Best-Ever Tiramisu

Break away from the usual Thanksgiving pumpkin pie! Everyone will go bonkers for this dessert at any holiday occasion. There are many recipes for Tiramisu, but this one’s exceptionally good. I brought it to a dinner party last night, with raves all ’round. This Tiramisu weighs six pounds (2.7 kg)! to which husband Ron said: “Tell our hosts it’s a pound cake.”

Best-Ever Tiramisu

Tiramisu has about six million calories per serving, but I like love (!) this fancy dessert. I don’t have a clue who “Chef Dennis” is, but he was kind enough to put this decadent recipe online, upon which I modified it. 

Afraid there wouldn’t be “enough,” I doubled it and tinkered with the method, making more than “enough” for the eight people who gathered ’round our hosts’ table. You may want to cut this dish in half, as Chef Dennis did, though you don’t want to be caught short, either. Seconds and thirds were the order of the night, with everyone taking some home to polish off at breakfast.

Very, very important: Before you begin, read and follow every word of this recipe - including the all-important Notes. Prepare Tiramisu at least six hours before serving; I made mine 12 hours in advance, though  leaving it overnight would have been even better.

Best-Ever Tiramisu

12 large egg yolks (approx. 1 c. or 250 mL yolks), room temperature (see Egg Yolk Note) 

2 c. (500 mL) granulated sugar

2-1/2 c. (560 mL) mascarpone cheese, room temperature (see Mascarpone Note)

3-1/2 c. (875 mL) heavy cream (aka “whipping cream”)

Two 7 oz. (two 200 g) pkgs Italian ladyfingers, Savoiardi-style (See Ladyfinger Note)

2 c. (500 mL) cold espresso or strong black coffee (see Espresso Note)

1 c. (250 mL) coffee-flavored liqueur (see Booze Note)

1-to-2 tbsp. (15-to-30 mL) unsweetened cocoa, sieved for dusting.

Have all ingredients (except whipped cream) assembled and measured before starting. Follow directions precisely. Preparing this dessert took me 90 min. - but the result was worth the effort. And so to start!

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, mixing constantly with wire whisk. As soon as water comes to boil, reduce heat to low. Scrape down sides of double boiler or medium-sized metal bowl as you continue to whisk constantly over low heat, about 10 min. 

Have patience! Constant whisking will get you there ...

Remove from heat,  continuing to whisk yolk-sugar mixture until thick and lemon-colored. Cool 2-to-3 min. at room temperature. Fold mascarpone into whisked yolks until well combined. 

Thickened and pale, at last!

In separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks, using wire whisk attachment of electric mixer. Gently fold whipped cream into the marscapone-egg mixture. Set aside. 

After mascarpone, fold in whipped cream.

Mix cold espresso with coffee liqueur. Dip ladyfingers into mixture just long enough to get them wet: Don’t dunk or soak them. Using half of ladyfingers, line bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 x 2-in. or 3 qt. dish (Metric size 33 x 23 x5 cm). 

Spoon half egg-mascarpone-cream mixture over ladyfinger base. (Think this recipe takes too long?) See:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VQX2Xn7tI

Repeat: Another layer of ladyfingers, another layer of cream. 

Take care to spread cream right to the edges of
espresso-liqueur dipped ladyfingers. 

Refrigerate at least 6 hr. Dust with sieved cocoa. Given an hour or two, cocoa will turn a gorgeous shade of dark chocolate. Leave in fridge until just before slicing. Makes 12 huge servings. H-U-G-E. 

Double Boiler Note: Double boilers aren’t as common as they once were, but having one is essential for this recipe. If you don’t have a double boiler, positioning a large metal bowl over a pot of boiling water will do the trick.

Egg Yolk Note: This recipe requires 12 egg yolks. Separating the yolks from the whites can be tricky. My “three bowl” method is foolproof. Cracking the shell against the rim of bowl #1, cushion the yolk in your hand, allowing the whites to trickle into the bowl through your slightly open fingers. Transfer the white into bowl #2. Place the yolk into bowl #3. Repeat until all whites and yolks have been separated. If a yolk breaks or you accidentally combine a yolk and a white, you’ve messed up with just one egg rather than the entire batch. I freeze the whites in quantities of six, later using them in Pavlova.

Mascarpone Note: Buy the best mascarpone you can afford - preferably Italian. It will taste better and be creamier than the cheaper stuff.

Ladyfinger Note: Be sure to buy only Savoiardi-style (sturdy Italian-style) ladyfingers. The softer, cake-style ladyfingers will fall apart when they’re dipped into the coffee mixture. Prepared exactly as specified, the ladyfingers in this lovely desert will magically become cake.

Espresso Note: Regular coffee is too weak. I’ve had great success using coffee pods, reducing the amount of water your single-serve pod machine dispenses. I’ve also had great success using instant coffee granules with a small amount of boiling water. Expect to use 5 or 6 coffee pods or about 8 tsp. instant coffee to 1 c. boiling water for the espresso this recipe calls for. You’ll have a little coffee/liqueur mixture left over, but that’s just fine; you don’t want to run short, possibly breaking the delicate ladyfingers as you try to get the last few precious drops. Adding a little of the extra coffee/liqueur mixture to regular coffee makes a welcoming holiday brew.

Booze Note: This recipe is so generous that you can easily omit the alcohol by making one or two servings in a small pan. Knowing who drinks and who’d prefer not to will make this Tiramisu an even greater success than it already is. If everyone’s a teetotaler, omit the alcohol altogether. This excellent dessert will be every bit as good.