Tiramisu--I Now Know How To Make Tiramisu!

My friend Diane invited me back into her kitchen to teach me more about Italian food. This time I had the pleasure of learning how to prepare TIRAMISU!! (Spoiler alert–it was amazing!) Diane has the “honor” of being the first person to be featured TWICE on this blog! (Congrats, Diane! I hope that you have been enjoying this as much as I!) Previously, she taught me how to make gnocchi.

Getting straight to the point, the following is (practically) verbatim from the recipe she gave me.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu, which means “pick me up” in Italian, is a child in the family of Italian desserts; it was created less than thirty-five years ago by a chef in Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy. The key ingredients in this dessert are mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese, and biscotti of Savolardi (crisp ladyfingers).

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

8 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

18oz container mascarpone

½ cup Kahlua (or to taste)

2 ½ cups heavy cream

1 package (14oz) savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers)

Approx. 2 cups of espresso (or regular coffee) at room temp or colder

Cocoa and/or shaved chocolate (for garnish)

Separate the eggs. You will only be using the yolks. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the yolks until they turn a light yellow (about 1 or 2 minutes). Set aside.

This has to be the cutest egg separator I have ever seen.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil stirring occasionally over medium heat. Continue to boil until it reaches a syrup-like consistency. The sugar/water will “snowball” and look foamy which is an indicator that it is done. Do not overcook as sugar will brown harden and you will have to start over! Let cool for a minute while continuing to stir. Then add to egg yolk mixture in a steady stream. Beat with hand mixer for about 2 minutes. Do this step quickly so you don’t cook the eggs with the hot syrup! Beat in vanilla for another 30 seconds. Next add the mascarpone and beat until lumps disappear and batter is smooth.

The sugar-water mixture is becoming syrup-like.

The mascarpone is about to be mixed into the egg yolk, sugar syrup, vanilla combination.

Egg yolks + sugar syrup + vanilla + mascarpone

In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until it holds soft peaks. Fold into the mascarpone batter until smooth. Set aside.

The combination of the beaten cream and the mascarpone batter.

In a small pitcher, mix the coffee with the Kahlua. In a small low-rimmed bowl, pour a small amount of the coffee mixture to ½” depth. Dip the savoiardi into the coffee on each side (continue filling bowl with coffee as needed). Line the bottom of a large lasagna-type pan (approx 13 x 9) with the coffee-soaked ladyfingers. Don’t soak too much. Ladyfingers should be semi-soft to the touch once soaked. If not dipping, sprinkle more coffee over the top of your ladyfinger layer.

Soaking the ladyfingers in the coffee/Kahlua mixture.

Pour ½ of the mascarpone mixture over the layer of lady fingers and spread evenly making sure to cover all of the lady fingers.

Optional: You can sprinkle mini chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or shaved chocolate on the of the cream filling.

Repeat the process with another layer of savoiardi. It is best to line the second layer of ladyfingers in the opposite direction of your first. Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture and smooth again making sure to cover all of the lady fingers.

4 layers--coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone-whipped cream filling, repeat — 4 layers–coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone-whipped cream filling, repeat

Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Important: This dessert should be made the day before you plan to serve it.

Before serving, sprinkle the top with cocoa and/or chocolate. Always refrigerate any unused portions. Should not be left sitting out since it contains raw egg product.

I sprinkled a little bit of cocoa powder on top prior to serving. This was as good as if not better than any tiramisu I have had in a restaurant!

I will be honest. This was much easier than I expected! When I went to Diane’s home, I was looking forward to trying the finished product since, unlike the last time we prepared food together, I was not celebrating a holiday with specific dietary restrictions. (Last time, I had to wait before trying the gnocchi we made.) It broke my heart a little when I learned that I would have to wait a day. I had the break the news to my kids when they got home from school as well–I had tiramisu in our fridge, but no one could taste it yet! The next day, we enjoyed our homemade tiramisu. I am melting a little bit into my chair as I type this. It was absolutely delicious! That pan of tiramisu did not stay full for very long.