April 4, 2014
Rob
0

Recipe: Traditional Tiramisù

Don’t ask me how this blog existed so far without a Tiramisù recipe. There’s simply no excuse!

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This is one of the most famous desserts in the world, yet it is quite recent. Apparently (but you know, in the history of pastry, nothing is for certain), it was invented in Treviso, near Venice, in the 1960’s in a family-run restaurant.

Its name might sound a bit funny and it literally means “cheer-me-up”/”lift-me-up”, probably because of its high energetic content coming from the eggs (some also say because of its – unverified – aphrodisiac power).

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This famous dessert contains three great Italian ingredients:

  • Ladyfingers: these biscuits were originally invented in the region of Savoy (which is now in France, but previously belonged to Italy) and are still widespread in the former territories of the House of Savoy (e.g. Piedmont and Sardinia)
  • Mascarpone cheese, originally from an area not far from Milan
  • Coffee
  • (In addition to these, the mascarpone mousse is very similar to an Italian sabayon with Marsala wine)

Almost every household in Italy has its own special recipe of Tiramisù: with egg yolks, with egg whites or whipped cream, with or without Marsala wine… and the variants are endless.

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What I tried to write in this post is a traditional recipe (which is also the best I’ve tasted so far, in my humble opinion): Tiramisù is often a homemade dessert made with simple ingredients and simple techniques. For this reason, the original version contains raw eggs: this definitely makes it a potentially hazardous dessert (salmonella!) and for sure you won’t find a pastry shop that dares serving you this recipe.

Nevertheless, if you buy good-quality, fresh eggs (and you handle them carefully: see notes below the recipe), you sensibly limit the health risks… and trust me, it is really worth it because this is one of the best desserts ever!

 

Traditional Tiramisù (with raw eggs)

Print recipe
Traditional Tiramisù (with raw eggs)

Ingredients

Ladyfinger spongecake

4Egg whites
75gGranulated sugar
4Egg yolks
50gBread flour
40gCornstarch
Powdered sugar (as needed)

Mascarpone mousse

3Egg whites
80gGranulated sugar
3Egg yolks
50gGranulated sugar
250gMascarpone cream cheese
3 tablespoonsMarsala wine (or any sweet dessert wine - optional)

Decoration

Cocoa powder (as needed)

Coffee syrup

3Espresso coffees (room temperature)
2 tablespoonsGranulated sugar

Directions

Ladyfinger spongecake

1
Whip the egg whites and granulated sugar at medium speed in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment.
2
When the egg whites form stiff peaks, set aside
3
Now whip the egg yolks and vanilla seeds for about 10 minutes at high speed until the mixture is thick and creamy
4
Using a whisk, gently stir the egg whites to restore a smooth appearance and then add the whipped egg yolks
5
Using a spatula, fold the egg whites and egg yolks together. Don't overmix: keep the mixture streaked in appearance since you will have to keep on mixing once you add the flour
6
Sift the flour and cornstarch together and incorporate into the egg mixture gently in three times, taking care not to deflate the batter.
7
Place the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip and pipe a set of strips close together (at least as long as the desired size of your Tiramisù) onto a paper-lined sheet pan. This ladyfinger rectangle should be big enough to cut two spongecake layers for the Tiramisù.
8
Sprinkle the surface of the cookies with powdered sugar. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves, then sprinkle again a second time
9
Bake at 210°C approximately 10-12 minutes with the oven door slightly open.

Mascarpone mousse

10
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks on medium speed with the granulated sugar. Set aside.
11
Whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar for around 10 minutes at high speed
12
With a spatula or a wooden spoon, soften the (room-temperature) mascarpone in a clean bowl
13
Pour the whipped egg yolks and mix gently with a whisk
14
Add 3 tablespoons of Marsala wine
15
Gently incorporate the whipped egg whites in three times. Always use an upward movement from the centre to the sides of the bowl to avoid deflating the mousse.
16
Stop mixing as soon as all the ingredients are incorporated and the mousse is lump-free. The final consistency must be thick and not runny (so be careful not to overmix).

Assembling the Tiramisù

17
Cut two ladyfinger layers and place one of them into a bottomless mould
18
Make the espressos and add the sugar. When the coffee is at room temperature, brush it generously on the ladyfinger layers.
19
Pour half of the mascarpone mousse on the first ladyfinger layer
20
Sprinkle the mousse evenly with cocoa powder
21
Pour a part of the remaining mousse until you're able to level the cake with a spatula
22
Using a piping bag fitted with a medium plain tip, pipe a decorative pattern all around the edges of the Tiramisù...
23
...and then across the top of the Tiramisù
24
Finally, just before serving, sprinkle the top with cocoa powder and remove the mould

Note

  • The Tiramisù traditionally contains raw eggs, so pay utmost attention when cracking them to limit health risks: crack them on a flat surface (and not on the edge of your bowl), wash your hands before and after touching them, and make sure that the egg yolks and whites are never in contact with the external part of the shell.
  • Since the ladyfingers are normally relatively dry, it is better to let the Tiramisù sit for a few hours in the fridge before serving: this way the mousse with moisten the spongecake.
  • The Tiramisù holds well for 2 days in the fridge.
  • In alternative to a baked round/rectangle of ladyfinger batter, you can pipe (or buy) single ladyfinger biscuits and carefully dip them into coffee before placing them into the mould.
  • You can experiment with any other type of biscuits and cookies to replace the ladyfingers (hint: try speculoos!)

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