This is the most stunning berry tiramisu cake recipe you’ll make because it’s an actual cake. This layered tiramisu cake with fruit has simple ingredients and is surprisingly easy to make.
You will love the mascarpone cream frosting and berry syrup. Just like our Tres Leches Cake, this looks really impressive without a ton of effort which is an added bonus!
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I made this for my sister’s birthday and the following week for my niece’s birthday and it was a big win both times. The phrase, “I love that it’s not too sweet”, was said again and again.
What is a Tiramisu Cake?
Tiramisu Cake is a dessert with layers of sponge cake (or often ladyfingers which are basically dried out sponge cake), soaked with liqueur or coffee and frosted with mascarpone cheese. The word Tiramisu itself literally means “pick me up” in Italian, hence the reason it has the liqueur or coffee in it.
Classic Tiramisu works surprisingly well as a Berry Tiramisu and this adds a fresher layer to it with the delicious berries. We have our own traditional Tiramisu Recipe to give you a better idea of where this recipe stems from.
Ingredients for Berry Tiramisu Cake:
The base starts with a super simple, traditional European sponge cake. The mascarpone cheese can be found at most major grocery stores and the liqueur is usually only found in liquor stores. We love Grand Marnier Orange Liqueur for its amazing flavor. If you don’t want to buy a big bottle, you can purchase 2 tiny bottles as pictured (1.5 oz each) to get 6 Tbsp for this recipe.
You’ll also need fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, some whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Can I Use Ladyfingers Instead of Sponge Cake?
Yes! Ladyfingers are a great substitution and make for a good mix between this recipe and the classic tiramisu recipe. You wouldn’t need to bake anything with this quick substitute, making this recipe even easier.
I would recommend layering it in a springform pan like the way we have done with our Charlotte Cake Recipe giving it a finished look. Slicing your cake completely covered in berries is made easy using this method. The ladyfingers line the outer edge of the cake and you can cut even slices all the way around!
Can I Substitute the Liqueur?
The flavor of the liqueur mellows out but you can use less with 3 Tbsp liqueur in the syrup and 1 Tbsp in the cream or make it a virgin (alcohol-free) by replacing liqueur with freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. The berry tiramisu cake will taste delicious either way!
How to Make a Tiramisu Cake:
1. Bake the easy 4-ingredient sponge cake. Once cakes are at room temp, use a serrated knife to cut in half for a total of 4 layers.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 package raspberries, 1/4 cup water, 4 Tbsp orange liqueur, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Mash those together with a fork and set aside.
3. Just before assembling your cake, make the cream: In a large bowl, use a spatula to fold together 16 oz mascarpone cheese and 2 Tbsp orange liqueur until well incorporated.
4. In a second large mixing bowl, beat with a mixer 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla just until fluffy with soft peaks (note: mascarpone stabilizes whipped cream so don’t over-beat or it will become grainy). Use a spatula to fold half of the whipped cream into the mascarpone to lighten it then fold in remaining cream and blend until fully incorporated. It may seem loose at first but it thickens as it sits.
How to Assemble Berry Tiramisu Cake:
- Place your first cake layer on a serving platter and use a spoon to spread 1/4 of your raspberry syrup (no need for perfection).
- Top with 1/4 of your cream and a generous layer of sliced strawberries and whole blueberries.
- Repeat with remaining layers and cover the top with remaining whole strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
Tip: if you spread the cream and place berries just past the cake’s edges, it will look prettier and more loaded when stacked.
Can I Make this Cake Ahead?
The sponge cake is so easy and can be made a day ahead or stored in the freezer for up to 3 months and because it doesn’t get soggy, it will stay yummy assembled in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. If you’re worried about it looking fresh, you can add the berries to the top layer the day of and your guests will be none the wiser! It tastes delicious when chilled so no need to let it sit out before serving. It actually slices best when chilled anyway.
Love Layered Cake Recipes?
Here are some of our most popular layered cakes. Whether you love chocolate layered cakes or berry layered cakes, these are definitely crowd-pleasing desserts!
- Crepe Cake – with a fail-proof crepes recipe
- Chocolate Cake – the perfect birthday cake
- Mango Cake – Layer after layer of mango goodness
- Strawberry Sponge Cake – completely loaded with strawberries
- Almond Nutella Cake – a gluten-free cake masterpiece
Berry Tiramisu Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake:
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For Berry Tiramisu Cake Syrup, Fillings and Cream:
- 12 oz Driscoll's raspberries, divided
- 6 Tbsp (3 oz) orange liqueur, divided
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar, + 2 Tbsp for berry sauce
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese, refrigerated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, (36% milk fat), chilled
- 1 lb Driscoll's strawberries, sliced, reserving 6 berries for the top
- 1 pint Driscoll’s blueberries, (2 cups ), divided
Instructions
How to Make Berry Mascarpone:
- Bake the easy 4-ingredient sponge cake (click for written instructions). Once cakes are at room temp, use a serrated knife to cut in half for a total of 4 layers.
