This is what 1,200 mile tiramisu looks like.
Dave has been joking with me about making tiramisu for the better part of a year, which about the length of time that the package of ladyfingers has been in our pantry. I bought them to keep tucked away as a “just in case” dessert, something that I could pull together if I ever just felt like it last minute. However, that also requires than i have mascarpone “tucked away,” and whipped cream “tucked away,” which never happens. When I unpacked them in the new house, I vowed that I was going to make tirasmiu, sooner rather than later, come hell or high water.
So I set out on Saturday late afternoon to do this. I read through the directions, and the directions said that it needed to sit in the fridge for five hours. That would put dessert time at 10 PM, and leave me no eggs for breakfast on Sunday.
So again, I delayed for a day.
So, The Great Tiramisu Project kicked off during naptime on Sunday, while I was arguing with DirectTV about why I thought it was unacceptable to charge me double for NFL Sunday Ticket this year vs. last year (I won, in case you were wondering).
Tiramisu- check!
Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 5 large egg yolks from large grade eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup marsala
- 1 cup whipping cream chilled
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 lb mascarpone cheese
- 2 1/2 cups freshly brewed espresso or 2 cups strong coffee
- 1/2 cup brandy or 1/2 cup marsala
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 14 ounce package alessi Savoiardi cookies
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- chocolate curls or fresh edible flower to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Zabaglione: In the top part of a double boiler, beat eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale yellow in color.In the bottom part of the double boiler, bring water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Place egg yolk mixture over water and gradually add Marsala, beating continuously. Scrape bottom and sides of pan occasionally and cook 6 to 10 minutes or until soft mounds can be formed. Transfer to bowl, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. (I threw it in the freezer for 10 minutes while I brewed coffee and whipped the cream.)
- Whip cream with 2 Tbsp sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in Mascarpone and Zabaglione and mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (skipped this step entirely). In a separate bowl, mix espresso, 2 Tbsp. sugar, Brandy and vanilla.
- Arrange 16 cookies on the bottom of a 9" by 13" pan. Carefully spoon about 1 Tbsp of the coffee mixture over each cookie so they are well saturated but not falling apart. Spread 1/3 cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp cocoa (easiest way to do this is in a shaker or tapping a mesh strainer). Repeat two more times ending with cocoa
- Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight so that cookies can soften as they absorb moisture. Garnish and serve.
Note: FYI, I was a little short on cookies. I filled in the gaps with Nilla wafers, which worked great since I was only two ladyfingers short. If you didn’t want to do that, you could get another 7-oz. package of ladyfingers. I also brewed an extra 1/2 cup of espresso. because i felt I was a little short on that front.
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