Tiramisu cake is a classic Italian cake that’s made with coffee soaked sponge cake and layered between a sweet mascarpone cream. Its also commonly dusted with cocoa powder.
A lot of tiramisu cake recipes call for ladyfingers, but I personally don’t like the taste or texture of ladyfingers. Therefore I bake the spongecake myself.
This tiramisu cake recipe was originally published on July 20, 2015.
Tiramisu Cake
Tiramisu Ingredients
- Cake- Tiramisu is typically made with ladyfingers, but this recipe is made with a sponge cake instead. The sponge cake consists of eggs, sugar, vanilla, flour, cornstarch, and baking powder.
- Tiramisu Cream- The cream is made of cream cheese, mascarpone, powdered sugar, Kahlua, and egg product.
- Tiramisu Coffee Soak- Each layer of cake is soaked in a combination of espresso, Kahlua, and sugar.
How to make Tiramisu cake
- Beat the eggs in a stand mixer on high speed for 4 minutes, then add the sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until the eggs are fluffy and pale.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and cornstarch into the eggs and fold it in with a whisk. Pour the batter into the parchment-lined baking pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 28-30 minutes. Then let the cake cool on a cooling rack.
How to make Tiramisu cream
- Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, Kahlua, and powdered sugar. Whip the egg product until it thickens then add it to the cream cheese mixture.
This post has Amazon affiliate links for tools we used to make this recipe.
How to assemble a cake
- Slice the cooled cake layers in half, and soak them in a combination of coffee and sugar. Then assemble the cake in this order; coffee soaked cake, cream, cocoa powder with all the cake layers. Be sure to reserve some cream to coat the outside of the cake. I find that using a Martellato soaker bottle is the best method for soaking cakes. It doesn’t drench it as other methods do.
What is Mascarpone Cheese
Mascarpone cheese is one of the main ingredients in a tiramisu cake recipe cream. Different brands of mascarpone cheese can have different consistencies. Therefore if you end up buying a brand that has a runnier consistency, make sure to refrigerate the cream for at least 40 minutes before combining it with the egg product.
Egg Substitute
Cakes like tiramisu are made with raw eggs. If you prefer not to use raw eggs, you can use egg substitute also known as (egg product). Egg product is pretty much eggs that have been pasteurized. I have tested this recipe multiple times and came to realize that certain brands of egg product don’t thicken as much as others do. So far, the best brand for this recipe is Lucerne.
Love Italian Dessert?! Take a look at these AMAZING Italian dessert recipes.
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Note: If you prefer to use real eggs over egg product, add 1/4 cup granulated sugar to 3 eggs instead of the egg product.
Bring a pot of water (about 2 cups) to a simmer. Place the sugar and eggs into a bowl and place the bowl over the simmering pot. Using an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until they double in size and remove from heat. Once the eggs are cooled completely continue to step 7.
A classic Italian dessert made with coffee soaked sponge cake and layers of mascarpone cream.
- Cake:
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Cream:
- 32 oz 4 pkg cream cheese
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese
- 2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup Kahlua
- 1 cup egg product
- Soak:
- 1 cup espresso
- 3 tbsp Kahlua
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
In a stand mixer, beat 8 eggs until foamy. Then slowly add the sugar and vanilla while the mixer is still beating.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and cornstarch. Then fold it into the beaten eggs using a whisk.
- Line 2 round baking pans (10 inches in diameter) with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Then distribute the batter evenly between the two pans.
- Bake in a preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 28-30 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile combine the cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and Kahlua in the bowl of your stand mixer. If your mascarpone cheese has a runny consistency, refrigerate this mixture for 40 minutes before adding in the egg product.
- In a separate bowl beat the egg product with an electric mixer until it becomes thick and creamy. This should take about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the egg product to the cream cheese mixture and mix just to incorporate.
- In a small bowl mix together the espresso,
- with 3 tbsp Kahlua and 1 tbsp sugar.
- Slice each cake in half so you are left with 4 thin slices.
- Soak each layer of cake with the espresso and Kahlua mixture.
- Then begin layering the cake in this order: 1 layer of soaked cake, 1 1/4 cup cream cheese mixture, and cocoa powder. Repeat this until you stack the last layer of cream. At this point you can decorate the sides and top of the cake with extra cocoa or cream.
Ps: We’ve updated some of the photos in this recipe. Here are some of the previous photos.
Looks amazing!!! Can’t wait to give a try. Thanks for a recipe. How did you do decorative squares on top with cocoa?
You’re so welcome Viktoriya 🙂 This is a little funny but I didn’t have a stencil around so I actually lined a bunch of wooden barbecue skewers crossing diagonally. But hey it worked lol 😉
HELLO WHAT IS THE LUCERNE BEST OF THE EGG STUFF? IS IT EGG WHITES OR JUST REGULAR WHOLE EGGS? THANK YOU
It is and egg product that contains 99 % egg whites. I wanted to avoid using raw eggs because many people don’t want to use raw eggs in cream that doesn’t get cooked.
Thanks. Actually il try same method
You’re welcome Viktoriya 🙂
I am drooling over here; this is my all time favorite cake! And it’s the real deal! I’ll have to try it for sure.
om nom nom I just want to stuff my face with this cake! Great recipe and great pictures!
Thank you Ana 🙂 Its a dangerous cake…so hard to stop eating it! lol
This is my favorite dessert! I’m so happy to have found this recipe! What is the brown sugar looking mixture in the pictures starting in step 10? Did I miss a step?
Thanks!
Traci so glad you stopped by 🙂 If you’re referring to the brown colored mixture in the glass prep bowl, that is the espresso, sugar, and Kahlua mixture.
Thank you! =)
You’re welcome Traci. Enjoy! 🙂
Hey Dina,
I tried a different brand of egg mixture stuff and i was hand mixing the egg stuff for like 40 minuets and it wouldn’t get stiff it just got foamy. Does it matter what brand the egg mixture is? For how long do you have to mix it to become stiff?
Hi Jessica, did you mix the egg product by hand or with a handheld electric mixer? I don’t think it matters what brand it is. I used an handheld electric mixer and beat it for about 7-10 minutes.
Hello,
I used a 10 inch round pan as indicated in the recipe and the batter barely covered the bottom of the pan. I pulled it out of the oven after 14 min. because it was done….the cake came out flatter than a pancake and very rubbery. Should I have used a 9 inch round pan? I followed the directions to a T and didn’t over mix the dry into the wet, so I’m trying to figure out if I did something wrong or if this is suppose to be the results since I have never had Tiramisu before to compare..
Yolanda I’m sorry to hear your cake didn’t turn out. From reading what you wrote, I’m almost 100 percent sure you under-mixed the egg and sugar mixture. When mixing the eggs and sugar, you want to beat it for a while. The consistency should have been very airy and fluffy. The reason I mention carefully folding the dry ingredients into the wet is to so that that batter retains its volume and airiness as much as possible. This will give you a fluffier finished cake.
hello.. what can I use instead of the egg product in the cheese?
Tiramisu cream is actually made with raw eggs, but I use egg product instead because people don’t really like the idea of raw eggs in the cream.
Will the egg product still turn out if you use a stand mixer?
Yes it should turn out just as good in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
I loved this recipe, but I made some adjustments to it. I used white cake instead of an egg based cake and eliminated the egg product altogether from the cream. It still turned out really well! Thanks for a delicious cake! My husband loved it for his birthday. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to write such a nice review Megan! Glad you and your husband enjoyed the cake 🙂
Hi, can you freeze this cake?
Hi Elaine, yes you can freeze this cake.
Hi There, I would love to make this cake or my mom’s birthday but would have to make it a couple days in advance, how long will the cake keep without getting soggy in the fridge? would it work to make the cake and cream mixtures a couple days in advance and then just assembling and layering the cake day of?
Thank-you!
Hey Ashley, I would bake the cake and make the cream on one day. Don’t frost the cake just yet. Refrigerate the cream. Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and let it sit in room temperature for a day. Assemble the cake the next day and serve it the following day. This way the cake gets served on the third day. You don’t want to keep this cake in the fridge for more than 1 day because it may get a bit soggy.
Madi it twice so far. The first time, the cake was rubbery and tasted like bread more than a cake. The second time I added baking powder to the batter and results were amazing!!!!!
Thank you for the recipe!!!!
Thank you, glad it worked out the second time.
hi, what can deplace the egg prodact? we don’t have this in my cuntry.
please help my to find samthing alse.
Tiramisu cream is typically made with egg yolks over a double boiler. I use egg product instead of the egg yolks. I’m not too sure how many egg yolks to substitute in place of the egg product though.
I recommend this tiramisu recipe to everyone! So easy to make! And delicious! One of my favorites now ???????? Thank you so much simplyhomecooked!:)
Julia I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my tiramisu recipe! Thank you for the great review!
Where can I buy Kahlua ? Thanks
Hi Jessica, sorry for he delayed response, my blog has been having some technical issues. Kahlua should be sold in most grocery stores.
Hi ma’am what is the substitute of Kahlua bcoz we Muslims can’t use it or we can skip Kahlua plz reply
Hi Taskeen, Kahlua is a key ingredient that makes the flavor in a tiramisu. There really is no substitute for it so you can just omit it, but it may not taste like a true tiramisu.
Hi, is it better to serve it the same day or next day? How long is enough for the cake to soak thru but not get soggy?
Hi Tina, it taste best the next day. So if you put the cake in the fridge the night you make it, it will be perfect the following evening.
???? thanks
Hello we don’t have the egg product in my country what can I use please I will be making this cake soon. Thanks for the rdcope
Hi Eunice, traditional tiramisu is made with raw eggs. So you can use real eggs instead. I use egg product because most people don’t like the idea of raw eggs in their food.
Hello Dina, is it possible to substitute the eggs product with white eggs powder? but I was wondering how much it needs? hehehe
Hi Vania, I’ve need tried this recipe with egg powder so I’m not too sure.
This cake is really soft and delicious!
Thank you for the kind review!
Can you tell me how to make egg product as we don’t have here really want to make this thks xx
Hi Diane, you can make this recipe with real eggs. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar to 4 eggs instead of the egg product.
Bring a pot of water (about 2 cups) to a simmer. Place the sugar and eggs into a bowl and place the bowl over the simmering pot. Using an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until they double in size and remove from heat. Once the eggs are cooled completely continue to step 7.
Hope that helps!
Is egg product raw egg whites?
Hi Chelsea, egg product is safer than raw eggs because it was been pasteurized.
Hi Dina, quick question – does the cake mixture require 8 or 6 eggs? In the recipe list it says 8 eggs but then in the directions it says 6. Thanks!
Hi Ella, the recipe does require 8 eggs. Thanks for catching that, I will fix that.
My sister made this for our Thanksgiving gathering (I think it was 4 portions) and it was so delirious! Thank you for sharing the recipe
Olga, I’m so glad to hear you all enjoyed the tiramisu cake! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to write such kind words!
I had this cake at a recent party and it was AMAZING!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Galina! I’m so glad to hear that it was a hit at the party! 🙂 Thanks for the feedback.
Your recipe list says baking powder but it doesn’t say in your recipe when to use it. I assume it’s with the flour and cornstach. Just wanted to let you know if you wanna change that. Great recipe!!
Thank you for catching that Ellen. I have just updated that 🙂