This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Clearly tiramisu is an Italian dessert. I’d call this the Russian adaptation. What makes it so? Instead of ladyfingers, I’m using a basic biskvit cake recipe (you may know it as biscuit). Biskvit is an excellent European sponge cake and it doesn’t get mushy or soggy.
The ingredients are so easy and practical (a non-mascarpone version) and it turns out delicious. The frosting is light and fabulous. This version actually tastes good for a couple of days after it’s made. Hope you enjoy it, my family loves it!
Ingredients for Biskvit Tiramisu Cake:
6 large eggs, room temp
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted *measured correctly
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients for Tiramisu Frosting:
1.5 cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
1 (8oz) stick cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Ingredients for Tiramisu Coffee Syrup & Topping:
1 1/2 cups Strong coffee, room temperature or cold
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp rum
1 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa Powder for dusting the finished cake
Watch How to Make Tiramisu Cake:
Here’s what the previous tiramisu looked like before I updated pictures:
And now, the new and improved:
If you bake this cake, please do tag me on Facebook or Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations! Happy Baking and I hope you enjoyed the video!
Russian Tiramisu Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Biskvit Cake:
- 6 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients for Tiramisu Frosting:
- 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 1 8oz stick cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Ingredients for Tiramisu Coffee Syrup & Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups Strong coffee, room temperature or cold
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp rum
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa Powder for dusting the finished cake
Instructions
How to Make the Biskvit Cake:
- Preheat the Oven to 350˚F. Butter the bottom of a 9" springform mold and line the bottom with parchment paper (note: you can use two 9" cake pans, but keep in mind 2 pans will take less time to bake). Sift your flour.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, add 6 eggs and beat on high speed with the whisk attachment for 1 min. With the mixer on, add the sugar in a steady stream and continue to beat on the highest speed for 8 min. The egg mixture should be thick, pale yellow and tripled in volume.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla and sift the flour into your batter. Fold the flour in with a spatula just until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape from the bottom of the bowl to make sure you don't have pockets of flour trapped on the bottom. Be careful not to over-mix since you are relying on the fluffiness of the eggs for volume. Transfer the batter to your prepared pans.
- Bake 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool down 10 minutes, then remove cake from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Once the cake is at room temperature, you can cut it in half to make two cake layers then remove the parchment paper. It should peel back easily.
How to Make Tiramisu Frosting:
- Beat 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff (mine took about 2 minutes with the whisk attachment). Don't over-beat it or it will be buttery. Transfer whipped cream to a medium bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
- In the same bowl (no need to do the dishes yet), beat softened cream cheese and sugar on medium/high speed until smooth and creamy, scraping down the bowl as necessary to prevent rebel clumps of cream cheese.
- Use a spatula to fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well blended and refrigerate the frosting until ready to use. Fold until you no longer see streaks of cream cheese.
How to Make Coffee Syrup:
- Mix 1 1/2 cups strong coffee with 2 Tbsp sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in the rum.
Assembling the Tiramisu Cake:
- Place one of the cakes on a cake platter (note: use the prettiest, flattest side for the top of the cake)
- Brush half of the coffee syrup over the bottom layer (a brush provides for the most even distribution of syrup).
- Spread 1/3 of the frosting over the first cake layer. At this point, you can sift 1 Tbsp cocoa powder over the frosting
- Center the second cake layer over the frosting and brush the remaining half of the syrup over the second cake layer and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
Decorating Your Cake:
- Decorate to your hearts delight. I used the Wilton Open Star 1M frosting tip for the remaining forsting and piped little designs all over the top then dusted generously with a good quality unsweetened cocoa. You could just dust the top with cocoa powder and add chocolate shavings. Chocolate coffee beans would be amazing as well.
Notes
My cake sunk in the center. Followed instructions precisely. What likely happened? Ideas to fix?
Hi Mimi! Did you bake it right away? What was it like that it didn’t turn out? Can you describe it? I’d love to help you trouble shoot.
So no baking powder in the dough?! It didn’t work this time!!! I followed the directions this one time… arrrrg, I usually always add the baking powder !!
Hi Victoria! this traditional sponge cake will still work without it but we have recently started adding 1/2 tsp of baking powder whisked into the flour and then sifted into the egg/sugar batter for more level results. This cake really relies on the eggs and sugar to rise so it will still work great so long as you beat the eggs and sugar adequately.