- In a small bowl, combine 1/2 package raspberries, 1/4 cup water, 4 Tbsp orange liqueur, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Mash together with a fork and set aside.
- Just before assembling your cake, make the cream: In a large bowl, use a spatula to fold together 16 oz mascarpone cheese and 2 Tbsp orange liqueur until well incorporated.
- In a second large mixing bowl, beat with a mixer 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla just until fluffy with soft peaks.** Use a spatula to fold half of the whipped cream into mascarpone to lighten it then fold in remaining cream and blend until fully incorporated.
How to Assemble Berry Tiramisu Cake:
- Place your first cake layer on a serving platter and use a spoon to spread 1/4 of your raspberry syrup (no need for perfection). Top with 1/4 of your cream and a generous layer of sliced strawberries and whole blueberries. Repeat with remaining layers and cover the top with remaining whole strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. ***
Notes
***If you push the cream and berries just slightly past the cake's edges, it will look prettier when stacked. Cake can be served right away, but if you refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, it will be a little easier to slice.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Let me know if you make this for someone you love. It truly is a special cake and can be used for so many different special occasions.
Hi Natasha,
I am a big fan of your cakes and have been making this cake for my daughter’s birthday, which is always a hit😍
However, I need your advice, I have tried both of your American and European cakes recipe, and as they r very moist, they don’t stay together. Like it breaks apart while cutting!
The looks and taste are excellent, and I am always complimented but I would like to make it better!
Hope to hear from you!
Hi Nidhi! It depends on the recipe. I can’t speak to other recipes that are not mine but I provide helpful tips in my recipe notes to help get the best results each time. If there is a specific cake of mine that you’ve tried and have had this problem, you can send a comment on that recipe page to see if I can help troubleshoot the issue. 🙂
Aloha Natasha, I found this recipe and have now made it for special occasions for the past two years. Most recently I traveled to Florida from our home in Hawaii to make it for my Mom’s 80th Birthday! I found that refrigerating when needing to transport and for leftovers is excellent (easier to cut). Love the cake recipe and it always comes out so well. Thank you for sharing your expertise and love of good cooking. The Berry Tiramisu has been such a special treat to share with friends and family. Much aloha and Merry Christmas!
Aloha! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! I’m so glad this was a hit with your family and friends! Merry Christmas!
I tried it only once. My guests couldn’t believe how delish it was. We ended up eating it with fingers from the tray! Delish!
Aaaw, that makes my heart melt. Thank you for sharing!
I just made this cake and I loved it ! I’m not a big fan of very sweet dessert or dessert in general, but this cake was delicious, I had a big slice, the amount of berries in it and the cheese combo made it taste like a very good parfait almost, thank you so much. And it was pretty easy to make. I was thinking it might not be as fresh if consumed the following day with all the fruit but it tasted amazing the next day for the event. Thank you so much!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Lana!
Can this be eaten by kids? Coz it has orange liqueur in it if not whats the alternative for orange liqueur? I would love to try this looks delicious. Please let me know tnanks . Btw, loved all your recipes☺️
Yes, it can. The amount is not very much. The flavor of the liqueur mellows out but you can use less with 3 Tbsp liqueur in the syrup and 1 Tbsp in the cream or make it a virgin (alcohol-free) by replacing liqueur with freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. The berry tiramisu cake will taste delicious either way!
ik vind de dessert over heerlijk voor bij de verjaaardagfeestje of bij koffieklets of bij de vier uurtje
Great to hear that you love this recipe!
Made this for a gathering where it won rave reviews. I did make some alterations – when I made the raspberry sauce, I did run it through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. I have a few other alterations in mind but over all, this was a very easy to make and with spring berries in season – perfect for the day.
That’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing, Monika.
Hi Natasha,thank you for all the recipes.My question is can I make the regular tiramisu cake with lady fingers and berries? What should I use to dip the ladyfingers in? Thanks again.
Hi Salwa, yes, that would ve fine. For dipping, I still suggest following the recipe recommendations of liqueur or replacing the liqueur with freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste if you want alcohol-free.
