Rich, creamy, classic Tiramisu dessert recipe with sweet coffee flavor. Need we say more.
Many Italian restaurants sell tiramisu and they are good, but usually very expensive per piece. Sometimes you don’t want to drive to a restaurant just for a little pick me up, which is what tiramisu means. In our case, there aren't any restaurants nearby, therefore, this homemade version was created out of necessity. This recipe is different from some other recipes because it does not use egg whites. I am very cautious about food borne illnesses and just do not feel comfortable making desserts with uncooked eggs. I now know that eggs can be pasteurized at home and used raw without any problem, but when this recipe was created it wasn't something that I knew how to do. Honestly, I still have never tried pasteurizing eggs at home, it is on my to do list. Regardless of your opinions on raw eggs, this recipe is super easy.
Traditionally, tiramisu is best served cold so it is an excellent make ahead desert recipe. This gives an opportunity for the flavors to mesh and the ladyfinger cookies to soften. However, it can be eaten as soon as it is made, but you may want to allow the ladyfingers to soak up a little more of the sweetened coffee mixture if you are going to do that, and make sure to begin with cold ingredients.
The best part about planing for this recipe is your excuse to brew a pot of strong coffee, which of course, must be sampled before using it in the recipe! I have even made this with decaffeinated coffee brewed strong so it can be eaten after dinner without the concern of keeping folks awake when they want to be sleeping. Using decaffeinated coffee and rum extract also makes it a kid friendly dessert. Personally, I feel the rum extract gives it more flavor than the Light rum, but try it for yourself and decide. If you are a big fan of the rum flavor you can even add a little bit to the sweetened coffee too.
Recipe Tips:
It is very important to sift the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder before using. This dessert is intended to be creamy and smooth, having clumps of sugar or cocoa will ruin that. A little extra time makes this look and taste like it took hours to make, when it really goes together fairly quickly.
If you wish to double the recipe make it in two separate 8x8 square pans. If it is made in a 9x13 and there are leftovers it may slide around and loose the beautiful presentation when cut and served. In fact, when I make this recipe I usually double it and serve one immediately and then the other one the following day.
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. Light rum or rum extract
sweetened coffee (regular or decaffeinated) to your taste
1 package Savoiardi (Italian ladyfingers) 7oz package
cocoa powder, sifted, enough for dusting the top of the finished dessert
Directions:
In a mixing bowl whip the heavy cream until firm peaks then set aside. Now mix the marscarpone with the sifted powdered sugar and the light rum or rum extract.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the marscarpone mixture until it is mixed, trying not to loose the air in the whipped cream. Next quickly dip the ladyfingers in the sweetened coffee and line the bottom of an 8x8 square pan with them. You don't want the cookies to stay in the coffee too long or they will start to fall apart, but you do want the coffee to be on all sides of each cookie. Put half of the cream mix on top of the soaked cookies and smooth out. Then add another layer of dipped ladyfingers and top with the remainder of the mascarpone mixture, smoothing out the final layer.
Dust the top with a little cocoa powder, cover, and put the pan in the fridge overnight or at least enough to chill the whole thing. You could even pop this in a freezer for a while if you are really impatient or needing it in a hurry.