Learn how to make a modern tiramisu cake that is a definite crowd-pleaser. This tiramisu cake has all the traditional flavors of the classic Italian dessert.

This tiramisu cake is made with espresso cake soaked in coffee syrup filled with mascarpone mousse and whipped cream. Then its dusted with cocoa powder like the traditional dessert.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make homemade espresso cake layers that you can make in advance if you want to break up the process.

The key to making this cake amazing is the coffee syrup that is used to soak the cake layers. The soaking helps to flavor the cake and keeps it moist as the cake has a thin layer of whipped cream around the outside.

The homemade mascarpone mousse is quite easy to make and tastes incredible!

The beauty of tiramisu is that you can have it year-round, but it’s especially perfect for those crisp fall nights and the holiday season.

Tips for Success:

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
In this cake recipe, you need ½ cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use ½ cup whole milk mixed with 2 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own.
To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps.
If you need a quick substitute for brewed coffee, use 1 Tablespoon of espresso powder for ⅓ cup of hot water. Mix for instant brewed coffee.
Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.
You can make the coffee simple syrup, stabilized whipped cream, and mascarpone mousse a day ahead and refrigerate them overnight.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake:

5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl, whisk & paddle attachment
3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
Offset spatula
8-inch or 10-inch white cake board
Serrated knife or cake leveler
Turntable
Cake scraper or bench scraper
Whisk or sifter
Rubber Spatula
Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
Piping Bags (I use reusable silicone bags)
2, Ateco #806 Round Tip
Small strainer or sifter for cocoa powder
Cake Stand, optional

Here’s how to make this tiramisu cake for home bakers!

Let’s Bake Some Cake!

How to Make Espresso Cake Layers

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add in the espresso powder and mix in with rubber spatula.
Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Coffee Simple Syrup

In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat. Continue to heat for 5 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat and add brewed coffee.
Set aside to cool and pour into a squeeze bottle.

Light & Airy Mascarpone Mousse Filling

Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment into the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to keep heavy cream cold while whipping.
In the cold mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, add the chilled heavy cream and whip on medium speed to get a stiff peak. Place the whipped cream into a bowl and set aside.
In a clean mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, add the mascarpone and cream cheese. Mix on medium for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth.
Add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Fold in the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture, mix until combined with a rubber spatula.
Place mascarpone mousse into a prepared piping bag fitted with a large round #806 tip.

How to Make Stabilized Whipped Cream

Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment into the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to keep heavy cream cold while whipping.
In a small microwaveable bowl, place the powdered gelatin and pour cold water over the top. Allow gelatin to bloom for 2-3 minutes. After the gelatin has bloomed and softened, melt in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Set aside to cool.
In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar together on high speed. Whip for 3-5 minutes until you get a soft peak.
On medium, slowly pour in vanilla extract, and melted gelatin mixture. Whip on high for 15 seconds to incorporate gelatin. Remove from mixer and place into a piping bag fitted with a #806 round tip.

Putting It All Together

Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even.
Soak both sides of each cake layer with coffee simple syrup.
Add a small amount of mousse onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board— pipe a thick layer of mascarpone mousse.
Then pipe dollops of stabilized whipped cream on top of the mousse layer.
Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer.
Crumb coat with a thin layer of whipped cream.
Next, add cocoa powder to a small sifter and dust (or sprinkle) the top of the cake.
Then pipe small dollops of mousse on top of the cake. Complete the cake by dusting cocoa powder over the dollops of mousse.
Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Happy Decorating!

Watch The How-to Video Below:

Print Recipe

Tiramisu Cake

Espresso cake soaked with coffee syrup, filled with mascarpone mousse and stabilized whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder

Prep Time1 hr

Cook Time1 hr

Cooling/Decorating Time1 hr 30 mins

Total Time3 hrs 30 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Buttercream, Cake Decorating, Cake Recipe, Desserts

Author: Katie

Ingredients

Espresso Cake

1 cup (or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large whole eggs
2 large egg yolks
3 cups cake flour (or 2 ¾ cup ap flour & ¼ cup cornstarch)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons espresso powder

Coffee Simple Syrup

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brewed coffee

Mascarpone Mousse

1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
4 ounces (or 1/2 cup) mascarpone
2 ounces (or 1/4 cup) cream cheese
3 Tablespoon powdered sugar

Stabilized Whipped Cream

2 1/2 tsp (or 1 packet) powder gelatin
3 Tablespoons water
2 cups heavy cream, cold
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cocoa powder for garnish

Instructions

Espresso Cake

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add in the espresso powder and mix in with rubber spatula.
Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Coffee Simple Syrup

In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat. Continue to heat for 5 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat and add brewed coffee.
Set aside to cool and pour into a squeeze bottle.

Mascarpone Mousse Filling

Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment into the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to keep heavy cream cold while whipping.
In the cold mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, add the chilled heavy cream and whip on medium speed to get a stiff peak. Place the whipped cream into a bowl and set aside.
In a clean mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, add the mascarpone and cream cheese. Mix on medium for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth.
Add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Fold in the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture, mix until combined with a rubber spatula.
Place mascarpone mousse into a prepared piping bag fitted with a large round #806 tip.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment into the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to keep heavy cream cold while whipping.
In a small microwaveable bowl, place the powdered gelatin and pour cold water over the top. Allow gelatin to bloom for 2-3 minutes. After the gelatin has bloomed and softened, melt in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Set aside to cool.
In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar together on high speed. Whip for 3-5 minutes until you get a soft peak.
On medium, slowly pour in vanilla extract, and melted gelatin mixture. Whip on high for 15 seconds to incorporate gelatin. Remove from mixer and place into a piping bag fitted with a #806 round tip.

Assemble

Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even.
Soak both sides of each cake layer with coffee simple syrup.
Add a small amount of mousse onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board— pipe a thick layer of mascarpone mousse over the top.
Then pipe dollops of stabilized whipped cream on top of the mousse layer.
Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer.
Crumb coat with a thin layer of whipped cream.
Next, add cocoa powder to a small sifter and dust (or sprinkle) the top of the cake.
Then pipe small dollops of mousse on top of the cake. Complete for the cake by dusting cocoa powder over the dollops of mousse.
Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Notes

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
In this cake recipe, you need ½ cup buttermilk; if you don't have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use ½ cup whole milk mixed with 2 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own.
To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps.
If you need a quick substitute for brewed coffee, use 1 Tablespoon of espresso powder for ⅓ cup of hot water. Mix for instant brewed coffee.
Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.
You can make the coffee simple syrup, stabilized whipped cream, and mascarpone mousse a day ahead and refrigerate them overnight.

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake course. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there.

Pin it! Save it for later!

Thursday Tips

Every Thursday, I'll send a new baking or cake decorating tip to help improve your skills or learn something new. Add your name and email to get the next one!