Tiramisu
Tiramisu is my old faithful. While not too complicated, the delicious layers of boozed up coffee-ness and creamy custard are trusted crowd pleasers. Its also the cake my mom usually requests I make for special events. A little while back we went over to my parents house for Rosh Hashana, and this baby made an appearance. While not a traditional dessert for the Jewish New Year, its a traditional dessert for our family!
It might be intimidating to make the custard cream by cooking egg yolks, but really once you get the hang of it (and honestly it’s much easier than you think!), you’ll be amazed at the great power of deliciousness you now command. The key is to always be whisking, making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom or sides of the saucepan, and to not turn up the heat too high to avoid overcooking and getting clumps of egg.
After that is the whipped cream and boozy coffee dipped ladyfingers - easy peasy! Then one tiny last step is where my version of the cake differs slightly from the classic. Instead of a dusting of cocoa, I grate dark chocolate over the cake to give it a touch more sweetness and richness.
And thats it! In no time, you can be sitting around a table digging into a delightful tiramisu.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does, and let me know what you think!
- 12
- 30 minutes
- 5 minutes
Ingredients
For the custard
- 6 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pound mascarpone OR ricotta cheese
- 7 oz ladyfingers
- 1.5 cups strong coffee
- 2-4 tbsp rum, to taste
- a bar or a few squares of dark chocolate
Directions
Note: I use a 9x13 pan to prepare this cake and make it 1 layer. If you’d like to make a taller cake (2 layers), split the lady fingers, custard, and whipped cream and layer them in a smaller pan, such as 7x11.
- Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and milk in a saucepan.
- Cook mixture over medium heat while whisking constantly. Once mixture starts bubbling, cook for an additional minute. Then take off heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. *
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. In the mean time….
- Whip your cream and vanilla until soft peaks form.
- Mix your rum and coffee. Dip ladyfingers into the boozy coffee and then line your pan with the soaked ladyfingers.
- Once yolk mixture has cooled, lightly whisk with your cheese of choice (mascarpone or ricotta). Avoid over mixing.
- Layer custard on top of lady fingers, followed by whipped cream.
- Grate dark chocolate over entire top of cake.
- Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
- Enjoy :)
* Got too much graininess in your mixture? A little secret: you could give it a tiny blitz in the blender before whisking with the mascarpone or ricotta. The mix might be a little more liquid-y, especially if you’re using ricotta which is much softer than mascarpone, so a little extra chill time might be required.