Tiramisu is the Italian dessert made from coffee-soaked ladyfingers layered with mascarpone cream and cocoa.
The name tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian, referring to the dessert’s coffee and sugar. Its usual layers contain savoiardi, the Italian name for ladyfingers, dipped in coffee and covered with a mixture of mascarpone, eggs, and sugar.
The dessert is strongly associated with northern Italy, especially the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. Food historians still debate its exact origin, so claims that one single restaurant definitively invented it should be treated cautiously. Tiramisu is not the same as zuppa inglese, another layered Italian dessert that traditionally uses custard and sponge cake.