When it comes to Italian food and desserts, it simply doesn’t get any better than an authentic, homemade tiramisu, and here’s how you can make this Italian favorite at home according to Italian chef of Giallo Zafferano (tiramisu video recipe). Unlike many other recipes you’ll find, this is the true Italian original, and it makes a great accompaniment to any meal, Italian food or otherwise.

What You’ll Need to Make Authentic Italian Tiramisu

To make this delectable Italian dessert, you’ll need 15 ounces of ladyfingers, 6 eggs, 1 cup cold espresso, 2? cups mascarpone cheese, 10 tablespoons sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder.

Start By Making the Custard

The first step to making tiramisu is to make the mascarpone custard. To begin, take your 6 eggs and separate out the whites from the yolks into different bowls. Put the six eggs yolks into a large glass bowl with half of the sugar, beating everything together until fully mixed. After the sugar is mixed into the yolks, add the mascarpone, again beating everything until the cheese is fully incorporated.

Now, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and the remaining 5 tablespoons of sugar together. This can either be done by hand or with an electric mixer, but you need to keep beating until the mixture becomes quite fluffy and begins to form very stiff peaks. Beating the whites fully is incredibly important, as it’s essential to achieving the right consistency of your custard.

The final step to making your custard is to gently fold in the egg white mixture into the mascarpone and egg yolks. You need to be very careful in this step, gently folding in a small portion at a time so that the eggs whites don’t lose too much air.

Putting It All Together

Once your custard is finished, it’s time to start putting the tiramisu together. Start by dipping each ladyfinger into the espresso and then placing it into the bottom of a deep baking pan or casserole dish. The amount of time you let the ladyfingers soak in the espresso depends on how much coffee flavor you want your tiramisu to have, but be warned that too much espresso can make the dish wetter than you may want.

After you’ve covered the bottom of the dish with your ladyfingers, it’s time to add a layer of the mascarpone custard. Be generous when adding the custard, as you want a nice, thick layer that fully covers the ladyfingers. Once you’ve got a layer of custard, it’s time to sift some of your cocoa powder over it all, again making sure everything is fully covered.

After this, you’re ready for the second layer, which will be built just like the first, with the one exception being that you need to lay out your ladyfingers in the opposite direction of the first layer, i.e. horizontal then vertical or vice versa.

Once the second layer is covered with cocoa powder, cover the dish with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least two or three hours before serving to let it set-up. After those three long hours are finally up, you’re ready for the best part—eating your delicious homemade tiramisu.

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