A creamy Italian ‘pick me up’ delight!

Tiramisu is my all-time favorite dessert. It means “pick me up” in Italian, perhaps owing to two of its caffeinated ingredients – espresso and cocoa. It is a no-bake delicacy with a fluffy and custard-like consistency. The richness of mascarpone cheese and the dark robustness of espresso and cinnamon – cocoa powder give it its distinctive flavor.

Ingredients:

  • 6 large egg yolks (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup super fine sugar
  • 1-1/4 cup Mascarpone cheese ( room temperature)
  • 1-3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 25-30 Italian ladyfingers (Italian Savoiardi style)
  • 1 cup cold espresso or strong coffee
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa for dusting (more or less based on taste)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Method of Preparation:

Making the Egg Yolk Mixture

  1. Pour the egg yolks and sugar into a mixing bowl.

2. We will use the double-boiler method to mix the ingredients together. First, place a small pot with some water about an inch and bring to a boil. Then, take the mixing bowl from step 1 above, and seat it on the water pot.

3. Use a whisk and whip the egg and sugar mixture constantly for about 10 – 15 mins. The heat and steam from the water pot underneath will heat the egg mix as you whisk and it will gradually thicken in volume.

4. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whip the mix to help it cool. The mixture will have a thick consistency with a lemon yellow color. Keep aside and allow it to cool.

5. Keep the Mascarpone cheese at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before you are ready to use it. Then add it to the whipped yolks, mixing until it combines well. Don’t over mix since it can cause curdling.

Making the Whipped Cream

  1. Leave a mixing bowl in the freezer until you are ready to make the whipped cream.

2. Bring the bowl out from the freezer, add the whipped cream to it. Then use an electric mixer to whip the cream to stiff peaks. (You could also use a hand-mix or a stand-mixer as well).

3. Begin whipping on a small speed then gradually increase the speed after about 10 minutes. This will keep the whipped cream from breaking and you can store the it in the refrigerator for longer. The cream and the bowl should be cold and as fresh as possible.

4. Once the cream stiffens to strong peaks, add the Mascarpone mixture to it and stir together. Then leave this in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the tiramisu.

Making the Cold Expresso

  1. Boil the espresso or any strong coffee and let it cool.

Assembling the Tiramisu

  1. Take a standard 9 x 9 inch pan.

2. Dip the ladyfingers one at a time into cold expresso just long enough to get them wet – do not soak them!

3. Arrange these ladyfingers in the bottom of a pan.

4. Spoon half the mascarpone cream filling over the ladyfingers.

5. Repeat process with another layer of ladyfingers and add another layer of tiramisu cream.

6. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

Your delicious dessert is ready. Dust with cocoa before serving. Adapted and recreated from NYT.

A luxuriously layered bitter and sweet – my all-time favorite Tiramisu! 🤤👌

Try it and let me know what you think!😊