ cup coffee. With ¼ cup the taste will be very light. With ¾ cup of coffee, the cake will be wetter, and the coffee might leak around the cake, the longer it stands in the fridge.
Top with about ⅓ of the mascarpone cream and spread evenly.
Make sure that you spread every layer of the mascarpone frosting evenly that the cake is straight. Use the last third of mascarpone frosting to level the cake and frost the outside. I use most of the remaining frosting for the top to level the cake. I just lightly frost the sides of the cake because I love naked cakes. If you don't want to make a naked cake, you might want to reserve more frosting for the sides.
The mascarpone frosting should stick out between the cake layers. It makes it easier to frost the sides of the cake more evenly.
Then level the frosting on the top and sides of the cake with an offset spatula.
Chill the cake at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight. Decorate the cake with whipped cream, cocoa powder, or whatever you desire.
Ingredients notes
Espresso
- I usually pick up espresso at my favorite coffee shop as I can't replicate the taste of a professional coffee machine at home.
- However, if you have an awesome coffee machine at home, you can absolutely use your favorite strong-brewed coffee instead.
- If you want to serve this dessert to kids or people that are sensitive to caffeine, you can use either de-caffeinated coffee or use hot cocoa instead.
Mascarpone
- Please make sure that you use full-fat mascarpone and no low-light or substitute product. Also, don't interchange it with ricotta. Ricotta does not work with this recipe.
- The mascarpone must be thick and firm. I buy mascarpone imported from Italy (Galbani), and it is smooth, thick and firm. 100g of this mascarpone cheese contains 42g fat, and it is made of cream and citric acid. However, BelGioioso mascarpone works just as well.
Expert tips for mixing mascarpone successfully
Mascarpone may curdle and looks like cottage cheese within a couple of seconds after starting mixing. It can be very quickly overmixed because of its high-fat content. So, if this ever happened to you, you are not alone. This can happen to everybody and is not related to this recipe, particularly.
- Mascarpone should be used cold and straight out of the fridge.
- Use a large mixing bowl that you have enough place to mix the mascarpone.
- Mix the frosting on medium speed and just long enough until smooth and combined.
- Make sure all frosting ingredients are cold.
- Follow the directions carefully and watch the video and photo tutorial to learn how long to mix at each step and what the frosting should look like.
What does Tiramisu Cake taste like?
It tastes like the Italian coffee-infused mascarpone dessert we all love so much just in cake form. It's a rich and decadent cake with coffee, mascarpone, and cocoa taste.
Storing
Tiramisu Cake needs to be refrigerated. It's not possible to store it at room temperature because of the mascarpone frosting. The cake wouldn't last long, and it would lose its shape when you store it at room temperature. The best is to store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Don't store it open in the refrigerator because the mascarpone frosting would taste like everything you store in your fridge.
Tiramisu cake is best eaten within 2 days but stays fresh up to 3 days. On day three, the cake layers start to get wetter and wetter because they soak the moisture of the frosting. Because there are no raw eggs in the frosting, it's safe to store it up to 3 days.
Freezing
- Assembled cake: After chilling for 4 hours, place the Tiramisu Cake or single slices in the freezer until firm, for about 1-2 hours. Remove the cake from the freezer and tightly wrap in plastic foil twice. Make sure that everything is covered. Then wrap two layers of tin foil around until completely covered. It freezes well up to 2 months. Unwrap the cake and thaw in the fridge overnight. Then decorate with whipping cream and cocoa before serving. Eat within 2 days.
- Cake layers: After baking the cake layers, remove the paper and let cool completely. Then tightly wrap each cake layer in plastic foil twice. Place in freezer bags and remove as much air as possible. Freeze up to 1 month. For thawing, unwrap the cake layers and let sit on the counter for about 1-2 hours. Once it is room temperature, make the frosting and assemble the cake.
More birthday cakes to try
If you love show-stopping birthday cakes like this one, you will love the following recipes as well:
- Mirror Glaze Galaxy Cake
- Sacher Torte
- Black Forest Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Chocolate Coffee Cake
- Esterházy Torte
- Strawberry Vanilla Cake
Recipe
Tiramisu Cake
Ingredients
Genoise Cake
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, then sifted
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup strong brewed coffee, espresso preferred - for brushing
Mascarpone Frosting
- 4 ½ cups full-fat mascarpone, cold
- 2 ½ cups unpacked powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ cup strong brewed coffee - espresso preferred, chilled
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, cold
Decoration to your preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line the bottom and the sides of three 8" (20cm) baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the 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 white pale, foamy and tripled in size. (It takes 3-5 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 flour, cornstarch 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 20-22 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 mascarpone frosting: Whisk mascarpone on medium speed until creamy for about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and whisk until creamy and combined another 1-2 minutes. Add coffee and whisk until well combined and creamy for about 2-3 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and whisk until fully 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 a third of the ½ cup coffee.* Then spread ⅓ of the mascarpone cream with an offset spatula on top. Repeat one more time. Place last cake layer on top and lightly frost the outside and the sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Level the top and sides with the offset spatula. Chill at least 4 hours in the fridge.
