I am not a big fan of Tiramisu in the States, it can be a boozy, mushy mess and nothing I would ever want to order. So when I was given a heaping plate for dessert at a friends house when we first arrived, I was a little nervous about how I was going to finish it all to be polite- well it didn't seem to be a problem at all because it was lick-your-plate amazing! So what's the difference in the dish served at restaurants State-side vs. that of Italy? First off the eggs - this recipe calls for fresh egg yolks not whipped cream or imitation eggs making it much richer and secondly it's all in the lady-fingers! When Jason first asked for a lady-finger recipe to make this dish, our friend Daniella balked - "No, why would you do that? You buy Pavisini." And she was right! They perfectly hold up after being soaked in coffee & layered with cream.
Tiramisu literally translates to "pick me up" and it sure does with all the coffee, eggs & sugar. Great for dessert and devilishly delicious for breakfast, what with coffee & eggs, why not?!
We serve this every Thursday at our Pizza Night Parties and if there is any left-over for breakfast the next morning! (Not to mention it's one of the only dessert I make, so if I can do it - anyone can!
Serves 8
(use a 9x6 dish)
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups or 125 g confectioner's sugar
1 3/4 cups or 325 g mascarpone cheese
box of Pavisini ladyfingers
3/4 cup or 200 ml freshly brewed extra strong coffee or espresso, cooled/room temperature
3 oz. or 100 g dark chocolate, grated
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
(use a 9x6 dish)
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups or 125 g confectioner's sugar
1 3/4 cups or 325 g mascarpone cheese
box of Pavisini ladyfingers
3/4 cup or 200 ml freshly brewed extra strong coffee or espresso, cooled/room temperature
3 oz. or 100 g dark chocolate, grated
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
Make your pot of coffee & let cool.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until light, pale & "ribbons." Then mix in the mascarpone.
Stiffly whisk the egg whites in a different grease-free bowl.
Gently fold in the egg whites in thirds to the mascarpone mix.
Make a single layer of ladyfingers on the base of a deep serving dish making sure they fit tightly together on the bottom. Then brush the lady fingers evenly with coffee (don't be shy, a good two passes with the brush should be plenty).
Make a nice even layer of the mascarpone cream/egg mixture and sprinkle/cover with grated chocolate.
Continue making layers until all the ingredients are used (you should have 3 layers), finishing with a layer of mascarpone cream/egg mixture.
Dust with cocoa, wrap with plastic and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours. Enjoy!!
Recipe Tips: Stiffly whisk the egg whites in a different grease-free bowl.
Gently fold in the egg whites in thirds to the mascarpone mix.
Make a single layer of ladyfingers on the base of a deep serving dish making sure they fit tightly together on the bottom. Then brush the lady fingers evenly with coffee (don't be shy, a good two passes with the brush should be plenty).
Make a nice even layer of the mascarpone cream/egg mixture and sprinkle/cover with grated chocolate.
Continue making layers until all the ingredients are used (you should have 3 layers), finishing with a layer of mascarpone cream/egg mixture.
Dust with cocoa, wrap with plastic and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours. Enjoy!!
1. Make sure your egg whites are stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside & they don't move!
2. Booze it up - add your favorite Bailey's, Nocino, Kahlua - any coffee complimentary liqueur will go nicely in this, add it into the coffee after cooled.
3. It's all in the ladyfingers- we use Pavesini - they are hard to find in the States but its worth a try. These ladyfingers give it the perfect texture & really soak up the coffee.
It sounds wonderful. Did you add any coffee liquor to it when you served it to your guests? If so what did you add and how much of it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, has anyone ever not wanted to eat it because the eggs are not cooked.
I normally don't add liquor - but if you like it - add in a shot for sure - especially something like NOCINO or a coffee flavored after dinner drink - add it to the mascarpone.
ReplyDeleteAhh the raw eggs - no problem with that here in Italy - they aren't even refrigerated in the grocery store - they are that fresh! I was just speaking with 2 doctors about this actually - one an american guest the other an italian neighbor - the Italian said he does not know of 1 case where someone got sick of eggs! Not in America that's for sure! And thankfully everyone eats it & goes in for seconds - when in Rome....
That's interesting. I don't recall what the situation was but I was going to teach a class and because of the raw eggs they asked me to come up with a different recipe which I did.
ReplyDeleteIn all the years I baked desserts or made cookies and tasted the batter I never got sick. Neither did my children. Then suddenly all the news comes out about it and we stopped licking the batter.
I do think however, that it's important to be aware of this when serving to senior citizens and pregnant women or very young children. Better to be safe than sorry.
Thanks for the reply. I wish I was back in Italy for all the beauty, wonderful people and great food. You're a lucky lady!
Well, we were there a year and a half ago and I really was not that excited about Tiramisu, but that was all about to change.
ReplyDeleteWe had goofed off during the morning and came back around lunch time. Jason and Ash decided that we should try to have a little "cook-off". I'm always up for competition and so off we went.
We had a little vino, laughed and "cooked"- played more than cooked.
Of course there was finger licking, bowl licking and it was really good. We were informed that we had to refrigerate it so we went out to dinner with Jason and Ashley. When we returned we really weren't hungry, in fact we were pretty full, but those desserts were really screaming at us from the fridge. We succumbed to the pressure and each tried the others- so 4 samples in all. Then we went on to eat about half of our dessert.
For breakfast we rose with those desserts still yelling and we polished them off before we actually ate breakfast food.
I was just talking about that day 2 weeks ago in China. Small world and what great hosts.
If you haven't been you must!!!
I never order tiramisu and feel the same as you do. I am now going to give it a go and try your recipe. Grazie!
ReplyDeleteOur group that was at La Tavola Marche together last summer has gotten together several times, and Ashley's tiramisu is always for dessert. Vanessa has totally mastered it. She is our resident tiramisu chef!
ReplyDeleteIf you can't find Pavesini in the states, two of our local grocery stores carry an Alessi Biscotti Savoiardi which is basically a hard lady finger that stands up better than the american version. Ashely, your recipe is great!
ReplyDeleteGrazie
Thanks Catherine!! And great tip Velentino -
ReplyDeleteI had done your recipe a couple of times now and it has come out AWESOME. it has become a favourite!
ReplyDeleteMexican greetings from Germany.