Get ready for any party with this amazing tiramisu layer cake! This tiramisu layer has a yellow sponge soaked with a coffee syrup, filled with a coffee chocolate ganache, and is frosted with an almond mascarpone buttercream. As a certified tiramisu lover, I think this tiramisu cake is the perfect combo of fancy layer cake + tiramisu!
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This post was originally published in January 2021 but has been updated with new content.
Who doesn't love a tiramisu? I wanted this tiramisu cake to be the perfect interpretation of a tiramisu, but in cake form! The tender yellow cake is so simple to make. Before frosting the cake, I've soaked the cake in a coffee syrup, giving us that delicious tiramisu taste.
The cake layers are then filled with a coffee chocolate ganache (yum!), making it extra rich and delicious. You could definitely just do regular chocolate ganache if you didn't want to add espresso.
Finally, I've covered the entire cake in an almond mascarpone buttercream, which is really similar to my mascarpone buttercream. To get that tiramisu look, I piped buttercream on top and sifted cocoa powder!
Simple Ingredients
- Using a neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower oil will keep our cake super soft and moist. We're still using some butter in the cake to get that buttery taste, but swapping some of it out for oil makes all the difference!
- I think the almond extract gives you more of that tiramisu taste, but it is completely optional and will still taste delicious without it!
- If you've never used mascarpone before, it's quite similar to cream cheese but sweeter. You should find it in the cheese aisle at the grocery store.
One: Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
Two: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, vanilla, almond extract and sugar together for 2-3 minutes. You want it to be very thick.
Three: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until it's just incorporated.
Four: Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn the heat off and add the oil and butter.
Five: While the mixer is on low, slowly pour in the milk. Combine until the batter is smooth.
Six: Divide the batter evenly among your 3 pans (which are greased and lined). Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Seven: Combine your hot coffee, brandy (if using) and sugar in a jug until the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool completely.
Eight: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour over your simmering heavy cream and let it sit for 5 minutes then whisk until smooth.
Nine: In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and mascarpone together.
Ten: Add in your sifted confectioners' sugar, beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Add your vanilla, almond extract and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.
Test Kitchen Tip 👩🏻🍳 The buttercream is much softer than regular buttercream, so I found it best to chill the cake before frosting and placing the cake back in the fridge if things got a bit too soupy.
Frosting Your Cake
I recommend chilling the cake several times throughout the process: when you've added the filling to each layer, done a crumb coat, and done the final piping on top.
When you're ready to pipe the filling, use a piping bag to pipe a ring around each layer with the mascarpone buttercream. This will form a barrier and will stop the chocolate ganache from spreading out when you put the next layer of cake on top.
Made This Recipe?
Make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! You can tag me on Instagram @alpineella or follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!
Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Tiramisu Layer Cake
Equipment
- 3 x 8" cake tins
Ingredients
Yellow Cake
- 383 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 85 grams (6 tablespoon) unsalted butter
- 340 grams (1 ½ cups) milk
- 6 eggs room temperature
- 113 grams (½ cup) sunflower oil
- 595 grams (3 cups) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Coffee Syrup
- 35 grams (3 tablespoon) dark brown sugar
- 210 ml (¾ cup) hot coffee
- 1 tablespoon brandy
Coffee Ganache
- 170 grams (1 cup) dark chocolate chopped
- 180 ml (¾ cup) heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon hot coffee
Mascarpone Buttercream
- 226 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter room temperature
- 226 grams (8 oz) mascarpone room temperature
- 454 grams (4 cups) confectioners' sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder to sift on top
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F/165°C. Grease 3 x 8"cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the top of the parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside
- In a larger bowl, using a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla, sugar and almond extract until thick and gold, about 2-3 minutes at medium-high speed
- Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix just enough to combine.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the milk. Once it has started to simmer remove from heat and add the oil and butter. Stir until all the butter has melted
- Turn the mixer on a low speed, and slowly pour in the milk mixture. Combine until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three pans (605g each). Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes, you'll know they're ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before taking them out of their pans, and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
Make Coffee Syrup
- In a measuring jug, mix together the coffee, brandy and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let it cool to room temperature.