Can I use cherry liqueur instead of orange? Thanks again for answering.
Hi Salwa, I haven’t tested that to advise, if you try that, I’d love to know how you like that!
Hi Natasha … I’d like to try this with the lady finger cookies but looking for clarification on what to dip them into. You recommend the liqueur-but is there anything else to mix in with the liqueur?
Hi Mara! The liquor is mixed with sugar and raspberries (see step 2 in the recipe card). You can experiment with fruit juice or add a bit of water/lemon juice to the mixture. I agent used lady fingers so I am not sure how much you’d need to soak them well.
This recipe was shared by a friend after I saw her cake posted on Facebook. I used gf all-purpose flour to make the sponge cake and used coconut whipped cream and vegan cream cheese for the frosting, both from Trader Joe’s. It was excellent and looked beautiful!
Hello Ann, nice to know that the substitutions that you used worked well! We appreciate the info.
Hi Natasha. I love you and have made many of your recipes. We don’t use alcohol products so I’m wondering if you could recommend a substitute for the orange liqueur
Hi Peg, I’m glad to hear that. The flavor of the liqueur mellows out but you can use less with 3 Tbsp liqueur in the syrup and 1 Tbsp in the cream or make it a virgin (alcohol-free) by replacing liqueur with freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. The berry tiramisu cake will taste delicious either way!
This cake is a showstopper with the wow factor for sure! Perfect for Christmas, birthdays or any special occasion. Natasha, I’ve tried lots of recipes from your website over the past year & they’re all foolproof, so easy to follow & deliver every time! Thank you so much. Carmel from Dublin, Ireland
That is such a nice comment and feedback, thanks a lot for sharing!
I love this Berry Cake,, it turned out great and is my second one in 3 weeks…love it
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Diane!
Hi Natasha, I’ve already made my cake, and I am frosting it fresh for the 4th of July. When making the virgin version of this recipe, what does the lemon juice do? Is it used to create a lemon flavor in the frosting and layers in the cake? Does it mix okay with the cream and cheese? I’m just not sure how much to add either. Thank you!
Hi Kristen, it adds flavor. If you prefer to leave it out of the cream and just add it to the berry sauce, that will also work.
Made this with a few adjustments
I had already made my first sponge cake and I was looking for a recipe and found yours; it’s only two layers and I didn’t have mascarpone, so I substituted cream cheese. Delish!!
That’s so great! I’m glad you discovered my recipe, Deb!
Hi Natasha, I’m making this cake this weekend…Can I substitute raspberries with strawberries? Maybe combine everything on the stove and then blend it after strawberries soften?
Hi Katya! Strawberries should work as a raspberry substitute. You may need to adjust the sugar (less or more) based on how sweet or tart they are. They tend to be more watery too, so you could have a looser filling. Simmering them down to thicken should help.
Made the cake for the berry teramsu they are very thin not enough to slice
Hi Mary, it sounds like the cake didn’t properly rise, it should resemble the images in this recipe.
Hi Natasha,
I love love love all of your recipes. I grew up in Romania and a lot of the recipes remind me of home. The cake turned out fantastic. Looking forward to trying more 🙂 thank you for sharing!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Joana. I love it when recipes remind us of home. I’m all smiles
Hello, can I use orange extract instead of the liqueur? What do you think?
Hi Yelena, that may work. In general, you would use 1/4 tsp orange extract for every 1 Tbsp of liqueur. I haven’t tried any other substitute yet.
Is there Video for this cake
Berry Tremasue
Hi Sandra, there’s no video for this recipe yet but thanks for your suggestion!
Thank you natasha for this incredible cake I make it’s for my granddaughter in her birthday
It was big success
Yay! Great to know that the recipe was a hit, Lili. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Natasha! The cake is awesome: easy to make and very tasty! Another great recipe from your collection!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Gala!
Can I use a gluten free flour in the cake…I have 3 daughters that are gf and love to make them treats. I have several types of gf flour and wonder which would be best….thank you…I love your recipes !
Hi Cynthia, I haven’t tried it but several of my readers have reported that this works great as a gluten-free sponge cake using a 1:1 gluten-free flour.
Hi Natasha, I’d like to make this for my birthday but am having only a few people over. Could I halve this recipe and make it a two layer cake instead? Will that still work?
Hi Alana, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise but I think it’s worth experimenting with. If you give that a try, please share with us how it goes!
I ended up using the full recipe because more people rsvped last minute. I doubled the frosting though to coat the sides. It was my first ever attempt at a layer cake and it turned out so well!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.