The Italian dessert made with coffee-soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone is tiramisu.
Traditional tiramisu layers coffee-soaked ladyfingers, known in Italian as savoiardi, with a mascarpone cream made using ingredients such as egg yolks and sugar. Cocoa powder is usually dusted over the top, and some versions include Marsala wine or another alcohol.
The dessert emerged in northeastern Italy in the late 1960s or early 1970s, although its exact birthplace and inventor remain disputed. The Treviso restaurant Le Beccherie is strongly associated with its development and popularization; the dish was added to that restaurant’s menu in 1972.
The name comes from the Italian phrase tirami su, commonly translated as “pick me up” or “cheer me up,” an apparent reference to the combination of coffee, sugar, and rich cream. Zabaglione is a related egg-based dessert, but it is not the layered coffee-and-mascarpone dish described here.