Tiramisu

We finished our Italian Valentine's Day meal this year with a simple, but classic dessert - tiramisu. It was amazing. And so simple!

Tiramisu

6 large egg yolks

3/4 cup white sugar

2/3 cup half and half

2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

16 oz mascarpone cheese, softened

1/2 cup very strong brewed coffee, at room temp

2 packages lady finger cookies

chocolate syrup

shaved chocolate 

Begin by mixing your egg yolks, sugar and half and half in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Whisk well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. When it comes to a gentle boil, cook one minute, still stirring, then remove from heat. Allow to cool about 10 minutes, then place plastic wrap down onto the custard (to keep from developing a skin) and refrigerate at least one hour.

Once custard has cooled for an hour, beat very cold heavy cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Do not over beat.

I found these at Publix.

I used at 9" x 9" dish. No need to grease. I had to break a little off the ends of three of the lady fingers. Chef's reward!

I put my coffee in a small measuring cup with a spout and gently poured half of my coffee over the lady fingers. Make sure you coat them evenly, but don't add so much coffee that it stands in the bottom.

I had laid out my mascarpone when I got up that morning, so it had been out three or four hours and was really soft.

I removed the custard from the fridge and stirred it a little.

I added about a third of one of the tubs of mascarpone.

I mixed it through with a whisk by hand to loosen up the custard. Then I added the rest of the mascarpone in about three batches. It was easier to incorporate it that way.

I took half of my custard mixture and put it on the lady fingers.

I used a small offset spatula to spread it evenly. Then I added half my whipped cream.

I took the rest of my lady fingers and placed them on a clean plate. I then gently poured coffee over them. Doing this on a plate keeps your custard from getting dirty looking or soggy.

I took the lady fingers from the plate and gently placed them on top of the custard layer.

I added the last of the custard to top the cookies. I spread that and then spread the whipped cream. I covered it with plastic wrap and hid it in the fridge! I had about a cup of whipped cream left over. I placed it in the fridge in case I wanted to top off the tiramisu and smooth it out when I took off the plastic wrap. I actually didn't need to. The plastic wrap smoothed it out. Brack ended up eating the whipped cream the next day!  

I allowed this a good seven or eight hours in the fridge to set. Gerald made a pot of decaf while the kids cleaned off the table and I plated dessert. I used a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup to make squiggles on the plate before placing a slice of tiramisu on top. Then I had some dark chocolate that I used my  micro-plane to grate on top. It was as pretty as it was delicious. It was really quiet when we sat back down. Everyone was too busy enjoying this to talk! It's a great balance of sweet and rich, smooth and texture. No wonder it's been around so long! A lot of people like it better the second day. I tried it for breakfast (don't judge), but thought it was too wet tasting. 

I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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