I recently had dinner with my cousin, Annie and her family. Often when we eat together I make a tiramisu. Tiramisu is her husband Lukas’s favorite dessert, so he has been my #1 tester for this tiramisu recipe.
Tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian. With coffee, chocolate, and a splash of booze, it does just that. This tiramisu recipe is a blend of the recipes I learned from Chef John on my Tuscan cooking vacation and from Chef Luigi in a cooking class at Tuscany at Your Table in Atlanta. Eating it makes me feel like I’m back in Italy.
The key to this recipe is the using crispy lady fingers. Not: Folding whipped cream into the mascapone makes this version of tiramisu lighter compared to many tiramisu recipes. If you like a more marscapone-centric version, reduce the cream to 2/3 cup. Enjoy this little taste of Italy!
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Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 2 oz dark chocolate (70-80% cacao)
- 7 oz Italian (crisp) lady fingers
- 250 g (8.8 oz) Marscapone
- 3 Tbsp. sugar (granulated)
- 1 Tbsp each of Marsala, Gran Marnier, and Amaretto
- 1 1/2 c. coffee, cooled to room temperature
- 1 c. whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp. Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. cocoa powder, for dusting
- 1 Tbsp chocolate covered espresso beans (optional)
- Raspberry, cherry, or strawberry to garnish (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 Make coffee and cool to room temperature. Chop chocolate into small slivers
- Step 2 Mix marscapone with 3 Tbsp. sugar until well blended. Then stir in the three liquors. Don’t over mix.
- Step 3 Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
- Step 4 Fold the whipped cream into the marscapone mixture. Do not over mix.
- Step 5 To assemble, dip each lady finger into the coffee for a count of 2, then place in a single layer on the bottom of an 8×8 dish. Warning: If you let the lady finger sit too long in the coffee, it will disintegrate.
- Step 6 Cover the first layer of lady fingers with the marscapone/whipped cream mixture. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate
- Step 7 Dust with cocoa powder.
- Step 8 Repeat layers: 1) coffee-dipped lady fingers, 2) marscapone/whipped cream mixture, 3) chopped chocolate, 4) dusting of cocoa. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
- Step 9 Slice into squares. Top with chocolate covered espresso bean and/or berry to serve.
Step-by-step Photos
The BEST!!!