Tiramisu
Serves 8 Americans, 10 Italians, or 20 Los Angelenos
Introduction
To get the best flavor and consistency, I advise you make this recipe 1 day before you plan on serving it. This makes a massive difference -- trust me.
This recipe is largely adapted from the NYT Tiramisu recipe and Gino D'Acampo's recipe.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar (normal)
- ¾ cup heavy cream (double cream or heavy whipping cream)
- 1 cup mascarpone (8 ounces)
- 1 ¾ cups good espresso
- 6-8 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
- Cocoa powder
- 20-30 savoiardi biscuits (get the normal sized, thick ones -- don't get the skinny ones)
Method
- Brew your espresso and pour it into a dish/tupperware which is large enough for you to be able to dunk your savoiardi in. Mix in 3 tablespoons of Amaretto. Cover this vessel and place inside of the refrigerator.
- Separate the egg yolks and whites into two different large bowls.
- Whisk your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. This should be done with a food mixer with the whisk attachment or with a handheld electric whisk. In either case, use full speed.
- Use the food mixer with whisk or electric whisk to mix your heavy cream into whipped cream.
- Add the sugar to your egg yolks. Beat with a normal whisk until the mixture becomes thick and pale. Add in the marscapone and whisk until they are combined. Fold in the whipped cream and the remaining Amaretto until combined. Lastly, fold in the egg whites until combined. You have now completed the cream for the tiramisu. Fantastic!
- Remove your (now chilled) espresso from the refrigerator and get out a glass baking dish, one about the size of a 13" MacBook. Dunk the biscuits inside the coffee for A SINGLE SECOND. In that second, you should dip the top of the biscuit in and then flip it upside down and dip the other side of the biscuit. These biscuits are extremely absorbent and if you leave the biscuits for too long in the coffee, your tiramisu will become very soggy. I can't emphasise how important it is to keep this to one second. When I do this, I say out loud "dip, dip, out" as a way to ensure that I am doing it quickly enough. Once you have dipped the biscuits, line the bottom of the baking tray with your biscuits, keeping a small gap between them. After you have lined the bottom of your tray, spread half your cream over the biscuits to form one even layer. Repeat this entire step for your second layer.
- Cover the tiramisu with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Before serving, dust the top of your tiramisu with a thin layer of cocoa powder. I usually do this with a sifter. Cocoa powder will become bitter when refrigerated so be sure to complete this step after the previous step and ideally, do this step as close to serving the dish as possible.
Sources