Tiramisu is my favorite dessert, but I’d never made it until this past weekend. Before I searched for a recipe, I had no idea that most classic tiramisu recipes use raw (gasp, yes, raw!) eggs or gently tempered eggs in the custardy layers with the mascarpone cheese. Because I have no desire to give anyone food poisoning, I was happy to find a recipe at Tastes Better from Scratch that I adapted just slightly in both ingredients and preparation.
This tiramisu was for my gentleman friend’s youngest, who turned 18 this week. While she and the rest of his family love tiramisu, he actually doesn’t (and he calls himself Italian, sigh). I’m happy to report that it was a huge hit and tasted exactly as I’d hoped. I’ll certainly make it again now that I have a better sense of how to actually do this. Full disclosure, nearly every recipe I found online called for store-bought ladyfingers, so I used those as well. Let’s call this one semi-homemade! I’m including various tips below for first-time tiramisu makers like me.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 8-ounce package mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup coffee, cold
- 1 package Delallo Savoiardi Ladyfingers (find them in the Italian food aisle at your grocery store)
- Cocoa powder, for dusting
Preparation
In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to stiff peaks; be careful not to over-whip, as you’ll want to very briefly whip in your mascarpone next. Add mascarpone cheese in a few batches and whip for just a few seconds each, then finish mixing my folding your mixture a few times for an even texture. Set aside.
Map out the first layer of your ladyfinger placement – you’ll need to cut a few to make them fit in your dish, so I did this before I dipped them in the coffee to make them easier to handle.
Place cold coffee in a shallow dish; you won’t need it all, as the ladyfingers need to be just wet, not soaked. Very quickly dip each ladyfinger into the coffee, just so each side gets wet. If you soak them, they’ll be too soggy – I had to toss a few because this happened to me! Also, you can mix in some coffee-flavored liqueur with the coffee, but I omitted this because I didn’t have any on hand.
Place ladyfingers into a single layer in the baking dish and top with half of the mascarpone mixture. Repeat with a second layer of ladyfingers, then the other half of the mascarpone, smoothing it out to make an even top.
Chill for 3-4 hours before serving or allow to chill in your fridge for up to 3 days; I recommend dusting it with the cocoa powder shortly before you serve it. If chilling for a few days (tiramisu is actually best when made a day or so ahead), press plastic wrap directly onto the top layer, then cover tightly with foil. Unwrap and dust with cocoa just before serving. Makes about 9 slices.
Below is a view of the whole thing (well, the last few slices anyway), including the cake server and fork I used to get it out of the parchment-lined pan. I lined my pan with parchment thinking I might lift it out and put it on a platter for serving, but it’s probably best when kept in the dish. I was afraid it might not come out, so next time I’ll skip the pan-lining step.