I made this but haven’t eaten yet (will be tomorrow). The icing was kind of a whipped cream consistency and not much like icing. Would that be because I needed to mix the whipping cream more? Or maybe the cream cheese wasn’t mixed correctly?
I believe the cake part turned out well.
I have yet to make a good cake. The baklava and cherry crumble recipes are terrific!
Hi Jordan, this icing will be softer than traditional icing. Did you alter anything in the recipe?
I used everything in the recipe. My only guess could be the way I mixed it or how long. I’ve made cream cheese icing for cookies before, but it called for powdered sugar. Did I mess up by using granulated sugar for this recipe?
Hi Jordan, the granulated sugar is correct. It could be softer if the cream cheese is over-softened or if you use regular whipping cream instead of “HEAVY” whipping cream which has a higher fat content and whips better than regular.
I must have overmixed the cream cheese. I made sure to use heavy whipping cream. Thank you for your input! Your recipes are my go to.
Just made this tonight. It was easy and delicious!!! I’ll have to make it again soon. Love your recipes.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
This recipe is delicious! My husband has been hoping for long time that he would get a tiramisu as the one he had in Cologne, Germany many years ago. This recipe is the one (or at least VERY close) to what he’s been dreaming about!
That’s so great!! I’m so happy you both enjoyed that!!
Can I still use ladyfingers in this recipe? I just have them at home and would like to use them with your frosting recipe
Hi Tanya, absolutely, that would be even easier! I hope you love the tiramisu! 🙂
I’ll give it a try. How much run extract do I use? I don’t have regular rum. Thanks
HI Tanya, I would use 1/2 the amount called for, so 1 tsp of rum extract or add to taste if you would like it stronger 🙂
Hi Natasha, tried this cake twice and it sunk and was slightly sticky after baking. I don’t have a big oven so do you think I could halve the ingredients and bake one layer at a time?
Hi Jaclyn! Did you use a standard sized oven in bake mode? (not convection?). And you baked in the center of the oven? How about measuring, did you make any changes to the recipe and made sure to measure the dry ingredients correctly? I haven’t tried halving this specifically, that may require a different size pan.
Hi Natasha
Can v use whipped cream instead of heavy cream? . Heavy cream doesn’t have stiff peaks lyk d whipping cream
Hi Jasmeet, heavy cream is significantly easier to beat into stiff peaks so I would highly recommend heavy cream. Some regular “whipping creams” do not reach stiff peaks.
It is a very good recipe. My husband loves tiramisu and he totally approves this one. And it is so easy to make!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
This cake was a huge hit at the office today. I consider this my favorite cake recipe. It’s very European and it melts in your mouth. Thanks Natasha for a fantastic recipe!
Sounds like you found a new favorite! Thanks, Joanna!
Hi Dear Natasha,
I have been trying your recipes almost every week. I made 2 types of Danish, your apple cake etc. All of your recipes were FABULOUS.
I just loved it. Thanks a lot for the lovely recipes.
Regarding the Russian Tiramisu cake recipe you have used Rum for the syrup. Any kind of alcohol I’m avoiding as I’m Muslim.
Can you pls let me know is there any substitution for Rum?
Thank once again.
Lots of love for you.
Hi there! I’m so happy you tried all of those recipe!! Regarding the alcohol, one of my readers wrote: “I always use vanilla extract instead of the rum, and it works great too. Pure vanilla extract does contain alcohol, so it’s a great substitute. But using imitation one works just as well”. Cake can be made a day before.
Hi Natasha, I tried your Sharlotka recipe, it was great. Is that I used a size smaller pan and the cake was like outgrew the cake pan. Btw, my Q is re the Russian Tiramisu. I don’t have Rum, can I substitute it with other alcohol like whiskey, brandy? Thank You
Hi, one of my readers wrote: “I always use vanilla extract instead of the rum, and it works great too. Pure vanilla extract does contain alcohol, so it’s a great substitute. But using imitation one works just as well”. Cake can be made a day before and layers can just sit on the counter overnight in plastic wrap. I hope this helps.
Thank You, Natasha. Will try and use vanilla or imitation rum.
You’re welcome!
How much run extract would i use for this recipe?
