How to make an authentic (well, close to) Tiramisu!

FIRST POST! yay :)


Before we can really begin to make a tiramisu, we need to understand a little about it. The dessert, tiramisu, did not become really well known until the beginning 1970's after the resturant, Le Becherrie, featured it. However, before then it does prove to have some other connections to this other Italian desert called, Zuppa Iglese, which is basically a pudding. Zuppa Iglese roughly translates to English Soup. 


Tiramisu is considered a semifreddo dessert. Meaning it is not fully frozen, yet it kind of frozen. It is basically a layered dessert in which you have espresso soaked lady fingers in the bottom layer, this mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and wine (mixture is called zabaglione) and is also mixed with heavy cream, then more lady fingers, and then more filling, and lastly some cocoa powder. 


A few notes you should take into consideration before beginning:

• This recipe does call for RAW eggs. Here in America, we mostly use PASTEURIZED eggs (which basically is this heating process used to reduce the risk of salmonella). While I make tiramisu, I will NOT be using pasteurized because it is not that easy to locate them. I understand that's not what the recipe calls for, sorry. 
• I know there is this rumor that you can use coffee as a substitute for espresso, that just won't do. Espresso doesn't not have the flavor we need. Also, please do not use the Starbucks brand. I understand we all love Starbucks (myself included) but it also, does not have the flavor we desire. One more thing espresso related, please use an Italian brand. Other American brands, also do not use the flavor we are looking for. 
• Substitutes for Marsala Wine: They sell Marsala wine in almost all grocery stores for a pretty cheap price. If you would rather not indulge in Marsala wine another substitute would be, 2 Shots of Brandy or 2 Shots of Cognac. A non-alcoholic substitute would be, 1/2 cup of non-sweetened red grape juice. 

Now we can begin!

Ingredients:

For Coffee Dip

• 8 oz. of Italian Espresso
• 3 tbs. of sugar

For Zabaglione Filling

• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 packages/ 40 lady finger cookies
• 1 c. of heavy cream
• 1 lb. of Italian Mascarpone Cheese
• 1/2 c. of sugar
• 1/2 c. of Marsala Wine

For Garnish

• 4 tbs. of cocoa powder

* Ingredients should be room temperature.

Hardware:

• Espresso maker (not fully recommended, but an alternative can be instant espresso)
• Glass (Pyrex) 12x8 pan (however, because these are not so common, a 13x9 works perfectly fine as well)
• 2 mixing bowls
• Mixer (not needed, but will quicken the process)
• Flat bottomed bowl (for espresso)

How to begin:

Espresso:

1. Make the espresso using the espresso maker.
2. Pour the espresso into the flat bottomed bowl. 
3. Add the 3 tbs. of sugar to it. 
4. Bring it to room temperature.

Zabaglione:

Part 1.

1. Separate egg yolks and white. The white will not be needed, so you can dispose of them or use them for some thing else. 
2. Mix the egg yolks, until white and foamy looking. You can use a hand held mixer for this step or simply whisk it.
3. Add the 1/2 c. of sugar and the wine.
4. Whisk until foamy and light looking.
5. Prepare the double boiler. (A really convenient way to create a double boiler.. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Double-Boiler-(Bain-Marie))
6. Cook the egg yolks and sugar over the double boiler, until it thickens and slowly bubbles.
7. Remove the zabaglione from the heat and put aside to cool.

Part 2.

1. While the zabaglione is cooling, take another mixing bowl and using the mixer, mix the heavy cream. Continue doing this until the cream has soft peaks. Be careful with the step, it would be great to avoid hard peaks.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix and/or spatula (whatever works for you) the mascarpone cheese until it softens.
3. Grab the zabaglione and mix it into the heavy cream. 
4. Grab the mascarpone cheese and FOLD it into the zabaglione. (It it highly important that you fold it, and not mix it. Mixing it will only make separate the butter from everything else, making it look a bit unattractive.) (How to fold: you scoop from the bottom and bring to the top.. Its okay if there is a bit of yellow and white patches.)

Assembly: 

1. Take one lady finger cookie at a time and dip it into the espresso. (How I did it: I rolled it twice in the espresso.)
2. Layer the bottom with the dipped lady finger cookies. 
3. Take filling and using a spatula layer the filling over the cookie. (It should be about a cm. thick.)
4. Take the lady finger cookies, dip them into the espresso and layer over the filling.
5. Finally, layer the remaining filling over the espresso dipped cookies.

The layering should be like:

Filling

Lady Finger Cookies

Filling

Lady Finger Cookies

Final Step: 

Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until it seems firm. 

The process (in pictures):

Place the already made espresso into a flat bottomed bowl and mix it with sugar and set aside to allow it to cool. 

Begin to make the zabaglione mixture by mixing the egg yolks first  using a mixer. Wait until they look light and foamy. Then add the sugar mixing it fully again until you can no longer notice the sugar.

On the double boiler continue to whisk the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl over the boiling water. Wait until the  zabaglione  mixture thickens and begins to bubble slowly.

Layer the bottom of the 12x8 or 13x9 pan with the lady finger cookies. About 22 cookies should fit the bottom of a 13x9 pan.

The next step would be to mix the heavy cream while allowing the zabaglione to cool own on the side.  If you are using a mixer put it on a low setting and make sure to now over work the heavy cream. It should have soft peaks like the picture above. However, if you over work it the peaks will become super stiff and will be deemed as unworkable. 

Try to soften the mascarpone cheese  by  whisking it. Once you have done that, you mix it with the zabaglione and then mix it again with the heavy cream. However, caution** please only fold the heavy cream into the mixture. If you do not, you will receive the awful separation of butter and everything else. 

Now you will have your mixture, espresso, and cookies all laid out and ready to work. 

Continue to roll/dip the cookies into the espresso and put them back into their place. 

Once you have completed the first layer, lightly add the first layer of the filling mixture over the cookies. 

Add another layer of the espresso dipped cookies over the filling.

Add another layer of the filling over the espresso dipped cookies. And over the filling you should  garnish it with  4 tbs of cocoa powder. (Note of preference: Some people prefer to add the cocoa powder after they have refrigerated it for the 4 hours because the cocoa powder can get a bit soggy.)