Why Tiramisu Never Goes Out of Style

Ubiquity can beget creativity. Consider the cocoa-dusted slices of tiramisu that are all but guaranteed to be in the dessert case of your nearest Italian-accented restaurant. Those old-fashioned iterations inspire cooks and bartenders to reinterpret the recipe with globetrotting ingredients and untraditional formats. In the last two years, I’ve sipped a Tiramisu Martini at a Nashville cocktail bar (see recipe below), spooned up a version dotted with local strawberries in a farmhouse in Burgundy, France, and spotted a green tea-infused take at a Manhattan sushi spot.

Traditionally, tiramisu features an espresso- and liquor-soaked pastry layered with sweetened mascarpone and dusted with cocoa powder. Historians debate the dessert’s exact origins, though many believe it was created in Treviso, Italy, in the mid-19th century. 

The rubric is easy to customize, explains Thessa Diadem, pastry chef at The Georgian in Santa Monica, California. “Tiramisu is a staple on every Italian menu,” she says, noting that she has added everything from amaretto to vin santo to the espresso to give the dessert different flavors and textures. 

It doesn’t always involve espresso, either. “When I was young, my parents didn’t want me to eat or drink the caffeine that the classic one usually has,” says Andrea Congiusta, the Italy-born executive chef of Legami in Charleston, South Carolina. “We would make tiramisu with different fruits instead of coffee, such as peaches, apricots, strawberries, and raspberries.”

There are demographic factors that contribute to tiramisu’s prevalence in American kitchens, too. In the 19th and 20th centuries, waves of Italian immigrants came to the United States with their culinary traditions in tow. I’ve read estimates that some 2 million people arrived in the U.S. from Italy in 1900, up from 300,000 in the 1880s. As those newcomers and their descendants assimilated into communities across the country, restaurants serving Italian or Italy-inspired recipes like tiramisu became not only common, but also mainstream. 

Some 125 years later, industry analysts report that there are nearly 60,000 Italian restaurants in the U.S. From 2018 and 2023, that number grew by 3.8 percent on average each year. That’s an awful lot of mascarpone making its way into American hearts, minds, and recipe development projects.

Tiramisu’s journey from fringe to mainstream helps explain why many cooks and bartenders are able to make the dish their own, regardless of their connections to Italian or Italian American culture. I certainly can’t speak for the diaspora, but, as a cook and recipe developer of Italian descent, I find it exciting to see so many people bringing their culinary perspectives to a recipe my mother used to make when company came over.

Besides, when prepared with care and quality ingredients, tiramisu is delicious. It’s no wonder why generations of cooks and bartenders want to tinker with the original recipe.

“How could something as classic as coffee-soaked biscuits layered with whipped mascarpone really go out of fashion?” Renée Erickson, the James Beard Award-winning chef, writes of tiramisu’s modern resurgence and lasting appeal in her newest cookbook, Sunlight and Breadcrumbs. “It’s as timeless as it gets.”

Tiramisu-Inspired Recipes

Date and Cardamom Coffee Tiramisu

Built off a base of strong-brewed coffee blended with rum or Cognac and spiced with cardamom, this beautiful re-envisioning of the Italian classic is a picturesque delight.

Tiramisu Cocktail

Espresso, Marsala and two types of liqueurs transform the classic Italian dessert into a decadent holiday cocktail.

Tiramisu Icebox Cake

An approachable take on the classic Italian dessert.

Tiramisu Ice Cream Sandwich

This tiramisu sandwich smooshes rum-infused mascarpone chocolate chunk ice cream between two rich espresso cookies.

Tre Latti Cake

Tres leches meets tiramisu.

Vietnamese Coffee Tiramisu

Chicory coffee and condensed milk offer a fun alternative to the traditional Italian dessert.