Strong coffee can replace the espresso, but there’s no substitute for quality sweet Marsala (the kind for drinking not cooking). It gives the cake a boozy, fragrant edge that plays well against the bitterness of the espresso.
Ingredients
12 servings
Soak
¾
½
Filling
1½
1
4
2
2
1
½
8
Assembly
Preparation
Soak
Step 1
Combine Marsala and espresso in a small bowl. Cover and chill.
Step 2
Do Ahead: Soak can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Filling
Step 3
Place ¼ cup cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin evenly over top; chill until ready to use.
Step 4
Beat cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Scrape whipped cream into a medium bowl; cover and chill. Reserve bowl; you don’t need to clean it.
Step 5
Whisk egg yolks, Marsala, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl until smooth; set over a saucepan of just barely simmering water (do not let bowl touch water). Heat, whisking constantly, until yolks are lightened in color and doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Mixture should feel warm to the touch. Remove egg yolk mixture from heat and scrape into reserved bowl. Fit bowl onto mixer.
Step 6
Remove saucepan from heat and pour out water, then scrape in softened gelatin. Heat over medium-low, swirling pan often, until gelatin is dissolved, about 1 minute. With mixer on medium speed, stream gelatin into egg yolk mixture. Beat until sides of bowl are cool to the touch, about 2 minutes; add mascarpone and beat until smooth.
Step 7
Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in chilled whipped cream. You should have about 4 cups mousse. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto surface; chill until set, at least 4 hours.
Step 8
Do Ahead: Mousse can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Assembly
Step 9
Line a 9"-diameter cake pan or springform pan with plastic wrap, pressing into bottom and leaving generous overhang. Fit a 1-piece round of cake into pan, placing bottom side up. Using a pastry brush, dab a quarter of soak across entire surface of cake. Stir chilled mousse to loosen, then scrape a third over cake and smooth into an even layer with a small offset spatula. Place another round of cake, bottom side up, on top of mousse, this time using a 2-piece layer. Repeat soaking and filling process. Top with the remaining 2-piece round of cake, bottom side up, and repeat soaking and filling process one more time. Top with remaining 1-piece round of cake, bottom side up, and brush with remaining soak. You should have 4 layers of soaked cake separated by 3 layers of filling. Wrap plastic overhang up and over cake; chill at least 12 hours and up to 2 days to allow mousse to set and cake to absorb soak.
Step 10
To frost, remove plastic from top of cake and invert cake onto a cake plate or platter. Remove pan and plastic. Dollop about 1 cup buttercream over top of cake and smooth across top and down sides, creating a very thin base layer. You want to fill in any gaps, adhere any crumbs to the cake, and seal in the fillings (this is called a crumb coat). Chill cake 10 minutes, then scrape remaining frosting on top of cake and spread all over, working down and around sides. Decorate as desired.
Step 11
Do Ahead: Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Chill until frosting sets, then cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature 1–1½ hours before slicing.
Step 12
Highly recommended reading: Layer cake tips, tricks, and common mistakes from Natasha Pickowicz.
How would you rate Tiramisù Layer Cake With Mascarpone Mousse?
Leave a Review
Reviews (5)
Back to TopI don't think I would make this again -- rather flavorless. The buttercream definitely had little espresso flavor, the cake was kind of rubbery, I was disappointed in both the soak and mascarpone mousse (seemed a little salty?). The cake was bland, which was surprising. It was fun to make, but does take a long time. So it was very disappointing that it wasn't really worth eating.
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
1/11/2022
This cake was great in theory, but not in execution, at least not without major modifications. The only piece I didn't modify was the mousse filling. I'm not quite sure what went wrong with the genoise recipe, but my cakes came out rubbery, sticky and flavorless. I ended up finding an alternate recipe for a vanilla sponge and used that. The soak was also very overwhelmingly sweet, so I alternated between the soak and regular strength espresso to balance the flavor. Finally, there was no espresso flavor to the buttercream when made as written. I added a fourth tbsp. of espresso, but with all the liquid my buttercream looked as if it were ready to curdle, so instead I added two instant espresso packets to get enough of that flavor. Ultimately this cake turned out beautiful and delicious, but thanks only to some major substitutions.
Anonymous
New York
10/5/2020
Wow- delicious! This cake is a lot of work but well worth it. It is kind of a weekend project with the amount of time the ingredients need to chill and set, but a little planning and it will come together nicely. The next time I make this, I think I’ll make it a rectangle rather than 9 in circles. Instead of cutting out circles, I’d just cut the sheet cake in half- 2 layers per pan, and no scraps or crumbs to deal with. The vanilla genoise cake was perfect - spongy and absorbant and not eggy at all.
Anonymous
Wisconsin
12/17/2018