March's challenge!

Posted by - Veronica

I have just three words for you, bakers: Tira. Mi. Su.
I believe this translates from the Italian as "Yum. Nom. Num." At least, that's what it says on the internet.



Seriously, tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts, and something that I always consider a delicacy when I see it on a restaurant menu. Because, who makes tiramisu at home? Not me, certainly. And even though I'm choosing it now, I'm still a little intimidated by it. But I found a great recipe over at All Recipes, which has a ton of reviews. Also some helpful advice in the reviews, so I definitely recommend popping over and reading. I'll note some of them here, though, as well.

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
2 tablespoons rum
2 (3 ounce) packages ladyfinger cookies
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute, remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly. Cover tightly and chill in refrigerator 1 hour.

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream with vanilla until stiff peak form. Whisk mascarpone into yolk mixture until smooth.

3. In a small bowl, combine coffee and rum. Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise and drizzle with coffee mixture.

4. Arrange half of soaked ladyfingers in bottom of a 7x11 inch dish. Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers, then half of whipped cream over that. Repeat layers and sprinkle with cocoa. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours, until set.

Here are some of the tips I read that I think will be helpful.

1. Use soft ladyfingers. I guess they come in both hard and soft, and the soft ones work much better in tiramisu. I read this in the comments of more than one recipe, so it must be true.

2. Double the coffee/rum mixture. Many people said they needed to do this.

3. Refrigerate at least 24 hours if possible. Apparently the flavors really come together after 24 to 48 hours.

Bon Appetit!