Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A decadent Italian dessert ... Tiramisu!


















Tiramisù, one of the most popular layered Italian desserts, is the perfect end to a wonderful Italian meal. It's made of savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits) dipped in espresso or strong coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone and sugar and topped off with a dusting of cocoa. This is one of Tommy's favorites so I made a big pan to serve when he came home for a visit last month. It was wonderful! And easy! Some may shun this heavenly dessert because of high fat content or the raw eggs. I've seen "healthier" versions made with fat-free cream cheese and no eggs!
TIRAMISU
Ingredients:
6 T. sugar
6 eggs
1/2 kg. mascarpone (1.1 pounds)
coffee
Ladyfingers (1 pkg. of 48 should work)
Unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)
1 semi-sweet chocolate bar to make chocolate curls for top
Directions:
1. Separate whites from yolks. Put yolks & sugar in a bowl and mix until it becomes a very smooth pale yellow. Add mascarpone and keep mixing until it is completely blended.
2. In another bowl, mix the egg whites with a tiny bit of salt until it becomes snow-like and very firm. Using a tablespoon, put this mixture in the bowl with the mascarpone and gently fold.
3. Make coffee ... let it cool. Working quickly, dip each ladyfinger in the cooled coffee. Put first layer of ladyfingers in 9x13 glass pan and pour cream mixture over all until everything is covered. Dust with cocoa powder.
4. Add another layer of coffee-dipped ladyfingers to the pan and cover with the rest of the cream mixture. Dust with more cocoa powder.
5. Cover tightly. Put this in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Then place in refrigerator for 30 minutes just before serving (it will still be cold but slightly thawed - and the flavor comes out beautifully).
6. If you like, you can also shave tiny bits of chocolate on top.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, shame on those who try to make tiramisu with fat free anything! I'm so pleased to see you went with the real deal...and a bit envious that I don't have a pan of tiramisu to dig into right now. :)

    ReplyDelete