Tiramisu

A heaven in your mouth. Tiramisu  is a popular Italian cake, made of biscuits (usually savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone cheese, and flavored with liquor and cocoa. After going through quite a few recipes, i picked Ina Garten's (from Food Network) Tiramisu and the recipe is quite simple to follow. It is crucial for the ingredients to be at room temperature for the tiramisu to turn out perfect. I made a couple of changes in the recipe after reading the reviews. First, i reduced the rum to half of what the recipe calls for and added kahlua to get more of the coffee flavor. Then, i used instant coffee powder to make strong coffee instead of espresso. I know its not Italian to use coffee, but it wouldn't hurt. The Tiramisu turned out absolutely moist and delicate, every bite just dissolved in our mouth. Mmm mmm 'licking the spoon' good!

Ingredients:

40 Savoiardi (Lady Finger Cookies)

16 oz Mascarpone cheese

6 Egg yolks

1/4 cup Kahlua (divided)

1/4 cup Dark Rum (divided)

1 1/4 + 1/4 cups Strong Coffee 

1/4 cup +1 tbsp Sugar

Cocoa powder (unsweetened)

(1/4 cup=4tbsps)

Also required:

Stand mixer/Hand mixer

13x9 Baking dish

Small Sifter (to dust cocoa powder)

Spatula (to spread out the filling)

How to:

• Bring the mascarpone cheese and the separated egg yolks to room temperature.
• Prepare strong coffee by dissolving 2 tbsp instant coffee powder in 2 cups of hot water and bring it to room temperature. (making an extra 1/2 cup of coffee, in case you run out of it)
• Add 1/2 of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat gently, until the sugar is melted.

• Cook the egg yolks in the double boiler for a min or two, i.e., by placing boiling water in a sauce pan on the stove and cook the egg yolks over the steam in a heat-resistant bowl, continuously whisking. (Careful, the egg yolks bowl should not touch the boiling water.)
• In a big mixing bowl, add the mascarpone, remaining sugar, 2tbsp rum, 2tbsp Kahlua and beat it with a hand mixer for a min.

• Then add the egg yolks-sugar mixture along with a 1/4 cup coffee to the mascarpone mixture and beat it in a medium speed until it starts to thicken. (This would be the filling)

• Dipping liquid mixture: Mix the remaining 2tbsp rum and 2tbsp Kahlua to the 1 1/4 cups of coffee in a shallow bowl.
• And its layering time. Make sure you have enough cookies, filling, dipping mixture and cocoa powder. We are ready to go.
• Arrange the cookies in the baking dish, by dipping each one in the dipping mixture for a second. (It absorbs the liquid quicker than you think. The longer you soak, the cookie will become soggy and break.)

• Now, transfer half of the mascarpone filling and spread it out evenly. Dust the top with cocoa powder.

• Make another layer with cookies and the filling in a similar way and dust it with lots of cocoa powder.

• Wrap it up and refrigerate it for up to 8 hours or overnight. 

• Serve chilled and topped with more cocoa powder or shaved dark chocolate.