- Pipe whipped cream on top if desired. Then dust with cocoa just before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days.
Notes
Video
You can find the video in the post above. If you don't see a video, please check your browser settings.
Diane
I tried twice to make the frosting with failed attempts both times. I whisked the mascarpone for 20 minutes until I thought it was creamy enough. Once I added the powdered sugar I whisked it for an additional 10 minutes. It never became creamy. I pushed ahead and added the coffee and heavy whipping cream but to avail, it turned out to look like small curd cottage cheese. My ingredients were cold and I followed the directions.
How long did you whip the mascarpone? What have I missed?
Thanks, Diane
Sabine
Hi Diane,
I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you! And I'm honestly confused about that because I thought with a step-by-step tutorial as I did it, nobody ever could have troubles to make this cake. I think there must be differences with the consistency of the mascarpone depending on the brand or country. The mascarpone I buy is from Italy and is very firm and creamy (like softened cream cheese) so that I just need to mix for 1 to max. 2 minutes. I don’t need to whip the mascarpone because it is already creamy straight out of the container. I mix it just to make it smooth.
I don't know why mascarpone would need to be mixed for 20 minutes? That sounds as it is liquid straight out of the container. I understand why it curdles after such a long mixing time because when overmixing mascarpone, cream, etc. the water separates and it starts to get butter.
How does your mascarpone look like before you mix it? Is it full fat?
Sabine
Goodme
I ordered a stand mixer to make this cake but it did not arrive in time so I used my ancient hand mixer which does not have much power. Although the cake could definitely have used more whipping and I only had 8.5" pans, the layers were still >1 inch thick and a nice spongy consistency. I was glad that I read the reviews/problems with the mascarpone because it would have been easy to over mix it and turn it into butter before adding the coffee and cream. When mixing in the powered sugar It started to get dry and chunky (BUTTER!), I moved it from a medium bowl to a large bowl during the process because in order to mix it fully and not over beat it, it needed room to spread out. I added the coffee and mixed it for only a minute, added the cream and mixed it just until completely blended. It turned out creamy, silky and easy to spread. Haven't served the cake yet, but it looks amazing. Thank you for the recipe and all the tips!
Sabine
I'm so happy that it turned out great! Yes, a large mixing bowl is recommended because you need space to mix the frosting. Thank you so much for your feedback!
Sabine
Here, I found a link where someone else had troubles with mascarpone. https://food52.com/hotline/24998-i-bought-mascarpone-cheese-and-it-didn-t-look-creamy
Kristin
Easy recipe compared to many tiramisu cakes. Whiskng is a must or you won't get the right consistency. The only thing I would change b would be the whip the heavy whipping cream by itself first in order to truly get the fluffy result.
Sabine
Thank you so much. I'm happy that the cake was easy to make. The cream is not supposed to be fluffy because Tiramisu is not fluffy as well but creamy. The cake should be as authentic as possible to have the feeling of eating Tiramisu. But if you prefer something different as a creamy Tiramisu-like frosting, then yes, folding in whipped cream is a good idea to make it fluffy.
lucy bennett
hi! I had extreme difficulty with the frosting - I check and checked again that I had the measurements and order of steps right, and it appears that I did, however I could not, for the life of me, get the frosting to thicken up. I even added more powdered sugar and marscapone hoping to offset the liquid. The directions said to whisk (I used my standing mixer) for 2 -3 minutes, but I literally had to beat the frosting for an hour to get it to any sort of usable consistency. Any idea where I went wrong??
Sabine
Hi Lucy, I'm so sorry for you that you had troubles with the frosting. When did it start to be too liquid? Was it ever creamy and thick at any stage? Did you add chilled coffee, or was it still hot? I need to understand what happened along the way to be clear what could have been the reason.
Julie
Hello,
Can I use cream cheese instead of marscapone?
Sabine
Cream cheese has a completely different taste. Although it would work to replace it because of their textures, I'm honest, I'm not confident if that tastes great.
Jen
Hi.. how can I make a 2 layers cake only? Can I divide in to 2 all the ingredients? Thank u
Sabine
Hey Jen, if you want to make 2 layers instead of 3, divide all ingredients by 3 and multiply with 2. Happy Valentine's Day!
Jane H
is the cocoa powder unsweetend and how much cocoa is needed?
Sabine
Yes, it's unsweetened cocoa powder. The amount is to your preference. I use about 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder.
geri
yum - what do you think about adding alcohol, like kahlua? I like to add it to my tiramisu.
Sabine
I’m sure that is delicious! You could mix a bit of Kahlua to the coffee which you brush on the cake or add 1-2 tbsp to the mascarpone cream.
Gina
Hi! I only have one 8” pan. Can I bake the cake in one pan then cut the cake into three layers??
Sabine
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.
FaridabadCake
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.
Sabine
Thank you so much! I'm happy that you like my recipes.
Alicia
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
Sabine
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.