Tiramisu

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Tiramisu is a coffee-infused Italian dessert made with ladyfingers dipped in coffee and layered with a whipped mascarpone and egg mixture. Tiramisu is topped with cocoa and is an absolutely stunning dessert!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Tiramisu

Prep Time 35 minutes

Chilling Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 35 minutes

Servings -16 servings

Calories 280kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $7.45

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (Note 1)
3 large pasteurized eggs, separated (at room temperature)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 container (8 oz.) mascarpone cheese (Note 2)
1-1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)
3/4 cups cold heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons dark rum, brandy, or coffee liqueur (skip for alcohol-free)
1 package (7 oz.) ladyfingers (savoiardi or pavesini -- Note 3)
1 tablespoon dutch-process cocoa powder, separated

US - Metric

Instructions

PREP: See Note 1. Set coffee mixture aside in a shallow bowl that has plenty of room to dip the entire cookie at once. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch pan with cooking spray, set aside for now. Separate 3 eggs -- yolks from whites. Add yolks to a bowl attached to a stand mixer and whites to a separate bowl for now. Take the mascarpone out of the fridge.
EGG YOLKS: Pour sugar on top of the egg yolks. Attach whisk attachment and beat at high speed for 6 for 10 minutes or until it color changes to a very light (almost white) yellow and becomes quite thick. Scrape sides occasionally as needed. Turn off mixer then use a spatula to scrape in all of the mascarpone. Add in vanilla paste or extract. Beat on low speed just until combined and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape all of this mixture to a separate very large bowl.
CREAM: No need to clean out stand mixer bowl or whisk yet. To the stand mixer bowl, add in heavy cream (cold--straight from the fridge) and beat, still with whisk attachment, at high speed 6 for 3 minutes or until medium peaks form (not soft, but not stiff/hard -- here's a helpful graphic). Be careful to not over-beat. Use a spatula to gently mix the cream into the egg yolk mixture. Now wash out the stand mixer bowl and whisk being sure to thoroughly dry both.
EGG WHITES: Add egg whites and salt to stand mixer bowl. Beat on high speed 6 until eggs are stiff, bright white, and foamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the egg whites to the cream mixture and very gently fold into the mixture with a spatula. When mostly incorporated, add the rest of the egg whites and again very gently fold the egg whites into the mixture to combine.
DIP COOKIES: If using, add in the liquor to the coffee and stir. Very quickly dip one cookie at a time in the mixture (don't soak at all!) and then place in the pan. Line the base of the pan, breaking cookies apart to fit if needed.
ARRANGE: Spread half the cream mixture on top. Through a fine mesh sieve, sprinkle Sift 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder through a fine-mesh sieve onto the top. Then repeat -- cookies dipped in coffee followed by the remaining cream mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 6-8 hours, preferably overnight.
ENJOY: Right before serving, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder on top through a fine mesh sieve. Cut into pieces, serve, and enjoy! (To get clean cuts: use a sharp knife. Run the knife under hot water, quickly dry it off, and then make a cut. Repeat for each cut.)

Video

Notes

Note 1: Espresso: Boil 1-1/4 cups water; whisk in 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (This is much stronger than brewed espresso which is what we are going after for this dessert. An okay substitute: very strongly brewed coffee).

Note 2: Mascarpone: Avoid any low-fat/low-quality versions which are likely to make the cream layer runny. Typically you can find mascarpone in the dairy case. It's best the eggs and mascarpone is at room temperature, but it shouldn't sit out longer than 15-20 minutes or it could get too warm and break.

Note 3: Ladyfingers: Your local grocery store may carry these cookies, but I've never had any luck! We order them online -- we've tried these, these, and these. Only use the crunchy ladyfingers, cake-style ladyfingers will get too soft.

Nutrition