Tiramisu

Anyone who tells you they have a better tiramisu recipe is wrong, especially the purists who use the original recipe.

Details

Why This Recipe Works

• Egg whites are hard to get to hold shape and still don’t after time sitting in the fridge. They also don’t impart much flavor. This is why we use heavy cream instead: Better flavor, better texture, holds shape for longer.
• Traditional tiramisu uses sweetened, raw egg yolks. This is simply an inferior ingredient compared to zabaglione. Cooking the yolks into a ribbony cream significantly improves the flavor, improves the texture, and makes the dish safer.
• Mixing sweetened, yet bitter, espresso into the cream adds incredible flavor and complexity to it, without making the entire dish just taste like coffee.

Ingredients

• 1 cup espresso
• 1/2 cup sugar
• About 1 tbsp Disaronno (optional)
• 6-7 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• salt
• 1 packet (6g) unflavored gelatin (optional)
• 16 oz. mascarpone
• 1 cup heavy cream
• About 25 savoiardi

Directions

Set mascarpone on counter to cool to room temperature.

Espresso Solution

1. Make espresso and sweeten with sugar while still hot.
2. Mix in Disaronno.
3. Place in freezer.

Zabaglione

1. Fill bottom half of a bain-marie with about 1 inch of water and place over high heat.
2. While water comes to boil, add the egg yolks to the top half of the bain-marie.
3. Using an electric hand mixer on the highest speed, beat the eggs while slowly adding sugar until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and the sugar is completely dissolved (4 to 5 minutes).
4. Mix in a pinch of salt.
5. Decrease the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Put the top half of the bain-marie atop the bottom half with the boiling water. Beat the mixture on medium speed, until it is thick, ribbony, and the temperature reaches 140°F.
6. Immediately move to a room temperature bowl to prevent overcooking egg yolks from latent heat.

Cream Mixture

1. Take espresso mixture out of freezer and mix in 3/8 cup (6 tbsp).
2. Pour unflavored gelatin on top of about 3 tbsp of cold water. Allow gelatin to bloom for a few minutes. If gelatin does not fully dissolve, microwave for 5 seconds and stir.
3. Slowly mix gelatin into zabaglione until fully incorporated.
4. Beat mascarpone into zabaglione on low. The cheese can whip so do not overbeat.
5. Beat heavy cream to medium peaks and fold into mixture.

Tiramisu

1. Prepare a 15cm round cake pan with removable bottom.
2. Use basting brush to moisten both sides of lady fingers with espresso mixture until soaked but not soggy. Lay them at bottom of pan.
3. Fill pan with mascarpone mixture until one-third full.
4. Repeat previous two steps two more times to create three layers total.
5. Level off top of pan with straight edge and decorate top with sifted cocoa powder.
6. Place in refrigerator overnight.
7. Use a towel dampened with very hot water to warm the edges of the pan. The cake will slide out with removable bottom.
8. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and strawberries or other fruit of your choice. Serve cold.

Notes

Vegetarians may leave out gelatin; the cake will still hold well.

It can be difficult to cook the zabaglione to the correct temperature; it will take some practice. It is imperative that you do not go over 150°F. The eggs will curdle into what will appear to be clumps of scrambled eggs. Try to aim for a lower temperature as going a little under is OK. I recommend using a good instant-read thermometer.

Adding the espresso mixture to the cream will make it appear overly watery. This is normal and will firm up in the fridge.

Nutrition

To be determined