A couple of years ago, I got a gift certificate for a class at Baking Arts for my birthday. It was my first time going to a baking class, and my first time making tiramisu. Before that class, I was always intimidated by tiramisu. It seemed like something you’d get at fancy Italian restaurants. So it had to be really hard, right?
Well, it turns out that it’s actually not that hard, as long as you have a hand mixer. There’s not even any baking in it. It was probably disingenuous of me to file this under “Baking.” But then I learned how to make it at “Baking Arts,” so…
I made this for a party last weekend. First, you make the coffee mixture:
1 cup strong espresso
2 tablespoons creme de cacao
1/3 cup sugar
I used creme de cacao just because I love the chocolate flavor. My instructor said that you can use brandy, marsala, or rum, too. Or you can leave it out altogether.
And then the mascarpone mixture:
7 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
16 oz mascarpone cheese
I scaled this up from the 5 egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and 12 oz mascarpone cheese that was in the original recipe because I just like having a lot of the mixture in the tiramisu. Plus, what am I gonna do with half a container of mascarpone cheese?
The egg yolks with sugar. Looks normal now…
After beating the egg yolks with a hand mixer for a few minutes, the egg yolks have way more volume, and they turn this pale yellow color. It’s supposed to reach the “ribbon stage,” where you drizzle some of the mixture onto itself, and you can see a “ribbon” remain on the surface for a couple of seconds.
After mixing in a pound of mascarpone cheese and a tablespoon of the coffee mixture, the cream is done. I could eat so much of this by itself, it’s so good… but so bad for you, too.
I dipped some ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and made a layer of them in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish. This would have worked out much better had the ladyfingers been exactly 4 inches long.
And then I put half of the mascarpone mixture on top of the ladyfingers, with a dusting of cocoa powder on top.
Another layer of espresso-soaked ladyfingers goes on top of that, and then another layer of the mascarpone mixture, with yet another dusting of cocoa powder.
I put some dark chocolate shavings on top, because I love chocolate.
Tiramisu is a dessert I really love, it’s so decadent. I love the creamy layers of mascarpone with the slight crunch you get from the coffee-soaked ladyfingers. I just wish it were healthy, so I could eat a whole bunch of it without feeling guilty.