The Most Decadent Tiramisu

Tiramisu--who doesn’t absolutely love it? And it not only gives us in the Charli Ann’s kitchen another reason to bake something yummy, it lets us show off our fabulous Urban Dwellers Coffee! Win-win for sure!

First: THE DISH.

​Let’s face it, you could make Tiramisu in anything, but part of the fun of it is seeing all those decadent layers when you’re done, so you’ll probably want something glass and pretty deep. The more layers you can see, the prettier it looks. These kinds of dishes are called trifle dishes or bowls and they work perfect. Mine is round, but you can find them in other shapes, too. Some of them are even footed for a really formal look.

And now to get the baking started with ladyfingers! Yes, you can make them yourself. And they’re not hard at all. 

But first, a little history.

Ladyfingers have been around since, like, the 15th century. People used to think they were the hardest thing ever to make (that was before stand mixers and good refrigeration, of course), and even though we almost always think about them as Italian, they’re said to be a French invention, created in the court of the Duke of Savoy in honor of the French king, and then they became the official cookie of the French court. And, yes, they are considered to be a cookie, even though they don’t have any butter. Go figure. They can be eaten as a finger food, or with warm beverages, in trifles or tiramisu, or even as a teething biscuit for babies! 

Whatever they can be used for, well, I sure think tiramisu is the best, so here we go!

Recipe

Ladyfingers

3 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Time to get out your double boiler again, or just a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl above it. Break all three eggs into the bowl, add the sugar, and stir with a whisk all the while it’s coming to temperature.​

​You want to make sure they stay in solution. You don’t want scrambled eggs, after all! The sugar will dissolve while you do that. If you have a thermometer, keep stirring until it reaches 160 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, stir until you’re sure all the sugar has dissolved and the steam has started to support the mixture

​It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. Now, move the egg and sugar mixture to your mixer and whip it on high until it's at least double

It will have lightened up in color to a soft yellow and look just beautiful and smooth, kind of like soft serve ice cream. Now carefully fold in the vanilla and the flour. You’ll see on the video how it makes a beautiful, soft dough that supports itself.

Piping time! Use a ½ inch tip, either a star or round end, depending on the look you’re after. Line a baking sheet with parchment and consider the dish you’ve picked, because the shape of your cookies depends on your final container

​For instance, if you’re using a round dish, pipe curved or round shapes that will fit in it. If you’re using a square or rectangular dish, then pipe straight shapes. For the sake of ease, the video shows straight ones. 
Pipe your chosen shape, giving it a little lift, or tail, at the end to break the tension. Standard shapes are about three inches long and about an inch wide, kind of like, well, a finger. Guess that’s no surprise.

Before you slip them into a 350 degree oven, dust them generously with powdered sugar, then bake them for 8 to 15 minutes. The important thing is to bake only one tray at a time. We really want them to rise, after all. They’ll be crunchy and just a little golden when they’re done.

If you do this ahead of time, store them in an airtight container as soon as you can or they’ll start to soften up, and you want them crisp for this. Trust me. 

Now for the Cream:
Tiramisu Cream

1 c. heavy whipping cream
7 egg yolks
¾  cup + 2 T sugar
2 c. mascarpone ​

Whip the heavy cream on high until firm peaks form. (Remember, pay close attention to it, especially at the end. You don’t want to make butter.)  Set the whipped cream aside.​

Separate the eggs if you haven’t already and mix the egg yolks with sugar. Now, over to the double boiler again.

Whip the yolks and sugar together while warming them for two to three minutes and it will lighten up from sunny yellow to a light lemony yellow and thicken. You can see the consistency in the video.

​When it does, whip on high in the stand mixer until they are cool. Then add the mascarpone and whip again until fluffy.

What is Mascarpone? Well, simply speaking, it’s Italian cream cheese. In Italy, it’s called a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale, which means it’s important enough in Italian cuisine to be a traditionally approved regional food product recognized by the Italian government. They really like their cheese in Italy, I guess, but I don't blame them. Some people try to substitute American cream cheese, but it’s not the same. Mascarpone is a little curdy-er, and a little more acidic and helps to give tiramisu more depth of flavor. In fact, if you go to buy mascarpone in an Italian grocery, chances are you’ll find more than one kind and the deli server will want to know what you’re going to do with it so they can give you the right one.  Go figure.

By this time, your cheese mixture will look and feel kind of like pudding. Now, stir in the whipped cream very carefully, half at a time. When you’re done, this is going to taste like the BEST PUDDING EVER!
​

Dip

2 c. hot, strong coffee
¼ c. sugar

Combine the coffee and sugar while the coffee is still hot so that all the sugar dissolves. ​

​Assembly
​
Dip your baked and cooled ladyfingers into the coffee mixture.

Do this pretty fast. If you let them lay in the coffee more than a couple of seconds, they will just dissolve into it. They’re really delicate, but a pretty quick dunk and transfer to your serving dish will work great

Lay in one layer of cookies and follow it with a layer of cream to cover, then keep alternating until your dish is full. The last layer should be cream and over that, dust a little cocoa powder. 

Now, this is the hard part. You should let it sit a bit, probably overnight, so that the ladyfingers absorb all the flavor of the coffee and the cream and soften up all the way through. Come on. You can do it….

Now that you’ve been patient, GRAB A SPOON AND DIG IN! It’s worth the wait!