Traditional Tiramisu (half size) — Giovanni's Tiramisu (2024)

FAQs

What is traditional tiramisu made of? ›

Traditional tiramisu contains ladyfingers (savoiardi), egg yolks, sugar, coffee, mascarpone and cocoa powder. A common variant involves soaking the savoiardi in alcohol, such as Marsala wine, amaretto or a coffee-based liqueur.

While traditional tiramisu is more of a layered dessert without a cake base, a tiramisu cake might involve sponge cake layers soaked in coffee and liqueur, layered with mascarpone cream, and dusted with cocoa powder.

The secret to a true tiramisu? Mascarpone! Most people use regular cream cheese, but in order to get the real deal, you need to try is with this Italian specialty.

Traditional Italian tiramisu does not contain cream–the mascarpone “cream” is composed of simply mascarpone, eggs and sugar. However, our selection of mostly Americanized recipe did include 5 recipes that used heavy cream (ranging from 2 tablespoons to 2 cups).

Roberto Linguanotto, a Venetian pastry chef who is often credited with the invention of tiramisu back in the 1960s, says that his creation is expensive because of the espresso used in another essential component to the dessert: espresso-soaked ladyfingers (via The Straits Times).

You can mimic the silky, decadent consistency of mascarpone with an easy DIY recipe. To make this mascarpone substitute, mix together 12 ounces of room temperature cream cheese (1 ½ blocks) with ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream and ¼ cup of sour cream until combined.

Alcohol: I prefer Kahlua, but use any of the following: Marsala wine, rum (dark is best!), brandy, or Amaretto. Make it Alcohol-Free: Omit the Kahlua entirely from the coffee mixture and replacing it with coffee in the mascarpone mixture.

The other main reasons the mixture would be runny is if other liquid ingredients have been added first, or if the mascarpone has been beaten so much that it has curdled (then you will get water separating out from the cheese curds).

Why is the bottom of tiramisu wet? ›

The cookies that make up the “cake” layers of a tiramisu are called Savoiardi, or lady fingers. These cookies are incredibly absorbent because they are made from a sponge cake-like batter. That's why when you dip them in coffee if you dip them for too long they will make your cake very soggy. Sponge cake absorbs.

While a tiramisu is normally made with soaked lady fingers, this cake mostly uses coffee-soaked sponge cake with creamy mascarpone filling. It is then topped off with a sprinkle of chocolate powder, chocolate shavings or espresso beans.

I looked into it and found that Olive Garden does not make its tiramisu in-house these days. They have expanded so much since the 1990s, so it makes sense that their chefs don't have time to make all of the desserts on the menu.

Traditional tiramisu, an Italian dessert, typically contains alcohol in the form of a liqueur. The alcohol is used to enhance the flavor and is an integral part of the dessert's traditional recipe. The most commonly used liqueur in tiramisu is Marsala wine, which is a sweet fortified wine.

Nowadays, using raw eggs in cooking is so much more acceptable because the quality of fresh produce is so much better - think mayonnaise (raw yolks), lemon meringue pie (raw egg whites under the browned top). However, the real traditional way to make Tiramisu (and this is an Italian Chef recipe) is to use raw eggs.