Tiramisu

Locale: Italy

Source: King Arthur, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion [p. 365]

Serves:

Ingredients

Sponge Cake

  • 0.75 c (3 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 0.75 tsp baking powder
  • 0.75 tsp salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 075 c (5.25 oz) sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mascarpone Filling

  • 1 lb mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
  • 2 c heavy or whipping cream
  • 1.5 c (6 oz) confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.5 c espresso or coffee-flavored liqueur (or mixture)
  • 1 tbsp cocoa (preferably Dutch-process or dark)
  • 0.5 c grated or curled semisweet or milk chocolate

Steps

  1. Mix the mascarpone filling, until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

  2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line bottom of a 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan with waxed paper or parchment.

  3. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Sprinkle in sugar gradually, beating all the while, until the batter is very thick, 3-8 minutes. The batter will double in volume. When it is sufficiently aerated, add the vanilla, then gently fold in the flour mixture.

  4. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch. Allow to cool a bit, then remove cake from pan, and slice it into strips as needed (usually about 1-inch side, and 5-inches long, to resemble ladyfingers, but adjust this according to your container).

  5. You'll need a large container, or two smaller ones, large enough to hold everything. Put a thin layer of filling into the bottom of the pan. Assemble by laying out pieces of cake, brushing them with espresso, and topping with more filling. You should have at least two layers. Garnish the top with sprinkled cocoa and/or grated or curled chocolate.

  6. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Notes

  1. I used to try to get fresh-brewed espresso, but lately I've been using instant espresso powder. No notable difference. Not a bad idea to mix extra.

  2. My biggest problem is that I don't have a right-sized container to use. I have Pyrex dishes with plastic lids, but they're not deep enough to hold three layers without smooshing the top. I should figure out the volumes, and come up with a recommended size. I do have the 10x15-inch pan, which results in a 3/4-inch thick cake, so that seems ideal.

  3. I don't think I've ever used the liqueur.

Log

  1. 2026-09-08: