I think every Italian restaurant in the country has tiramisu on their dessert menus. And now that I'm starting to see it at Chinese buffets, I think we can just admit that it's part of our dessert lexicon. It's been done a million times over, but every time I see it offered, even if I KNOW it's going to be bad, I still order it. When I was younger, I tried to make a version by Giada de Laurentiis at home, but even that didn't come out the way I expected. A good tiramisu is hard to find.
When I finally decided to try again, I scoured the internet for what would be the most delicious, most authentic tiramisu. I would overcome any sourcing issues, translate from Italian, whatever it took. When I landed on one that claimed to be direct from someone's Italian in-laws, I was curious. When they listed the ingredients like a demand letter, I knew I had found the right recipe. This tiramisu is transcendent. It really is amazing. But I have to add that if you have no immune system, or you're 2 years old, or you're on your death bed, you might not want to risk the tiny chance of getting salmonella from the raw eggs. Although I think I still would.
Tiramisu
Adapted from Silvia Lavecchia and Michael Janke
16 ounces
mascarpone cheese
6 large eggs
2 packages Alessi
savoiardi ladyfingers (about 36 cookies)
3 tablespoons
sugar
2 ounces Cognac
1 (6.8-ounce) can
Illy unsweetened espresso drink
Grated bittersweet
chocolate
4 tablespoons
unsweetened cocoa powder
Bring all the
ingredients to room temperature. Pour
the espresso drink into a shallow flat-bottomed bowl or dish. Add 1 ounce of water and 1 ounce of Cognac.
Separate the egg
yolks and whites. In a medium mixing
bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Add the mascarpone cheese and 1 ounce of
Cognac and mix until blended. In a
second mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy. Fold the beaten egg whites into the
mascarpone cheese mixture. Mix only
enough to blend as over-mixing will deflate the egg whites.
Quickly dip a
ladyfinger in the espresso bowl. To get
the right amount of espresso on the ladyfinger, lay the ladyfinger flat in the
bottom of the bowl, sugared side UP, and immediately pull it out. Place each ladyfinger flat in the bottom of a
9x13-inch glass dish, sugar side DOWN.
The ladyfinger will quickly absorb the espresso. Soaking the ladyfingers in the espresso will
result in soggy ladyfingers.
Build a layer of
dipped ladyfingers across the bottom of the glass dish. If some of the ladyfingers do not look dark
from the espresso, spoon a few more drops of espresso on the ladyfingers. Any espresso left in the bottom of the dish
will be absorbed by the ladyfingers.
Spoon a layer of the mascarpone mixture across the layer of ladyfingers,
using half of the mixture. Grate
bittersweet chocolate over the mascarpone mixture. Dip another layer of ladyfingers and lay them
on the grated chocolate. Layer them as
before, sugar side DOWN. Drip espresso
on the ladyfingers that don’t look dark.
Spoon the remaining mascarpone mixture across the second layer of
ladyfingers, smoothing the top.
Refrigerate the
tiramisu for at least 4 hours before serving, preferably overnight. Before serving, sift the unsweetened cocoa
over the top of the tiramisu.
Makes 16 servings
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