Tiramisu

Until last year I'd never had tiramisu. I'm not quite sure why not, I'd just never tried it. It's such a classic dessert and yet I'd never even tasted it.

Last year I made it, bu never photographed it because it was huge, and in a pie dish, and kind of fell apart when it was dished. It was also all eaten before I got the chance to even attempt to make it aesthetically pleasing.

This time, I decided to make an effort to ensure at least some of my tiramisu was dressed up enough to be photographed. As result, my photos are some what misleading. This recipe actually makes a rather large tiramisu and I didn't serve it all in cute, tiny glasses. No, that would have involved a lot of washing up and me actually having enough small, glass ramekins - which I don't.

I don't know if this is the best tiramisu recipe out there as I have no benchmark to compare it to. However,, my untainted palette thinks this is very good, extremely rich, and best enjoyed in small to medium quantities with friends.

Tiramisu

From Goons with Spoons

Makes one 22cm x 33cm (9" X13") cake

• 4 eggs, separated
• 250ml (1 cup) heavy cream
• 110g (1/2 cup) white sugar
• 125ml (1/2 cup) port
• 250ml-500ml (1-2 cups) espresso or strong coffee
• bittersweet chocolate, grated
• mascarpone cheese
• about 30 ladyfingers

Add two teaspoons of sugar to the hot coffee, set aside to cool.

In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks by hand until they lighten in colour, about 2-3 minutes. Add the sugar and port, whisk until completely incorporated.

Simmer about an inch of water in a small pot, place the bowl of egg yolk mixture on top; make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Heat the egg yolk mixture, whisking the entire time. Allow the custard to thicken to ribbon stage, about 5 minutes, it should fall off the whisk when you lift it and remain on top of the custard for a moment.

In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone until smooth. Add the custard and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture; ensure there are no streaks in the mixture.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to firm peaks. Fold the beaten egg whites into the mascarpone mixture. Set aside.

Pour the coffee into a medium sized shallow bowl. Place the dish you'll be putting the finished tiramisu in next to the bowl of coffee. Dip a ladyfinger into the coffee for a second, flip the ladyfinger to the other side for another second, then pull it out and place it in the serving dish. Try to avoid letting the coffee drip off the ladyfinger. Repeat until you have a layer of ladyfingers covering the bottom of the serving dish.

Spread a generous layer of mascarpone cream over the top of the lady fingers. Sprinkle the cream with a layer of chocolate. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, cream, and chocolate. Cover the tiramisu and refrigerate for 3 hours.