Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. It’s the perfect combination of rich creamy flavors with a light and airy texture that simply melts in your mouth. Even though tiramisu is available at almost every Italian restaurant in NYC, I have always wanted to make this dessert myself. I don’t know why, but I kept putting it off for years. Maybe I was intimidated by the mascarpone cheese or whipping the egg yolks, but I finally decided to make tiramisu over the holidays. Everyone and their mother must’ve decided to make tiramisu the same day I did because we could not find any store with mascarpone cheese! Every single store we went to was completely out. We had to drive to another town to finally get my mascarpone cheese. At that point I was thinking, “This tiramisu better be worth it!
Boyyyy was it worth it! The tiramisu came out absolutely perfect. It was SO incredibly delicious – we couldn’t stop eating it. I can honestly say it tasted better than what we’ve ordered at many restaurants. Trust me, I’m not being biased here ;).
If you’re having a dinner party or get together soon, definitely give my tiramisu a try! Follow all the directions carefully and you won’t be disappointed!
Recipe
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
* I highly recommend making the tiramisu 2 days ahead of time so all the flavors can combine properly. It tastes its best at this point!
INGREDIENTS:
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2/3 cup whole or low-fat milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups mascarpone cheese
1 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
4 tbsp. dark rum
24 ladyfingers
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a scratch-resistent medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add milk and continue mixing for another 2 minutes. (If you don’t have a scratch-resistent saucepan, whisk ingredients in a bowl and pour into saucepan for heating.) Once mixture is well blended, place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil while constantly stirring with a regular whisk. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes. Stir mixture every 5 minutes during this time. Then add mascarpone cheese and whisk with an electric mixer until smooth and well combined, about 3 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat heavy cream, vanilla and 2 tablespoons sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold half of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture to lighten it. Then add the mascarpone mixture to the remaining whipped cream and mix until blended. Set aside.
3. Combine coffee and rum in a shallow bowl. Working with one at a time, quickly dip both sides of ladyfingers into coffee mixture (no more than 2 seconds or the ladyfingers will become mush). Arrange ladyfingers, sugar side down, on the bottom of a 7×11 inch dish. Spread half of mascarpone cream mixture onto ladyfingers. Repeat with another layer of soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone cream mixture on top.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours; however, I highly recommend making it 2 days ahead of time.
5. Dust with cocoa powder right before serving.
