TiraMESSu

Posted by - Rena


Delicious but messy.

I'm early again for many reasons. My friend is coming to visit this weekend so I needed someone to share it with me. I can't be trusted with that much yummy goodness. I'm also waiting on the arrival of my niece towards the end of the month so I thought I should get it out of the way. Today was the day.

I used the recipe that Veronica posted. All the suggestions at the bottom of the post are spot on aside from the soft/hard ladyfingers and I say that only because I couldn't find soft ones and I can't imagine they are better to use than the hard ones. I'll get to that later.

Making tiramisu takes a lot of bowls and pots. I started with the egg yolks in a pot. I used a hand mixer to blend them with the sugar and the milk. I put them on the stove on medium heat as suggested and proceeded to have a nervous breakdown because of my egg issues. My friend and fellow HTC baker, Dorrie, was nice enough to calm me down and assure me that I wouldn't die from yolks that are only cooked for 2-3 minutes. I stirred the mixture the whole time until it was thick enough to coat the spoon. It went into the fridge to cool for an hour.

messy kitchen

and yes, that is an angel food cake in the left corner which was purchased in case the tiramisu failed.

I think the order in which you are told to do things is not the most efficient order. After the egg/sugar/milk mixture is put in the fridge, I should have started on the coffee. If you don't have it made, it takes a while to brew. I didn't have any instant on hand so I had to wait for water to boil and a few minutes in the press.

One of the tips is to double the amount of coffee & rum and I totally agree. Even a little bit more than double wouldn't have hurt. The rum should be based on your taste but definitely more coffee. I broke the ladyfingers and put them on a plate. The recipe says to put the coffee/rum mixture in a bowl but it makes more sense to put it in something that will pour. The first bunch of ladyfingers were doused in coffee and then I couldn't pick them up. It makes more sense to put them at the bottom of the pan or dish and pour the coffee on them. The second batch has to be done on the plate. I would recommend doing this after you assemble the first set of layers. Also, one of the suggestions was soft ladyfingers vs. hard. I bought hard ladyfingers and I would guess that soft ones would fall apart after soaked. Just my opinion, but I've only tried hard.

After the coffee is brewed, next is the mascarpone/yolk mixture. It was pretty simple with a hand mixer. It looks really yellow and shiny. After that, I would have done the whipped cream. I whipped it first and by the time I was done with other mixture and ready to assemble, the cream became a little runny.


The next part is the fun part and that is assembling the layers. I did exactly what the recipe said and it was pretty easy. I put it in the fridge to set and after 3 hours I stuck a spoon in to taste and it was delicious. You can't see the layers on the outside but they are in there.


In all honesty, I don't think I'll ever make it from scratch again but I feel great that I did it. The mascarpone cheese and ladyfingers broke the bank. I could only find them in one store and total, just those two items were $19. Too pricey for dessert. I'm sure they can be found cheaper but in a little town, they are hard to find. I'm going to enjoy every bite!


Update: It's true that the tiramisu tastes better after setting for a day. It's so incredibly delicious!