Tiramisu

 Hi again :) This week's recipe is Italian tiramisu. I used store-bought mascarpone cheese as I had decided to do it in the morning so there wouldn't have been enough time to do homemade mascarpone cheese. Tiramisu was absolutely fabulous! I ate it not even 2 hours after finishing the preparation. Plus it was eaten within 2 days, so good it was.
The ladyfingers (savoiardi) biscuits have to be soaked ONLY for 1 - 2 seconds to avoid making it all too soggy. Fast in, fast out. I recommend you to taste the espresso which is used for soaking the savoiardi biscuits to avoid it being too bitter, because then the savoiardi would be too bitter, too and that wouldn't not be good. So add more suger if needed. When it comes to amaretto liqueur it's not typical for tiramisu (marsala wine is the tradition) but it has a very nice almond flavour and I use it because it's pretty difficult to buy here this marsala wine. Anyway, don't be afraid to sprinkle the biscuits a little bit more with it - it has to have its taste :) The sweetness of the mascarpone cream is again up to you - I prefer it being sweeter 'cause the savoiardi themselves aren't too sweet and whole tiramisu is then sprinkled with pretty bitter cocoa powder and if you don't want it to be one big super bitter square make the cream sweeter. Next time I'd add the liqueur also into the cream to make its flavour more liquorish and well, the flavour of the liqueur wasn't too intense in these savoiardi.
Recipe for you:

You'll need for aprox. 10 pieces:

• 750 g mascarpone cheese
• 200 g savoiardi (ladyfingers)
• 6 eggs
• 120 g sugar (probably even more)
• 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 150 ml espresso (or very strong unsweetened instant coffee - 30 g/150 ml watter)
• 5 tbps amaretto liqueur (or marsala wine)

Directions:

1. Prepare espresso in coffee maker or very strong unsweetened coffee your usual way if not having the coffee maker and then add 40 g of sugar (maybe more - depends on you taste, it should be sweet but with strong coffee taste) and let cool.

2. Separate egg yolks and egg whites.
3. Add 40 g of sugar to a bowl with egg yolks and 40 g of sugar to a bowl with egg whites.
4. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light and foamy (about 10 minutes).

5. Whisk egg whites with sugar until white, foamy and tough.
6. In another bowl stir mascarpone cheese until creamy and soft (I didn't do this, but nothing happened, though it's better to do it - you'll avoid the possibility that the mascarpone curdles).
7. Add the whisked egg yolks to mascarpone and stir very gently until creamy and soft and without any lumps (in case they are here it had curdled and there's nothing you can do about it, but it's still usable).
8. Very carefully add the whisked egg whites to the cheese mixture until creamy.

9. Soak savoiardi in the sweet coffee - ONLY for 1 to 2 seconds.
10. Place the soaked savoiardi into cake form (it should have a square shape) and sprinkle them with amaretto.
11. Spread evenly the cheese cream all over the biscuits and wrap the form with plastic foil.
12. Refrigerate the cake for about 2 hours. Sprinkle each piece with cocoa dust - don't be afraid to use a lot of it (it's very tasty).

Bon Appetite!

The Final Word:

I'm totally in love with this tiramisu thingie :) It's so soft and silky, tender, delicate...gorgeous! And here's tip for you: all ingredients should have the same temperature otherwise the cream won't mix together well and it could curdle.
Rating: *****/*****