Make Coffee Ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-safe bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat and pour over the chocolate, along with the hot coffee. Let it sit for 10 minutes then whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
Make Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and mascarpone together until combined. Set the mixer to low, and slowly pour in the sifted icing sugar. Increase the speed to medium high until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Beat on medium/high until light and fluffy. Use immediately.
Assemble
- On a cake stand or plate, place the first cake layer down and soak the top with some of the coffee syrup. Pipe a barrier around the edge of the cake with the mascarpone, then using an off-set spatula, spread half of the coffee ganache. Repeat with the next layer. For the third cake, soak with the coffee syrup and then put the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Take the cake out and do a crumb coat around the edges and top. Put back in the fridge to chill for 5-10 minutes.
- Using a star tip, pipe concentric circles on top of the cake and then sift cocoa powder on top.
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Hannah says
Made this for my boyfriend’s birthday and it came out amazing! So delicious, and the sponge didn’t dry out at all even after being refrigerated for a couple of days. Will definitely be making again!!
Karen says
Hi Ella
Halfway through making your cake and wondering if it will be okay to finish it in the morning and let it sit in the fridge until supper (about 8 hours)
Tried a bit of just the cake layer and it was delicious !
My daughter's birthday request 😊
Thanks !
Ella Gilbert says
Hi! You can chill the cake layers in the fridge, I recommend wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap so they don't dry out, then frosting them the next morning.
Lizzy says
This cake is fabulous! I refrigerated each layer after piping the buttercream and ganache, which really firmed up everything to make a sturdy cake. Definitely use all the coffee syrup - my layers easily absorbed all the liquid and might have even used a little more to get a stronger coffee flavor. I’m not usually a cake-baker, but splitting this into 2 days and baking the cakes a day beforehand made everything much easier. Will definitely make again!
Ella says
Thank you so much for your review!
Kate says
Made this for an office birthday celebration..turned out great...was not clear on how much of the coffee syrup to soak. Seemed like it was soaking up a lot per layer but didn't use it all. WHEN I make this again, will definitely do a deeper soak. Everyone loved it!!
Suz says
Hi, looking at baking this for my sons birthday. I don’t have 3 of the pans can I just make one cake then slice it up into three layers? Do you think it will work?
Ella says
Hi there! Do you mean bake all the batter into 1 pan? I don't think that would work as that would be too much batter for 1 cake pan. What you can do instead is bake the cakes one by one (which is what I do as I only have 2 cake pans!), just let the cake cool for about 15 minutes before removing it, lining it again with parchment paper and refilling it and baking again. If you mean just make 1/3 of the cake batter then you could do that, but the cake isn't super tall so you could probably only slice it into 2.
Tina says
Hi Ella,
I love this cake, have made it a few times for family and friends and everyone raves about it. Do you think this cake is sturdy enough to act as a bottom tier of a two tier cake?
Thank you!
Ella says
Hi! I haven't tried that out so I'm not too sure, but I think it should be sturdy enough!
Andrea says
595 g of sugar in the cake seems like a lot... is this correct?
Ella says
Yes, that is correct! 🙂 If you feel like this is too much, maybe you could make my two layer cake instead?
Kara Kuykendall says
Hi there- could I use a dairy-free milk alternative?
Ella says
I haven't tried it but yes it should work!
Naima says
Can I just use 2 9inch pans?
Ella says
You can but you will need to decrease the baking time!
Jazz says
Amazing recipe. I cook a lot of cakes but I had so many compliments for this one. My friend told me it was the best cake he ever had. Will do it again for sure.
Ella says
Thank you so much for your review!
Roz says
Made this for my son's birthday. He loved it....
Thank you.
Shishi says
This tiramisu cake is 5/5 stars! What’s not to love, creamy and light frosting and the indulgent taste of coffee. Thanks Ella for such a great recipe.