Hi, Natasha. I have been baking your cakes now for a few years. They are always delicious. Today I made a Russian Tiramisu for my coworkers, I am a nurse ,and it was absolutely delicious.. Thank you for good recipes, always pleasure to watch your videos.Bella
Hi Bella! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi Natasha, i was asked to do a wedding cake with 3 tiers. they requested tiramisu, and I heard that yours is amazing. Do u think this cake will stack ok?
Hi Katrina, I think this sponge cake would be too soft to stack especially if it is moist and you would definitely need a different kind of frosting. I haven’t tested it that way though so I can’t say for sure, but it would be risky.
Hi Natasha, I tried this recipe over the weekend, for a friend’s birthday. The end result was amazing, but i did have an issue with the biskvit cake. After about 25 mins of baking, it started falling in the middle and when i took it out, it kept sagging in the middle, and just fell apart. 🙁 I just baked another basic vanilla sponge cake (different recipe) and continued with the rest of your recipe to complete the awesome tiramisu cake. What could have gone wrong? I have made your biskvit recipe before (and has turned out great) but that was in 2 9-in pans vs 1 9-in springform pan (as mentioned in this recipe).
Hi Nitya, we have been making it in 2 cake pans more recently since it does seem to rise more evenly in 2 separate pans, but with the single, the biggest thing is the mixing time to make sure the batter is fluffy since the cake relies on the volume of eggs and sugar for leavening. The second is to bake longer. If you pull this one out too early, it will tend to sink and this single does take longer than the double. It is totally ok to bake this as 2 layers.
Thank you Natasha for the quick response. As mentioned earlier, i have made your berry cake and strawberry cake using the same biskvit recipe in 2 pans and both have turned out awesome. Going forward, I will ensure i bake this one always in 2 pans.
I JUST LOVE THIS RECIPE. I seriously made this like 100 times. NOT KIDDING. My husband says this is the best cake. I sometimes tweak it and add berries or condensed milk.. The sponge cake recipe is soo easy and so nice and fluffy. The mixer does all the job for you. We have this cake every week, sometimes twice a week. Made other kind of cakes, but always come back to this one.
Thank you for the wonderful compliment, Oksana!
Hi Natasha, do you think adding some marscopone to the cream is a good idea? If so, what would be your recommended measurements/ratios?
Hi Jenya, I haven’t tried it with mascarpone but I’ve had some readers make this with mascarpone instead and reported great results. Mascarpone is a more expensive cheese and it’s not required in this recipe but I think it would work
This is a great recipe. However not every brand of cream cheese works. Unfortunately I bought Arla cream cheese, that is very runny and soft. So my cream was very runny . Had to go to the store in the middle of making it. Hope my comment helps others. Also using powdered sugar works better than using sugar, no? oh, and I used 3 times more rum , maybe because my cake was too dry.
That is great to know! I have never seen that brand in US grocery stores. Is that a European brand? I wonder if it is like Canadian sour cream versus US sour cream where it’s very loose.
I just want to add that it is so nice that this recipe does not contain raw (undercooked) egg yolks as some tiramisu recipes do – so it’s safe for all ages. Cannot wait to try it soon!
I hope you love the recipe Amy, please let me know what you think!
Dear Natasha, I baked this sponge cake in a 9″ springform pan yesterday for (Tres Leches cake instead of Tiramisu). I added just a pinch of salt to get the right flavor for Tres Leches. The cake overflowed the pan (just a little). Do you think it was due to the salt, or maybe because I might have over beaten the egg/sugar mixture? The cake was delicious by the way. It was just a bit hard to remove due to the overflow. Would appreciate your expert advice. I realize that baking recipes are precise for a reason! Probably just not used to baking a cake without salt. With thanks, Amy
Hi Amy, putting the full cake recipe into a 9″ springform might overflow if the walls are shorter. The salt probably wouldn’t change anything. Overbeating would increase the volume but I have overbeat it so many times and haven’t experienced an overflow. Does your springform pan have at least 3″ walls?
Hi Natasha,
Yes – it has 3″ walls exactly. Maybe the eggs were larger…anyway, no big deal. I’m going to try the recipe again, because it was such a delicious cake! 😉 Thank you!
That could be also. I used large grade AA eggs. Extra large eggs would probably overflow. I’m so happy you loved the cake! 🙂