Tiramisu

I think I made my first Tiramisu when I was 15 years old. It was the first time I had watched somebody make it, even though it was certainly not the first time I had eaten it.

It never really wrote it down over the years, it was just the kind of “look and feel” type of recipe I had internalized.

But every time I make it, people literally fall all over themselves to get to it, so I figured it was time to write down the recipe and share the creamy decadent goodness with the world.

{I apologize to dieters everywhere for what’s to come!}

I would like to say up front that I tend to make a “tamer” version of this dessert than some restaurants may, as I neither love an overpowering espresso taste, nor a mouth full of the alcohol taste. To me a really good Tiramisu is a fine balance of all components. You may however like to make one or the other stronger to suit your tastes – it’s easy enough to do Just add more!

 

When I first learned how to do Tiramisu, we used raw eggs but these days I’m not that comfortable with that. I tend to go through the extra steps to make eggs safe to eat. If you have an egg source where you can be quite sure of the freshness, absolutely go ahead use both uncooked! I would however recommend washing the egg thoroughly, as the contamination is mostly from the shell, rather than what is on the inside of an unbroken egg!

There is the theory that in tiramisu it is ok to use raw eggs, as it has a rather high fat component, which inhibits any salmonella bacteria there might be. So, it is up to you to decide where you want to go with this

 

Here is how the recipe goes! This is very rich, so you don’t need a huge amount. The recipe will give you 15 or so good sized portions!

 

Ingredients:

• 24oz of Mascapone cheese (if you want to make it yourself, I have a recipe for Homemade Mascapone here)
• 10 oz  of Ladyfinger cookies (Savoiardi seem to work the best, but whichever ones you can get!) – the amount you need depends on the size of your dish really!
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tbsp Amaretto (you can also use Brandy here, OR Masala, OR Kaluha )
• 1 tbsp Brandy
• 10 oz of strong coffee, cooled (I always use decaf. The taste is the same but it won’t keep you awake at night!)
• Dark cocoa powder. ( I use the double dutch dark chocolate powder. It is absolutely perfect for this!)

 

Preparation:

• Separate the eggs and place egg yolks in a metal pan, and egg whites into a separate bowl.
• Add 1/4 cup of sugar and the Amaretto to the yolks and whisk until the sugar is dissolved and the egg yolks are pale.
• Place the metal bowl/pan on top of a small saucepan with boiling water (to simulate a double boiler) and UNDER CONSTANT stirring, let the egg yolk warm through until it turns into a thicker custard type consistency. It won’t take long, so don’t take your eye of it and really do stir the entire time, making sure you incorporate all the bits around the edges of the bowl too.

It will be easy to tell when it’s done. The color changes a little and it will be thicker when you stir through it. When that happens, take it off the double boiler!

 

• With an electric beater (or in my case the kitchen aid) beat the egg yolk pudding a little to cool it down. Then add the Mascarpone and incorporate well. Then beat on high for about 3 minutes.
• Position the separate metal bowl with the egg whites on the double boiler. This time you don’t want the whisk, you want to stir the egg whites slow and steady to heat them through (to about 160 F) At that point they are safe to eat. Take care to also get the egg whites around the sides of the bowl, so they don’t start to cook!
• When the egg whites reach temperature, immediately remove the bowl from the heat and whip the egg whites on the highest speed of your electric mixer until they  turn white and foamy.
• Add 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until they form stiff peaks.

• Using a spatula, fold the whipped egg whites into the mascarpone mix. Don’t whisk, just fold until all is incorporated. This will give the tiramisu a more airy mouth feel.
• Add the brandy to the coffee. Pour the coffee into a small bowl – one large enough to accomodate the lady fingers.
• Get the dish for your tiramisu ready and dust a good layer of cocoa powder in the bottom.

 

• Then dunk the lady fingers into the coffee mix one by one, turning them real fast and immediately placing them into the dish. You have to work fast here so they don’t fall apart on you. Ladyfinger cookies are designed to soak up liquids rapidly!
• Break the cookies as you need, to get an even layer, follwing the shape of your dish.

 

• Add half of your Mascarpone mix over the top of the ladyfinger layer.
• Do another layer of soaked ladyfingers, then smooth the rest of the Mascarpone mix over the top.

• Dust a generous layer of cocoa powder over the top of it. Just resign yourself to the fact that it will get messy. You can always wipe down the counters and your dish when you are done. I recommend a damp kitchen towel for tidying up the rim.

• Refrigerate overnight! This really is one of those things that need to be overnight. It needs to cool through and firm up a bit, all the different layers need to get to mix and mingle and turn into the divine creation that is known as Tiramisu

And then the next day, you may want to dust the top with more cocoa powder, I usually don’t as I like the darker top that slightly crackles when you serve it.

And here it is:

Yumm! Do you need another close up? Ok, here you go:

 

{Again, I apologize to dieters everywhere!}

  So, there it is! This is not the kind of dessert to make every week. I usually only make it maybe once or twice a year for a special occasion, but then it is oh so worth it!

 

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