This is a riff on Beth Le Manach’s foolproof tiramisu recipe. I made some minor adjustments and skipped making the cake, opting for the Savoiardi lady fingers instead. I recommend you make this tiramisu a full day before you want to serve it. The coffee will soak through the lady fingers and it will get extra delicious.
It takes about 20-30 minutes, plus the overnight chill, and makes about 10 servings.
You’ll need a deep, oven-proof casserole dish, a couple of bowls, and a stand or handheld mixer.
For the filling:
1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla
1 ½ (350 ml) cups heavy cream
¾ cup (150 g) powdered sugar
5 egg yolks
¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
8 oz (230 g)mascarpone cheese
a generous pinch of salt
The coffee soak
4 shots of barista coffee (or 1/2 cup of very strong coffee), cooled.
Frangelico or Amaretto to tast
a pinch of sugar
1 tbsp of water (or to taste)
To put it together
400 g of sponge cake lady fingers (which is about one bag)
4 tbsp of grated dark chocolate
25 g of cocoa power (the fanciest you can get!)
Let’s get started!
Prep the coffee soak: combine the coffee and sugar.
Add the liquor (if you are using it) one tablespoon at a time to taste. If you go too far, balance it out with the water until you reach a flavour you are happy with. Set aside.
Make the filling: In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream, the power sugar, the vanilla and salt until you can see firm peaks. If you can hold the bowl over your head without the mixture falling out, that’s a good sign you’re done!
Beat the eggs and granulated sugar in a stand mixer or a handheld mixer on high for about 7-8 minutes. They will double in volume and become very fluffy.
Scoop the mascarpone (this is easier if the cheese is at room temperature) into another bowl and fold in the whipped cream slowly.
Next, fold in the egg mixture. Make sure you are very gentle as to not deflate the whipped cream too much when adding the egg.
Assembling the tiramisu: On your casserole dish, place a generous dollop of filling and spread it lightly.
Pour the coffee soak into a shallow dish. This will help control how much you soak the lady fingers. You want to avoid saturating them too much or they will become soggy!
One by one, roll each lady finger in the coffee soak until all sides are covered. Immediately place them on along the bottom of the casserole dish until the dish is covered. They don’t have to be tightly squished together. In fact, you want some space between the lady fingers for the filling to squeeze through.
Add about a third of your filling and spread it over the lady finger layer.
Shake a thin layer of cocoa powder over the filling.
Start the layer process again - you should have 2 or 3 layers, depending on how long or deep your casserole is.
Finish with the cocoa powder and chill overnight.
To serve, grate the chocolate over the cocoa powder and serve with a chocolate-covered coffee bean.
Bon appetit!