I adore tiramisu. It cheers me up and it is definitely hard to say no. The other night when I dined at Bottega Louie I had an internal battle with myself over ordering the classic Italian cake and the semifreddo. I decided to be different so I went ahead and blurted out “semifreddo” to the server before there was any opportunity for me to take it back and change it to tiramisu. But, tiramisu knows she has me under her spell.
Tiramisu yields 10″ round
6 yolks
1/4 C sugar
6 whites
1/4 C sugar
1 C cake flour, sifted
1/2 C powdered sugar
4 yolks
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C coffee flavored liqueur, such as Kahlua, Tia Maria
1 1/2 # mascarpone
1 C cocoa powder
2 C coffee syrup
Ladyfingers
1. Place yolks in mixing bowl of a standing mixer. Using whisk attachment, whip yolks on medium speed.
2. Slowly “rain” in the sugar, by shaking sugar in slowly so that the sugar will dissolve into the yolks as air is incorporated.
3. Continue whisking until yolk mixture is pale yellow and reaches the “ribbon” stage. To test, use a spoon to make a trail, the mixture should hold for at least 3-5 seconds at ribbon stage before merging together again.
4. Remove from bowl and reserve into a larger bowl.
5. Place egg whites in a clean and dry mixing bowl. (very important for bowl to be clean and dry, any lint or small particles will cause whites to not whisk properly) Using whisk attachment, whip whites on medium speed until foamy.
6. Rain in sugar. Continue whisking on medium speed until whites form medium soft peaks…should look like snowy soft mountain peaks.
7. Using a balloon whisk (which helps mixture to not lose any aeration), gently fold in whites mixture into yolk mixture. Fold in the motion of dragging whisk from side of bowl into center to full incorporate. Mixture should be streaky yellow/white.
8. Gently fold in sifted cake flour in same manner. Ladyfinger batter should be nice and thick now.
9. Spoon batter into piping bag fitted with plain tip #5.
10. Preheat oven at 350F.
11. Pipe batter onto sheet pan lined with parchment paper. 3″ in length is recommended. Pipe ladyfingers about 1″ apart because they will expand as they bake.
12. Dust with powdered sugar before placing into 350F oven.
13. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Remove and allow to cool.
Coffee Syrup
1/2 C sugar
2 C water
1/4 C ground coffee or espresso
1. Place sugar and water in saucepot.
2. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
3. Add coffee or espresso and cover to steep for 1/2 hour.
4. Strain and discard grounds. Keep syrup in bowl or container to dip ladyfingers.
Sabayon
1. Fill large saucepot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a medium simmer. This is will be the “bain marie” or water bath.
2. Place yolks and sugar in mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Place bowl on top of bain marie and whisk vigorously for 5-8 minutes until sugar dissolves and mixture becomes a pale yellow.
4. Stream in liqueur, continue whisking vigorously until mixture becomes light and foamy. Remove from heat.
5. Place mascarpone in mixing bowl with whisk attachment and whip until soft.
6. Gently fold in sabayon.
Assembly
Tools needed: 10″ cake ring, 10″ cake board
1. Spray cake ring with pan spray.
2. Line ring with ladyfingers with the flat side facing in.
3. Coat ladyfingers in coffee syrup. Line bottom with ladyfingers. If ladyfingers don’t fit perfectly, don’t worry, break them into small pieces to fill in any gaps.
4. Spread mascarpone mixture on top of soaked ladyfingers.
5. Dust with cocoa.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 to create 3 layers.
7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours for cake to set.
8. Unmold and serve.
