Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that uses a combination of whipped cream, custard, marscapone as well as coffee-dipped lady finger biscuits and cocoa powder. Interestingly, the word actual translates to ‘Pick me up‘ or ‘Cheer me up’ in Italian, something that I think majority of us do not know about at all. Tiramisu is a very popular dessert worldwide, having evolved into many different variations in restaurants and cafes today.
The first time I made tiramisu, the whisked cream was too watery (almost like milk) and I had no idea why. The cream had to be disposed of after that because it was too difficult to let it set in the fridge or to be used on something else. I spent a long time after that trying to use up the new supplies of finger biscuits and cocoa powder.
I have been thinking of making this dessert again ever since, and I think it took me a year to want recover from this incident and to want to try again. This time round, the cream was whisked perfectly and I was able to get it to set well in the fridge. It’s not the easiest dessert I’ve made before, but I did it.
To be very honest, I am not a big fan of tiramisu because it is 90% cream and I don’t fancy creamy desserts at all. Nevertheless, I’ve been curious about how the recipe is executed because so many people around me like to eat this dessert and I always wonder why. Well… it is nice in its own way, and I’m glad I gave this a try.
Next reciple please!
Ingredients:
- Egg yolk: 4
- Thickened cream: 1 cup
- Sugar: 1/2 cup
- Marscapone: 500g
- Lady finger biscuit: 10 sticks in all, 2 sticksper cup
- Nespresso: 1 cup, freshly brewed
- Cocoa powder: 2 tbsp
- Berries/cherries (optional): as toppings
Method:
- Whisk egg yolks, 2 tbsp cream and sugar over medium heat in a hot bath.
- Continue whisking till custard thickens and the colour becomes light yellow. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
- Whisk remaining cream till stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Whisk marscapone into custard till smooth.
- Fold marscapone mixture into whipped cream till well-combined.
- Dip lady fingers into freshly brewed nespresso, dipping once on each side. Use one lady finger for each serving cup, breaking them into thirds or quarters and placing them at the base of each cup.
- Spoon cream mixture into cup till half-filled.
- Placing remaining lady fingers, broken into halves, onto cream, using one stick per cup.
- Spoon remaining cream into cups, smoothening the top with the blade of a knife.
- Dust with coca powder.
- Chill for one hour before serving.
Tricks:
- When dipping the lady finger biscuits into the nespresso, do this quickly, soaking each side only once. If you do this more than once, you will not be able to pick it up anymore because it would become too soggy!
- You can top the serving cup with some cherries or berries to serve. This works well with kids!
Serving:
5 dessert cups
