Recipe: Tiramisu

I decided to kick off 2012 by sharing my tiramisu recipe with you.

I searched a lot for a good recipe and most of my attempts failed miserably. The worst was when I prepared the so-called original recipe for a big group of friends and it turned out way too sweet and the cream was still liquid. Some of my friends ate it anyway but others asked for ice cream. That was totally embarrassing!

I eventually found David Lebovitz’s Tiramisu recipe for individual portions which, together with my experience gained from all my failures, I customized in a king size portion for my family. It was eaten up in 1 day!!!

It serves 12 but if you can cut the recipe in half for a smaller portion.

Ingredients

250 ml espresso, at room temperature
6 tablespoons rum or kahlua
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
pinch of salt
160 g sugar
600 g mascarpone
~42 pieces ladyfingers
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving
1 vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix together the espresso and Kahlua.
2. Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar until light-colored. Beat in the mascarpone by hand with a spatula or whisk, until lump-free. Mix in the vanilla extract.
3. Using the electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until it reaches the soft peak stage. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until stiff.
4. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.
5. Soak each ladyfinger in the espresso and layer the ladyfingers, then top with the mascarpone cream.
6. Add another layer of ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone cream, cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Right before serving, shake cocoa powder on top. You can also add a few pieces of chocolate. Enjoy!