Tiramisu

Tiramisu is a dessert that I made more frequently than any other dessert but somehow its recipe escaped me and never made it to a blog post. It was late time to correct this undeserved injustice! This coffee flavored delicacy is one of the most well known Italian desserts. Although there are many variations of Tiramisu, traditionally it is made with: raw eggs, mascarpone cheese, lady fingers, espresso, sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder.

Now I want to address the subject of raw eggs. As a kid I used to eat raw eggs regularly. My favorite early childhood dessert that I remember was a raw egg yolk whipped with sugar. I remember how much was I craving for this delicious treat. Later on as I grew up I learned that fresh raw eggs are healthy and should be consumed regularly. Something like Rocky Balboa for light breakfast before his morning run.

Using a sewing needle, we used to just make a small hole on each tip of egg shell, and than simply suck the content out. It supposed to be swallowed out immediately without chewing. It did not have particularly memorable taste but it felt smooth and refreshing. And guess what: nobody ever got sick, never! Later on, as a student in Belgrade, I used to do the same thing with store bought eggs and everything was fine.

Only after immigrating to Canada I learned about how much everybody fears Salmonella poisoning and raw eggs became a big no-no. At one occasion, I made a dessert with raw egg whites and my kids were terrified that we will all end up being poisoned! That was a wonderful French recipe for chocolate mousse and it was truly delicious. I volunteered to taste it myself first, and only the next day, after I was confirmed to be still “ok”, everybody reluctantly joined in.

Ever since, I tried my best to find adequate substitutes and prepare sweets with thermally treated eggs.

This Tiramisu recipe is made with egg yolks mixed with sugar and thickened through heat treatment over a double boiler. Whipped raw egg whites are substituted with the whipped cream. The rest of ingredients remained the same: mascarpone cheese, lady fingers, sugar and espresso with addition of Kahlúa, coffee flavored liquor.

The taste is outstanding, better than any Tiramisu I ever tasted! It is really easy to make and it takes me only an hour from the start until is covered and stored in the fridge. The longer it stays in the fridge, the better it gets.  The best is if you can make it two days ahead!

This wonderful recipe has been adapted from chef Dennis.

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Tiramisu

Italian classic dessert!

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword

coffee cake, Tiramisu

Prep Time

40-60 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese about 300 g
• 1 3/4 cup whipping cream
• Italian lady fingers biscuits 2 packages
• 1 cup espresso coffee at room temperature
• 1/4 cup Kahlúa
• unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Course Dessert Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean Keyword coffee cake, Tiramisu Prep Time 40-60 minutes Servings servings Ingredients 6 egg yolks large eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 1 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese about 300 g 1 3/4 cup whipping cream Italian lady fingers biscuits 2 packages 1 cup espresso coffee at room temperature 1/4 cup Kahlúa unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Instructions

1. Make espresso and let it cool to room temperature.
2. Bring water to boil, reduce heat to low, and over a double boiler while whisking constantly, heat up the mixture of egg yolks and granulated sugar. It will take about 10-15 minutes until the yolk mixture thickens up. Put it aside and let it cool to room temperature or quickly cool off in a cold water bath. Stir occasionally to prevent crust forming.

   
3. Add mascarpone to the yolks and whisk until smooth and unified.

   
4. In a medium size bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks.
5. Using a large silicone spatula carefully fold in whipped cream to the egg yolk and mascarpone mixture.

   
6. Pour espresso and Kahlúa in a flat bottomed bowl big enough to dip lady fingers biscuits.
7. Dip lady fingers biscuit one at the time into the espresso and Kahlúa mixture. Do not soak it! Just put it in briefly, flip it to the other side and than take it out.

   
8. Line the bottom of 25 cm x 20 cm x 6 cm (10" x 8"x 2 1/2") glass dish with dipped lady fingers.

   
9. Spread evenly half of the prepared cream mixture over the layer of lady fingers.
10. Using the same procedure create another layer of dipped lady fingers on top of the cream layer.
11. Spread evenly another half of the cream. Cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate at least 24 hours and best 48 hours before serving.
12. Dust with unsweetened cocoa before serving.

Recipe Notes

• egg yolks need to thicken up substantially. Too thin mixture will result in Tiramisu not being stiff enough to keep its shape.
• whipped cream needs to be carefully whipped to stiff peaks but avoiding over whipping and forming butter. Do not rush it, start at low speed and increase the speed over the 10 minutes. Otherwise Tiramisu might turn out looking deflated.
• fold whipped cream to egg and mascarpone mixture by simply cutting through the middle of the batter with silicone spatula. Cut in and then scoop from to the bottom of the bowl to the side wall. Lift the spatula out, rotate your wrist and let the batter fold over by itself. Rotate the bowl and repeat until you obtained fluffy and unified cream.
• use Savoiardi (Italian Ladyfingers biscuits), there is no substitute

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