| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 45 min |
| Active: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Yield: | 10 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour, plus more for the pans
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- Coffee liqueur, for brushing (optional)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon coffee extract
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon cold heavy cream
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coffee extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust the bottom and side of each pan with flour, tapping out the excess. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat the butter in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk in two batches, until just incorporated. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and lightly tap each against the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely; discard the parchment.
- Meanwhile, make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and coffee extract in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. If using a stand mixer, switch to the whisk attachment. Add 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and the confectioners’ sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide the filling between 2 small bowls (about 1 heaping cup each). Stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream and the espresso powder in a small bowl to make a paste; fold into one bowl of filling. Fold the cocoa powder into the other bowl of filling. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make the frosting: Beat the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon coffee extract, the vanilla and salt until just combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 4 more minutes; set aside.
- Make the ganache: Put the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until steaming, then pour over the chocolate. Let sit 5 minutes, then stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon coffee extract; let sit until cool but still pourable, about 1 hour.
- Assemble the cake: Using a long serrated knife, carefully slice each cake in half horizontally to make 2 thin layers; brush the cut sides of each cake with coffee liqueur, if desired. Put 1 cake layer cut-side up on a plate and spread with 1 heaping cup frosting. Top with another cake layer and spread the coffee filling over the top. Top with another cake layer and spread with the cocoa filling. Top with the remaining cake layer. Frost the top and side of the cake with the remaining frosting. Pour the ganache over the top and gently spread with an offset spatula, letting it drip down the side. (If the ganache is too thick to pour, microwave in 10-second intervals until smooth.) Let set about 20 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 970 |
| Total Fat | 64 g |
| Saturated Fat | 39 g |
| Carbohydrates | 95 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 73 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 230 mg |
| Sodium | 344 mg |
Reviews
I made this cake for my friend’s surprise birthday party. I asked her husband what kind of cake was her favorite, and he replied tiramisu. I thought to myself, OK but that’s not a cake. I found this recipe and it was a huge hit. Did not think it was too much trouble considering the beautiful result. Obviously, you do have to plan ahead. I ordered the coffee extract and espresso powder from Amazon. Based on the reviews that I had read, I made sure to liberally brush the coffee liquor on the cake. If only I could master having that perfectly smooth surface on the frosting. This was my first time using a chocolate ganache and letting it drip down the sides of the cake.
Unbelievably good! The effort is worth it, cause you can’t eat a regular size slice, it’s rich. Great for sharing. Freezes well, too. YUMMMM. Don’t skimp on the TiaMaria.
Absolutely delicious recipe! Followed it exactly as written and it came out perfectly. I recommend refrigerating the filling for about an hour before frosting the cake – this helped it to all stay together when I assembled it. This cake was work, but completely worth the effort! My parents and I agreed it was the best cake we’ve ever had, and I’ve baked quite a few cakes in my life. 🙂
Where can I find the e preso powder and coffee
extract?
extract?
This is a spectacular cake for sure. But does it taste any better than the original Tiramisu? I don’t think so. Eating this cake, I found myself wishing I had actually made the original. Guests loved this cake, but I cannot see myself making it again. It’s a lot of work for a result that, in my opinion, is a little disappointing. I did have a few small problems: Like other reviewers I could not find coffee extract, so subbed it with espresso powder mixed with water or vanilla essence, but in the end product I felt that the coffee flavor was a little too subtle. I beat the frosting for longer than the instructed time because of one review but found it would not have been necessary – the frosting didn’t get any fluffier, but did get rather soft because of overbeating. I should have refrigerated it before use because it ended up being just a tad soft for spreading. There was plenty of it however. I cooled the chocolate ganache for exactly an hour as instructed, but it ended up being too cold and thick to drape elegantly down the sides of the cake as in the picture. This may be due to the fact that I made this cake in the wintertime so the ambient temperature in my kitchen was fairly cool. And finally, although I did brush the cake layers with coffee liqueur, that flavor didn’t come through at all. Were I to make the cake again I would probably mix the coffee liqueur with fresh coffee and really soak the cake layers. To end on a positive note, the frosting is absolutely delicious, my favorite part of the whole cake.
Made this twice and it was absolutely delicious. Highly recommend brushing the cake layers with coffee liqueur, keeps the cake moist and tastes yummy! I couldn’t find coffee extract so I just used the same amount of vanilla and dissolved some espresso powder in it. Make sure you mix the frosting long enough to get super fluffy or there won’t be enough to cover the cake.
I made this for my coworkers, and it was a huge hit! Everyone recommended that I save this recipe. I couldn’t find coffee extract at my grocery store, so I dissolved instant coffee in vanilla extract, and it turned out great. Also, my cake had to bake for an extra 5 minutes, but I think my oven runs a bit cool. For those who haven’t made layered cakes before, it is essential that the cake is completely cool before slicing and assembling (especially because the chocolate and coffee fillings in this recipe are fluffy and not at as stiff as butter based frostings). I stacked my cakes and then refrigerated it for about 30 minutes before frosting the outside. I refrigerated the cake for another hour before pouring on the ganache.
This cake is so delicious I will make it again! So surprised how much it tasted like tiramisu! I did however sub the coffee liquor with a reduction of dark rum and maple syrup which turned out to be amazing. I also omitted the coffee in the frosting to keep the coffee strength down. Try this cake, you won’t be disappointed!
My 12 year old daughter loves to cook and bake. She planned it and made it for my birthday, by herself! It was a challenging recipe with a lot of steps, but she made my birthday the best. It was so delicious. It perfectly captures the flavor of Tiramisu. My mom thought not having Marscapone would make it not taste like Tiramisu but the regular cream cheese adds the perfect flavor and is very creamy and rich.
I rarely get the chance to bake, but I did make this cake recently because it looked so tempting in the magazine.
It was delicious. I made it “just because,” not for any special reason, but I took some to my parents’ house and gave some to my sister, and everyone loved it. I did not use the coffee liqueur as I’m not a fan of boozy tiramisu (and since it said it’s optional I figured leaving it out wouldn’t mean you’re missing too much in terms of flavor). I followed the recipe exactly as written, and while it was time consuming between waiting for everything to cool and making the various frostings, it was very easy.
The one slip-up I did make is that when I made the fillings I did not let it whip long enough, so there were small chunks of cream cheese left. I did not realize this until I began folding in the cocoa powder and the espresso paste into my two separated mixes. It’s white. It was hard to see until I really got in there. It didn’t matter too much… no one seemed to notice except for me. But as Julia Child used to say, “Never apologize.”
I would definitely make this again. The cake itself was a great base cake — moist with just the right amount of sweet. I could use that cake recipe for lots of cakes. And high praise all around for the frosting, filling, and ganache. Can’t go wrong there.