The MasterChef: Tiramisu

TIRAMISU

I have tried many different recipes for this Italian classic, but I never could find a recipe that was good enough for me, so I combined different recipes and eventually came up with my own.

Be aware that this recipe does contain raw eggs!

Makes 9 pieces.

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks (just yolks – separate the whites.)
½ cup sugar
1 mascarpone container (8 oz.)
1 package ladyfingers
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups black espresso (refrigerated)
Cocoa powder

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together. Once a thick cream-like substance is achieved, add in the mascarpone container and mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk one cup of whipping cream until stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. One half-pint is enough.

Arrange the cream, ladyfingers, and espresso. Put the espresso into a shallow bowl for dunking. Have an 8’’ by 8’’ pan ready.

Start by placing the ladyfingers in the espresso and spin them in the coffee a few times.

Make sure not to leave them in too long, otherwise they will fall apart! It is best that the ladyfingers are saturated with espresso, but still firm enough to be arranged in the pan.

Place them in the pan with the sponge side down, sugar side up.
Sugar side Sponge side

Once you have a layer of ladyfingers complete, cover them with a layer of cream. Be generous, but not too generous!

After they are covered with cream, arrange another layer of espresso-soaked ladyfingers on top of the cream.

Once finished, use up the rest of the cream. Here, you can be REALLY generous! Use up as much of the cream as you can!

When the cream has run out, make sure it is flat and level. Now, dust the top of the tiramisu with cocoa powder. I normally like to cover every corner with cocoa powder, so this step can get messy. I use a small sifter to dust the powder, but anything that will filter is fine.

I put a good amount of paper towels underneath the pan just so my family’s counter top doesn’t get too messy. \;)

When done with the cocoa powder, cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of four hours. I usually keep it in the fridge overnight.

Tiramisu is a dessert that gets better as time goes by, and from my experience the taste is the best around 2-3 days after I’ve made it.

When enough time has passed, serve and enjoy!

BUON APPETITO!