Mom’s Tiramisu

Ok so I had this whole post written up, that I planned on posting earlier, but someone in this household who shall remain nameless (it rhymes with “shmy shwife”) accidentally shut down the computer without saving it. It was obviously the funniest and most informative post ever, but now is another dreadful victim of technology, oh well here goes take 2.

So Shavuos was like 3 weeks ago (yeah, I’m pretty awesome at this whole having my life in order thingy) and even though we were eating out all of the meals, I had got it in my brain that I wanted to make tiramisu for dessert, and make it I did. And lemme tell you, it was pretty freaking amazing.

The best tiramisu I’ve ever tasted is made by my mother, and her secret is: read the back of the BelGioioso tub of mascarpone. No really, that’s where this recipe comes from, and it’s easy and awesome.

For those that don’t know, tiramisu is an Italian dessert that roughly translates into: heaven sent food that I would gladly shovel into my mouth with my fingers, and would most likely have to check myself into some sort of dessert rehab facility, if one actually exists, unless it somehow puts me into a pleasure induced coma, in which case the rehab won’t be necessary. I said roughly. Those wacky Italians.

I’m not 100% sure what makes an authentic tiramisu, but one thing is clear, it needs to have mascarpone, lady fingers dipped in espresso (tiramisu really means- “pick me up”), and eggs, but the logistics are different in different recipes. Most will call for the eggs to be separated and whipped separately, and then folded together, and that’s what this recipe called for also.

So put the yolks, some of the coffee, rum, and sugar into a mixing bowl, and beat until the it comes together and starts looking paler.

Now in regards to the rum, the actual recipe calls for cognac or brandy, neither of which I have, so I used rum, but I think it goes well with the chocolate (which we’re going to dust on top later), and I really like this new rum I have, it’s really good.

Ok, now take the tub of mascarpone, and dump it in the yolk mixture, and mix together, and set the whole shebang aside.

Now put the egg whites and a pinch of sugar into a mixing bowl, and whip em up until stiff peaks form. Egg whites whipped up, are essentially a foam of tiny air bubbles that get incorporated into the protein network of the egg whites. The problem is it’s a relatively fragile network, and we don’t want to waste all that hard work the kitchen aid went through to get to this point and deflate all those bubbles. The way to avoid that is by folding the whipped up egg whites into whatever it is you’re folding it into. This way you’re not completely destroying the delicate structure within.

You can actually add 1/3 of the egg whites and mix them in as vigorously as you want to start the whole thing going, and the remaining 2/3 fold in. 

Take 1/2 of the mascarpone goodness, and spread on the bottom of your dish.

Then take the lady fingers, and dip them in the remaining coffee. You don’t want the lady fingers soaked, and it takes a very short amount of time for it to get totally soaked up with coffee, so to avoid that, place the lady finger on one side in the coffee, and then flip it over, and take it out. Don’t let it hang out in the coffee.

Then layer the lady fingers over the first layer

 

I don’t know how Mr Pyrex knew I was going to make this tiramisu in this dish, with these lady fingers, but it fit 16 (8 on each side) exactly.

Then layer the remaining mascarpone mixture, and dust with some chocolate.

You can even see the little lady fingers on the side, complacent with their lot in life to be devoured by the tiramisu junky you are.

It’s also a requirement that whenever you “dust” something with cocoa powder, that you get it all over the counter…just letting you know.

Then put this in the fridge for at least 3 hours to let it set up, and enjoy.

By the way, as you can tell, this has raw eggs in it, so if you were ever worried about getting some horrible disease from raw eggs, I highly recommend this be the dish to do it to you. Or if you want, there are recipes out there that cook the eggs first.

adapted from BelGioioso

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup espresso or strong coffee
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. rum (preferably dark)
• 8 oz. Mascarpone
• 16 ladyfingers
• Cocoa powder, for dusting (I used Dutch process cocoa powder, because it’s not as bitter as regular cocoa powder)

Directions:

1. Combine 3 egg yolks, 1 Tbsp. espresso, sugar and rum in large mixing bowl. Beat 2-3 minutes, until pale. Add Mascarpone and beat 3-5 minutes until smooth.
2. In another bowl, combine 3 egg whites and a pinch of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into Mascarpone mixture.
3. Spread half of the mixture on the bottom of your serving dish.
4. Dip one side of each ladyfinger into remaining espresso and layer on top of the first layer of mascarpone mix.
5. Spread the remaining mascarpone mixture on top, and sprinkle with cocoa.
6. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.