Not applicable — Italian layered dessert combining mascarpone, espresso, savoiardi (ladyfingers), cocoa and Marsala wine or coffee liqueur.
Odor Strength
High
Producing Countries
Not applicable to the accord. The dessert is Italian — Treviso (Veneto) the documented origin.
Pyramid
Heart–Base
A reconstructed gourmand accord — espresso, mascarpone, cocoa, sponge soaked in coffee. Tiramisu in perfumery evokes the layered Italian dessert: a roasted-bitter coffee top over a creamy-milky body, with cocoa-bitter dust and ladyfinger-warmth in the dry-down.
Roasted-bitter espresso top — the 2-furfurylthiol coffee signature foregrounded.
After a few hours
After a few hours
The mascarpone-cream body emerges; δ-decalactone and acetoin soften the bitterness into milky warmth, with cocoa-bitter dust underneath.
After a few days
After a few days
A faint coffee-vanilla memory; the dessert structure has dissolved into a quiet gourmand base.
The Full Story
Tiramisu is a Fantasy/Concept gourmand accord — a perfumery reconstruction of the Italian layered dessert (mascarpone cream, espresso-soaked savoiardi ladyfingers, cocoa dust, often with a splash of Marsala or coffee liqueur). It is not a perfumery raw material; the accord is built molecule by molecule from synthetic blocks evoking the four principal flavour layers.
This note in Première Peau. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Reconstruction
The coffee top of the accord turns on 2-furfurylthiol (CAS 98-02-2) [A], the defining roasted-coffee thiol — an extraordinarily powerful compound used at parts-per-billion. Around it sit 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and other roasted Maillard pyrazines for depth. The mascarpone-cream body uses δ-decalactone and γ-nonalactone for fatty milky character, with acetoin (CAS 513-86-0) for buttery lift. The cocoa-bitter signature comes from isobutyraldehyde, theobromine-adjacent pyrazines, and a trace of vanillin. Ethyl maltol and vanillin round the savoiardi-warmth.
History of the dessert
Tiramisu is genuinely Italian but comparatively recent. Documented to Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso, Veneto, around 1969 — invented by chef Roberto Linguanotto and proprietress Alba Campeol. The name tira-mi-sù (Venetian for 'pick me up') refers to the caffeine-and-sugar lift. The recipe spread through Italian restaurants worldwide during the 1980s and became one of the country's most exported desserts.
Sources & Notes
[A] PubChem CID 7363 — 2-furfurylthiol, CAS 98-02-2, C₅H₆OS. The defining coffee-aroma thiol, identified in coffee headspace by GC-MS-O studies in the 1970s. Used at parts-per-billion in perfumery and food. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/7363.
Did You Know?
Did you know?
Tiramisu is genuinely Italian but younger than most people assume. The dish was invented at Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso (Veneto) in the late 1960s — typically dated to 1969, by chef Roberto Linguanotto and proprietress Alba Campeol. The name 'tira-mi-sù' (Venetian: 'pick me up') refers to the caffeine-and-sugar lift. The recipe spread to Italian restaurants worldwide through the 1980s and became one of the country's most exported desserts.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Not applicable. Tiramisu is a culinary preparation, not an aromatic material; there is no commercial tiramisu extract. The fragrance accord is built from synthetic blocks evoking the four principal flavour layers: coffee (2-furfurylthiol + pyrazines), mascarpone (δ-decalactone + γ-nonalactone + acetoin), cocoa (theobromine-adjacent pyrazines + isobutyraldehyde), and savoiardi (ethyl maltol + vanillin).
Not a single material. The tiramisu accord is built around 2-furfurylthiol (CAS 98-02-2) for roasted coffee character, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (CAS 123-32-0) for Maillard depth, vanillin (CAS 121-33-5), ethyl maltol (CAS 4940-11-8) for caramelised sugar, and δ-decalactone (CAS 705-86-2) for milky-creamy mascarpone body.
Botanical Name
Not applicable — Italian layered dessert combining mascarpone, espresso, savoiardi (ladyfingers), cocoa and Marsala wine or coffee liqueur.
IFRA Status
Not applicable as a single material — reconstructed accord. Constituent compounds each carry their own profiles; 2-furfurylthiol is unrestricted at perfumery levels but used at trace concentration (ppb range) due to its enormous odour potency.
Synonyms
TIRAMISU · ITALIAN COFFEE DESSERT ACCORD
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
High
In Perfumery
Tiramisu is a Fantasy/Concept gourmand accord, never a perfumery raw material. It sits in the heart-to-base of contemporary niche compositions where a layered Italian-dessert reference is wanted. It pairs naturally with coffee, vanilla, tonka bean, almond, cherry, and warm woods. Not used in any current Première Peau composition.
