Chocolate Tiramisu Cake

We're so happy to share today's light and flavorful Chocolate Tiramisu Cake recipe. It is a delicious, chocolate spin on our Tiramisu Layer Cake and it has become an instant favorite!

What is Tiramisu?

Tiramisu (which translates to “pick me up” or “cheer me up” in Italian) was first created at an Italian restaurant in the 1960s.

This popular and sophisticated dessert consists of coffee-soaked ladyfingers layered with a sweetened mascarpone filling and a dusting of cocoa.

Many versions of the recipe call for liqueur as well. The result is a wonderfully creamy and indulgent crowd-pleasing dessert.

Chocolate Tiramisu Cake

Today's tiramisu-inspired chocolate cake consists of light, moist chocolate buttermilk cake layers which have been brushed with espresso and Kahlua and filled and frosted with and delicate whipped chocolate mascarpone frosting. 

This balance of chocolate, Kahlua, and espresso is heavenly, and the equally light chocolate mascarpone frosting is the perfect complement. We think that you are going to love this recipe!

How to Make Chocolate Tiramisu Cake

*Make sure to check out the full, printable recipe at the bottom of this post! Here is a quick rundown of our steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your pans as usual (we like to grease & flour and line the pans with parchment). This chocolate cake could also be baked in two 9 inch rounds or a 9x13 pan.

• For this recipe, we're using the conventional method of mixing. In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk to blend and set aside.

• Now for the wet ingredients: in another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and the cocoa powder that has been dissolved in hot water.  Set aside

• In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.

• Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.

• Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (We do 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of liquid ingredients).

• Do not mix above medium speed or over mix the cake batter.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes  (check at 22 min.) The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.  Allow to cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes before turning out.

Whipped Chocolate Espresso Mascarpone Filling & Frosting

This whipped frosting is SO good that I could almost forget the cake and just dive in with a spoon! Keep in mind that this is a soft frosting and does require refrigeration- but it is oh so delicious!

Assembly of the Chocolate Tiramisu Cake

Place the first chocolate cake layer on the pedestal or base. 

Using a pastry brush (if you have one), apply the espresso and Kahlua mixture to the top. The cake layers will not be soaked through and through, but brushing the mixture over the top gives the cakes a nice espresso flavor with a hint of Kahlua.

Spread on the whipped chocolate espresso mascarpone filling. Repeat these steps for the second layer and finally for the top layer. (We brushed the top layer with the espresso & Kahlua mixture also.). 

Frost the entire cake with the whipped chocolate mascarpone.

*I frosted the cake smooth on top, and went with a textured look around the sides. I smoothed over the applied frosting with a bench scraper to even out the amount of frosting on the cake, and then went back in and textured the frosting around the sides using a small offset spatula.

I dusted the top of the cake with cocoa (tapped through a sifter to avoid clumps).

Finally, I used a french piping tip (Ateco 869) to pipe a star border with the whipped chocolate mascarpone frosting.

A Note about Transporting

If you are going to be transporting this cake, you may find it easier to frost the outside of the cake with Chocolate Buttercream, Coffee Buttercream, or even Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. These frostings will all become firmer when chilled. 

This Whipped Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting is SO good but also very soft- and it doesn't become much firmer when refrigerated.

For this reason, you may want to consider using the whipped chocolate mascarpone frosting as a filling and on top of the cake if you'd like, and then a firmer (when chilled) butter-based frosting around the sides. 

More Coffee Flavored Cakes to Love

We've made many coffee flavored cakes and frostings over the years! You can find them all in our Recipes section, but here are some of our favorites!:

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake

Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake

Gingerbread Latte Cake

Caramel Vanilla Latte Cake

Coffee Toffee Ice Cream Cake

Continue to Content

Chocolate Tiramisu Cake

Print

This ultra moist and light Chocolate Tiramisu Cake features delicate chocolate cake layers brushed with Kahlua & espresso and frosted in a luscious whipped chocolate mascarpone frosting.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake Layers

