I remember the first time my friend Jen had me over to her place. She had just moved into her new condo and had a few friends over. She made dinner for us…I think a chicken dish in the slow cooker because we had spent all day out in the city. She also made dessert. I must really be a good friend, because she treated me to one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever eaten. Tiramisu. She made it from scratch. Since then, Tiramisu has been one of my favorite desserts.
If you don’t know what Tiramisu is, imagine this: ladyfinger biscuits soaked in espresso and rum, layered with mascarpone custard, whipped cream. But wait! You repeat those layers a second time, and finished with a cocoa topping. It’s the perfect dessert to make because it is so tasty and impressive.
For a long time, I would save this treat for special occasions, getting it only if I went to a nice restaurant. I didn’t want to make it at home because I was intimidated by the process. It requires a half dozen eggs and does have several steps to complete.
Let’s just say—that was then, and this is now, and I’m a whole lot wiser about how to enjoy desserts. I no longer wait for special occasions!
About an hour before making the tiramisu, do some prep. The first, make sure you have a few bowls for mixing. The second, put one of those bowls in the freezer to chill it. This bowl will be used later for making the whipped cream. And lastly, make sure you have enough eggs. One of the layers is a fluffy custard and it requires more eggs than you would think. Let the eggs get to room temperature.
Make the Custard
When ready to make the tiramisu, begin with separating the yolks.
Place the yolks in a saucepan, along with sugar and put on the stove. Whisk together over medium heat and add a little milk.
Be careful during this part. The idea is to blend it all together, not actually cook it. If you cook too long or the temperature is too high, the custard will turn to scrambled eggs.
(In the photo above, I pulled the custard just before it was starting to morph into sweet scrambled eggs. Luckily, it came out fine.)
Set aside the custard to cool. When it is cool enough to touch, place the custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set in the fridge to chill for about an hour.
While the custard is chilling, in a small bowl, make the instant espresso according to instructions on the jar and set aside.
Make the Whipped Cream
When the hour is about up, make the whipped cream. Pull the chilled bowl and add heavy whipping cream and sugar and a touch of vanilla. Rapidly whisk together for a few minutes until stiff peaks start to form.
Next, take out the custard from the fridge and add the mascarpone to it it. Mix together so that the custard becomes light and fluffy.
One last thing to do is add the rum to the espresso mix. Once that is done, you’re ready to assemble.
Assembling and Layering the Tiramisu
In a baking dish, place a layer of ladyfinger biscuits. The dish I used was 11×7, but you can use any sized dish, arranging or cutting the ladyfingers to cover the bottom.
The next step, make sure the ladyfingers are soaked with the rum and espresso. You can do this several ways. One way is to dip the ladyfingers in the bowl and saturate them before placing on the bottom of the dish. I chose to sprinkle the rum and espresso over the ladyfingers because I wanted to make sure they weren’t too soggy. You can saturate the ladyfingers to your liking. I did it until they were moistened but not soggy.
Now, start to layer. Begin with spreading a layer of custard over the ladyfingers.
Then, layer with the whipped cream.
Repeat the process again so that there are two layers.
On the last layer of whipped cream, sprinkle cocoa powder over the top so that a fine layer of it covers the entire tiramisu.
The final step is to place in the refrigerator for about 4 hours until it sets.
That’s the hardest part…waiting.
But it’s worth it!
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Tiramisu
Equipment
- 2-quart sauce pan
- Balloon whisk
- Hand mixer
- 13" x 9" glass casserole dish
Ingredients
Custard-Cheese Filling
- 6 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese (about 2 packages)
Whipped Cream
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Ladyfinger Biscuits
- 2 cups instant espresso room temperature
- 2 tbsp rum
- 14 ounces ladyfinger biscuits (about 2 packages)
Topping
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- About an hour before making, take out the eggs to let them get to room temperature.
- Make the instant espresso according to the instructions and let cool to room temperature.
- (Optional) Place a medium bowl to chill in the freezer at this time can help when it comes to whisking up the whipped cream later.
Prepare the Custard
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolk and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk. Continue to gently whisk over medium-low heat until the mixture just begins to gently bubble (about 185 degrees Fahrenheit). You'll notice the egg sticking slightly to the whisk, getting thicker.Note: Custard is very delicate and will curdle (turn to scrambled eggs) if you do not watch carefully.
- Immediately remove from heat and place in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for about 1 hour.
- Take out the mascarpone cheese to bring to room temperature.
Make the Tiramisu
- When completely cooled (after about an hour) take the custard out. Using a hand mixer, blend until thickened but fluffy. Clean blender and set aside.
- Using a spoon, fold the mascarpone into the custard and combine until smooth. Set aside.
- Make the whipped cream. Take the empty bowl and whisk out of the refrigerator and add the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Using the hand mixer, blend together until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In a small dredging dish, combine the espresso and rum.
- Assemble the tiramisu. Take a ladyfinger biscuit and dip into the espresso-rum mix---not long, only a second or two--and arrange on the bottom of a 13"x 9" glass casserole dish. Repeat with all biscuits until you've formed one layer.
- Spread half of the custard-cheese mixture over the ladyfingers.
- Spread half of the whipped cream mixture over that.
- Repeat process for one more layer and then sprinkle the top with the cocoa powder.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours until set.
The original recipe had measurements for a 11×7 pan (including the photos that show this size). I’ve since updated the amounts and instructions so that this recipe accommodates a 13×9 dish. I’ve found that using a dish this size is better suited for most packages of ladyfingers and doesn’t result in leftover biscuits. Also, the bigger pan size allows for more friends and family to enjoy!