No-Frills Tiramisu

Ingredients

So, what goes into a tiramisu? There are three main elements: coffee soaked ladyfingers, a mascarpone cheese custard, and a dusting of cocoa powder. Let’s talk about what goes into each:

• Ladyfingers. Or savoiardi is the traditional base. They are incredibly light and airy, nearly meringue-like cookies.
• Strong coffee. I like to use espresso for this to really get the punch of coffee. You can also brew a drip coffee or French-press at twice your typical concentration. Last resort, some instant espresso powder will work in a pinch, but because this recipe is so minimal, a great coffee flavor makes a difference.
• Amaretto. A little booze in your tiramisu gives it a little kick. Amaretto is my favorite, but you could substitute a marsala wine, dark rum or coffee liqueur. Feel free to leave it out if you are not a boozy fan, especially if serving to kids (the alcohol does not get cooked out of the recipe).
• Mascarpone cheese. There’s really no substitute for mascarpone in this recipe. It’s similar to a cream cheese, but the flavor is much more rich and buttery. It can be found in most grocery stores in the speciality cheese area.
• Eggs. Eggs will give us the custard base.
• Dark cocoa powder. I like to use a special dark cocoa powder for strong flavor contrast. While this dessert is rather soft in texture, this cocoa brings the sharpness!

What Makes this Tiramisu Fantastic?

• This no-bake recipe is better when made in advance! Like an icebox cake, you are better making this dessert the night before your event.
• Premade ladyfingers are dipped in a coffee and amaretto mixture. The coffee will soak into the cookies and soften them into a sponge-like texture.
• The mascarpone filling is both rich and creamy with an added lightness from a quick meringue.
• A final dark cocoa dusting is cuts through the creamy filling.

Making a Classic Tiramisu

I learned to make tiramisu in Italy (I know, I’m a lucky gal). The trickiest component is the mascarpone custard in the middle of each layer.

In order to get a light but rich filling, we are going to separate egg whites and egg yolks and treat them each separately: egg yolk custard (think pudding texture) and an egg white fluffy meringue (think fluffy clouds).

The traditional process there involves raw, uncooked eggs. Due to the way eggs are processed in Europe vs. the US, raw eggs are not a concern there. And really, they are only a 1 in 20,000 percent chance of a concern in the US too.

But, in order to avoid any squeamishness, I decided that lightly cooking the eggs is the way to go for our traditional tiramisu.

Double Boiler Method

In order to heat our eggs enough to make them safe, without ending up with scrambled eggs, we are going to lightly and slowly heat the eggs over a double boiler.

To make a double boiler, begin with a small pot of simmering water over medium heat on the stovetop. Then place a bowl on top of the pot, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

The heat from the steam alone will gently warm the bottom of the bowl above without overheating or scorching the ingredients. It’s the same method we use to evenly heat chocolate.

This double boiler method will be used to cook both the egg yolks and egg whites separately very gradually to a safe temperature to kill any bacteria, but prevent them from setting into cooked eggs.

Pro tip: Be conscious of the wire on the hand mixer while near the stove. Hold the cord away from the heat elements!

Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Tiramisu

There’s a few things to know for making the perfect tiramisu:

Dip carefully. The ladyfingers will soak up a lot of coffee quickly, so it’s best to just “pass” the cookies through the coffee. You want both sides of the cookie to touch the coffee, but avoid letting them sit in the liquid. Otherwise your sponge layers will dissolve away.

Separate egg carefully. Any yolks in the egg whites will prevent us from getting a fluffy meringue. The best way to separate eggs is to use the 3-bowl method. Crack a cold egg over one “working” bowl, letting it catch the egg white. Place the egg yolk in another bowl. Transfer the egg white into a bowl for egg whites once you know it is clear. That way, if your egg yolk breaks, you don’t ruin all the eggs.

Wait on the sugar. Do not add the sugar to either the egg whites or the egg yolks until you are ready to heat the mixture. It can “scold” the eggs.

Treat mascarpone carefully. Mascarpone has a tendency to split. Only whip the mascarpone as much as necessary and use it cold from the fridge.

Lightness is key. Do not skimp on whipping either the egg yolks or egg whites. The filling needs to be well whipped and sturdy to set up correctly. If you underwhip either or both, you will end up with a soupy texture that will not work for the set layers.

Keep the air. Gently fold in the well whipped egg whites into the mascarpone to preserve the airy texture. Use a rubber spatula to gently turn the egg whites by scooping from the bottom and lifting up.

Give it time. Tiramisu needs time to set up and meld. You want the coffee to soak in to the ladyfingers and the ladyfingers to meld into the mascarpone custard. A few hours is minimum, overnight is better.