I love Pizzaiolo Primo's, but I am mostly Eastern European so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

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I normally make mine at home. If you want the best, you need Italian espresso beans and Savoiardi biscuits (from Italy). You can get both of these from shops in the strip district (I get mine from pennmac). You can also make your own mascarpone cheese for the recipe at home if you want. You can make a big tray for ~$12-15, compared to ~8-9 for one slice.

Pino’s in Point Breeze has my favorite!

Do you mind sharing your recipe? It's always been something I'd like to make.

I liked Moio's

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Moios Italian bakery in monroeville.

Severina in West View! It's a new Italian cafe that makes incredible coffee and pastries.

Just be sure youncall.ahead of time, because like an authentic Italian cafe they can sometimes have changed hours and there js never a set menu. Sometimes they have it sometimes they don't.

Leo Greta in Carnegie. Pair it with Explorer Chocolate Whiskey.

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Not completely traditional but girasole

Most recipes are the same, the only decisions you need to really make are:

1. Do you want to use alcohol (Marsala wine which is more traditional, or Rum which is less, or no alcohol which is how I make mine).
2. Do you want to use raw egg (only yolks, or raw egg white, or pasteurized eggs). Raw egg is the traditional way, but most people don't like eating raw eggs, so they'll use no egg, or pasteurized egg. Raw egg can cause salmonella, so if you use it, don't blame me if you get a foodborne illness, but raw egg is the traditional way to make tiramisu.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 Tub of mascarpone
  • If no egg:
    • 2 tubs mascarpone, or
    • 1 tub mascarpone + 1/2 the amount of ricotta, by weight, or
    • 1 tub mascarpone + 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream + 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1/2 packet of Savoiardi biscuits (Around 20-30 biscuits).
• 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 1.5 cups cold italian espresso, brewed in advance (let cool naturally, don't dilute with ice), in a bowl.
  • If adding rum or marsala, add a couple tablespoons of it to the cold espresso.
• Coca powder for dusting.

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For the creams:

• Add egg white + 1 Tbsp sugar to a mixing bowl, whisk until foamy. (Electric hand-blender recommended).
• Add egg yolk + 1 Tbsp sugar to a separate mixing bowl, whisk until foamy.
• Add 1/2 of the mascarpone to each bowl, fold mascarpone into the egg.

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For eggless cream (remember to add your 2 Tbsp sugar if you do one of these):

• If you are omitting egg totally, replace the egg with heavy whipping cream + vanilla extract and make homemade whipped cream instead, by whisking with your electric mixer, then fold in mascarpone.
• Alternatively, you could whisk mascarpone + ricotta cheeses together to make your cream, this is normally what I do if I'm making mine eggless.
• You could also do 1/2 and 1/2 (1/2 mascarpone + ricotta for bottom layer, 1/2 mascarpone + whipped cream for top layer).
• Lastly, you could just whisk mascarpone and only use that for your cream (I don't recommend this way, but it's an option).

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I use an 8x8 inch dish, but you can use whatever size you want depending on how many layers you want and how much mixture you have.

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Tiramisu:

• Dip your Savoyardi biscuits in espresso (with optional added alcohol) 2-3 seconds, and layer sugared side down in your dish. Press biscuits together lightly so there isn't a gap between them, but don't squish the biscuits.
• Once you finish one layer of biscuits, layer your egg yolk mixture on top, smooth.
  • If using an alternate cream, add half of your cream instead.
• Add another layer of biscuits, same as before, dipping them in the espresso, then placing the sugar side against the cream.
• Layer the egg-white cream (or remaining half of cream) on top of the biscuits, and smooth.
• Dust with cocoa powder (I use a mini hand strainer for this) until you can't see any white on top.
• Cover with plastic wrap, place in fridge overnight.

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After 24 hours, you can remove from the fridge, slice, and eat. It lasts in the fridge for 2-3 days.

seconding piccolo forno's tiramisu !!

Wowie. Thank you so much. Most thorough reply I've ever received. Defn going to try this out.

Idk I like the tiramasu dolce from Oakmont Bakery

DiAnoias is pretty good

My Sweet Lilly in the Strip District had a great one last time I was there!

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Alla famiglia in Allentown for me

Seconded. Every single thing on the menu is amazing!

The Forge… no lie, a random old Italian dude pops in and makes it for them every couple of days. It’s amazing.

Narcisi Winery in Gibsonia has a delicious homemade Tiramisu! Sometimes they do an apple pie version that’s even tastier.

Moio's

Save your money and calories. You’re not going to find anything actually good here.

Thank you for this

I'm not tiramisu expert by any means but the tiramisu I get from original gyro in Castle Shannon is hands down my favorite.

Just an FYI salmonella is of course a risk from raw eggs. But it's about as much of a risk getting bit by a shark. It's almost a non-factor. Do, definitely, avoid raw flour though. Much higher probability.

Every single dessert I've tried is amazing (Edit: everything is made in-house) - This is definitely the correct answer. Pricey but well worth it!

It’s unclear if you know this (you probably do) but espresso beans aren’t really necessary to make good espresso. Espresso beans and coffee beans are the same thing, just roasted differently maybe. I know too many people that buy an espresso roast and use it in their drip coffee maker and they think they are making espresso. It’s probably actually worse because a ground espresso roast is ground finely as it is make to be used in an actual espresso machine.

Surprisingly, the Matcha Tiramisu from Gi-Jin is the answer.

Merantes in Oakland.

2nd the forge. Just had a private event there and people raved about the tiramisu! It’s fantastic!

Zarra's in North Oakland. Hidden gem for italian food really

Best one I've had recently was at El Pizzaiola in Warrendale.

Same folks that ran Bella Ria's. They were amazing then and have really stepped it up. There is nothing bad on the menu and their pastries and desserts are all fantastic, too.

Di Anoias.

Decent, simple Italian food. Excellent pastries. I’m fairly certain they make their sponge cake for the tirimasu from scratch. And the maracapone filling is nice and fluffy!

I’ve made tiramisu from scratch time to time ( including the ladyfingers since the premade ones taste like overly sugared cardboard), and it has that same taste ( but done better)