• 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter, softened ( holds it shape but dents when pressed)
• 2 cups (400g) sugar
• 4 eggs (if eggs are cold, place in bowl with hot water (not boiling) for 5 minutes)
• 3 cups (342g) all purpose flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled off)
• ¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (26g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed) dissolve
• this in ¼ cup hot water
• ¼ cup (61g) hot water (for dissolving cocoa powder)
• 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
• ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
• 1 ¼ cups (296g) buttermilk — if you do not have buttermilk, see substitution below
• ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil (we use canola oil)
• 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract

For the Espresso & Kahlua Syrup

• ¾ cup (180g) hot water, with 2 rounded teaspoons instant espresso coffee, you could also use
• strong coffee (instant or brewed)
• 3 Tablespoons Kahlua (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

For the Whipped Chocolate Mascarpone Filling and Frosting

• 2 (8 ounce) containers of mascarpone, softened (or the same amount of cream cheese could be used
• ¼ cup (58g) heavy cream (to dissolve the instant espresso)
• 1 Tablespoon (3g) instant espresso granules
• 1 Tablespoon (9g) vanilla extract
• 2 cups (230g) powdered sugar (measure then sift)
• 3 Tablespoons (22g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 cups (464g) heavy cream, whipped to stiff peak stage

For Decoration

• I dusted the top with a bit of cocoa powder (tapped through a sifter) and used a large french tip Ateco 869 to pipe a star border (any large star piping tip would give a similar look)!

Instructions

For the Chocolate Cake Layers

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8x2 inch round pans.  This could also be baked in two 9 inch rounds or a 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk to blend and set aside.

In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and the cocoa powder that has been dissolved in hot water.  Set aside

In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightened in color and fluffy.  

Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.

Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of liquid ingredients).

Do not mix above medium speed or over mix the cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 30 minutes  (check at 22 min.) The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.  Let cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.

For the Espresso & Kahlua Syrup

Mix coffee, Kahlua and powdered sugar and set aside to cool.

For the Whipped Chocolate Mascarpone Filling and Frosting

First, place a bowl and the whisk attachment or beaters, if using a hand mixer, in the freezer  for at least 10 minutes.  This will help in whipping the heavy cream.

Dissolve 1 Tablespoon espresso powder in ¼ cup heavy cream.

In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened mascarpone, 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon vanilla and the dissolved espresso powder. Cover the bowl with a towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar. Begin mixing on low speed gradually increasing the speed to medium until the  mixture is combined and smooth. Set aside.

In the chilled bowl,  whip the heavy cream to stiff peak stage. Stiff peak stage is when you raise the beater, the cream will form a peak standing straight or it might curl over slightly.  Be careful not to over beat, this can happen rather quickly so don't walk away from your mixer.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until combined.

Assembly of the Cake

Place a cake layer on the pedestal or cake base

Brush the Espresso & Kahlua syrup over the cake layer

Apply the whipped chocolate mascarpone filling (staying about ¼ inch from the edge of the cake layer, otherwise it will be pressed out when adding the next cake layer

Repeat for the second and third cake layers.

Frost the cake in whipped chocolate mascarpone frosting. We frosted it smooth on top, and textured around the sides with a small offset spatula.

I dusted cocoa powder on top of the cake, tapping it through a small sifter (to prevent clumps). I piped a border of the frosting using a french tip (Ateco 869)- any large star tip will do!

Notes

1. Makes 7 ½ cups batter

2. If baking in two 9 inch round pans, bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes

test with a toothpick.

3. The Coffee Syrup can be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated.

Buttermilk Substitute

No Buttermilk? Here is a substitution: To a measuring cup, add 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar. Add milk to the 1 ¼ mark, stir. Wait 5 minutes and it is ready to use. The milk will take on a thickened appearance.

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Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope that you enjoy our Chocolate Tiramisu Cake. If you give it a try, make sure to leave a comment or photo below!

Don’t miss our full collection of tried and true Cake and Frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! Also, if you'd like to learn about cake decorating, you can find our huge collection of free cake tutorials here: Free Cake Tutorials.