Tiramisu Recipe

Easy dessert that never lets us down? Check out this Triamisu recipe that’s made to get us through the most trying times!

Tiramisu is one of those timeless Italian classics that we think it’s been around since the beginning of fire, yet curiously, Tiramisu was not heard of before the 60’s. Or at least no written record mentions it which indicates that it’s the best held culinary secret of the Italians or it’s simply a couple of decades old invention.

Tiramisu’s name definitely indicates its Italian roots as “tirami su” means “pick me up” or “cheer me up” although its exact origin is somewhat murky.

Legend says, tiramisu has aphrodisiac effects and was invented by a brothel madam so their guests couldn’t have problem fulfilling their duties at home when returning from her establishment. Of course, there is a more mundane claim that simply states it was invented in a restaurant by the owner’s wife and the pastry chef.

During its short life, Tiramisu achieved that many centuries old dishes fail to. It was granted a Protected Status from the European Union so only those desserts can be called Tiramisu that use ladyfingers, egg yolks, sugar, coffee, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

So, anyone thinking about using cream in Tiramisu, be aware of the looming threat of the Italian’s wrath. Probably, we can get away with using egg whites for extra fluffiness and adding a bit of amaretto, brandy, or rum to the coffee but even then, we run the risk of losing the right to call it Tiramisu.

A word of caution, Tiramisu is made with raw eggs so mind not to leave it out from the fridge for extended period of time but otherwise it’s a totally safe dessert to have just like mayo or aioli.

Of course, if someone feels to sterilize the egg yolks over a double boiler then add egregious amount of fat in form of cream to the recipe, it is possible but as mentioned before, that won’t be a Tiramisu anymore.

Apparently, making Tiramisu is quite straightforward but deviating from the recipe is little tolerated, although the boundaries are continuously explored and tested by professionals and home cooks alike.

Over the short career of Tiramisu, many variations have been invented with berries, yogurts, coconut, pineapple or keto chocolate cheesecake tiramisu, just to mention a few, but since these do not really share the central characteristics of the dessert, they are technically closer to Trifle than to their original namesake.

Choosing the right kind of mascarpone will be paramount for our success as some of them are softer than the other and can cause our Tiramisu to ooze away. Luckily, even if we pick the soft mascarpone, we only have to cope with the visual imperfections of our dessert as it will not impair the flavor of our Tiramisu in any ways.

The hardest bit is to wait for the ingredients to settle in the fridge and allow us to flavor our creation but if it could lie in the secret recipe books of clandestine Italian cooks for who knows how long until discovered then we can wait a bit to cheer us up when returning home after an exhausting day at work…

Ingredients

• 3 medium / 150g Eggs
• 2 tablespoons / 40g Honey or sweetener of choice
• ½ teaspoon / 2.5g Vanilla extract (optional as lady fingers already has it)
• 1 cup / 250g Mascarpone (thick strong one)
• 1 cup / 240ml Coffee
• ¼ teaspoon / 1.25g Rum aroma (amaretto, rum, brandy can also be used)
• 18 pieces / 200g Ladyfingers
• 1 tablespoon / 8g Cocoa powder

Kitchen equipment

• 8″ x 8″ / 20.5cm x 20.5cm Casserole dish

How to make Tiramisu

1. Separate eggs.
2. Beat yolks, honey and optional vanilla extract until pale yellow in color.
3. Mix in the Mascarpone. Mind to get a thick Mascarpone that is not soft and liquidy but thick and can hold its shape. Something like very hardly whipped cream.
4. Clean the whisks and beat the egg whites too if used. Tradtitional Tiramisu doesn’t require egg whites to be mixed in but again, some add whipped cream to it. We need egg whites with stiff hard peaks that will require a couple of minutes beating.
5. Fold half of the egg whites into the egg yolk and mascarpone cream.
6. Fold the second half in too.
7. Brew coffee then mix it with the rum aroma or alcoholic substitute in something that allows us to dunk the ladyfingers in.
8. Dip or roll both sides of the ladyfingers in the coffee one by one. Don’t soak them. Just put one in, roll it over, take it out. It’s a 1 -2 seconds quick dip.
9. Place the coffee dipped ladyfingers into a high walled dish. Ideally, we have a dish as wide as the ladyfingers. Not ideally we can break them to size.
10. Spread half of the cream on top of the ladyfingers.
11. Continue with the second layer of coffee dipped ladyfingers.
12. Close it up with the remaining cream.
13. Put the Tiramisu in the fridge until it cools and the cream hardens back, about 4 – 5 hours, or even better overnight.
14. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top right before serving.

Enjoy!

 

F.A.Q.

What is traditional Tiramisu made of?

Traditional tiramisu is made of ladyfingers, mascarpone and eggs.

Does Tiramisu have raw eggs?

Yes, Tiramisu supposed to have raw eggs. Nowadays however, some like to do it with egg yolks sterilized over a double boiler and cream instead of egg whites.

Why did Tiramisu not set, runny?

If it was made the traditional way the only reason for runny Tiramisu, given that the egg whites are prorperly beaten to stiff peaks, is the subpar quality mascarpone. Mascarpone needs to be firm for Tiramisu.

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