A Perfect Tiramisu

aka the best dessert of all time

Upon meeting someone new and telling them what I do for a living, the first question that everyone asks is “What’s your favorite dessert?” which is a really hard question. That’s like asking a parent to choose their favorite child. On top of that, people are usually looking for a recognizable answer like chocolate chip cookies, or key lime pie, or chocolate cake. They don’t want to hear things like “well, there was a cucumber sorbet with tajin seasoning and jalapeño oil that we had on the menu for a season” or “I really like buckwheat custard paired with a deep berry flavor” or “one time, I made a sour orange and tequila upside down cake that was fantastic”. So I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about this question: what is my very favorite (somewhat mainstream) dessert? The answer, I think, is a really excellent tiramisu.

My favorite dessert has to be something that is fun to make and delicious to eat. For example, Baked Alaska can be pretty fun to make—it has a few different components, pretty layering, and you get to use a torch—but it’s not my favorite to eat. Ice cream coated in meringue just isn’t my speed. On the other hand, I’m always craving flourless chocolate cake. If I was stranded on a desert island and could bring one dessert with me, it would be flourless chocolate cake. But it’s a one-bowl kind of cake, not anything especially fun to make.

But tiramisu. Tiramisu has it all. I’m convinced that a good tiramisu is one of the top 10 best things you can eat in your entire life. It’s creamy, and boozy, and sultry (am I allowed to use that word to describe a dessert?). It’s not too heavy and not too light, and truly perfect after any meal. Plus, there are fun layers and a few different components so it’s fun to make. In the words of Love Islanders, “it ticks all the boxes”.

the perfect tiramisu

I’ve spent quite a few years tinkering to create a tiramisu recipe worthy of sharing. Though recipes actually differ quite a bit, at its simplest, tiramisu is comprised of three main components: a soaking liquid, a sponge, and a fluffy cream.

the soaking liquid

A traditional tiramisu is coffee based. In recipe development, it’s very easy to play with the flavors of tiramisu by swapping out different liquids (earl grey is really nice and I’ve done a wilderness tiramisu that used dandelion root tea), but today we’re focusing on the classic so we’ll stick with really strong espresso. Alcohol is optional, but highly recommended, and can be adapted to suit your flavor presence. I’ve had tiramisu with rum, kahlua, amaretto, and even bourbon. My very favorite is the Miami Club Cuban Coffee Liqueur because you can take the girl out of South Florida, but you can’t take South Florida out of the girl.

the sponge

Most tiramisu is made with the very traditional lady fingers or savoiardi, a very dry, egg-based biscuit. You can definitely make these from scratch, but usually, if I’m going through the effort of making tiramisu, I’m buying them. I like how the store-bought cookies are ultra-crisp and ready to soak up lots of liquid.

the cream

This is where we get serious. I’ve done quite a bit of research on the subject and I’ve found that more traditional Italian tiramisu recipes (like ones from Letitia Clark and Emiko Davies) use a whipped egg yolk/sugar base folded into mascarpone cheese and then fold in whipped egg whites for their cream layer. More Americanized recipes (like the one from Alison Roman) skip the whipped egg whites all together and instead use a heavy cream + mascarpone + whipped egg yolk/sugar combination.

My recipe smushes them both together. I wanted the extra fat content from the heavy cream to create a richer texture, and I wanted the extra air and structure that comes from the whipped whites, so we’re doing both. We’re also going to cook our egg yolks and sugar sabayon style like we did for the chocolate mousse last week. Many traditional Italian recipes do not call for any cooking at all, but since pasteurization and people’s comfort levels consuming raw eggs vary, we’ll cook them just to be safe.

For this recipe, we’ll whip the egg yolks + sugar until thick and ribbony. Whip the heavy cream and mascarpone to soft peaks and then whip the egg whites to soft peaks. We then fold it all together, using the egg yolks and sugar as our base (because it’s the heaviest), until everything is creamy and smooth. If you’re feeling really wild, splash a little more of the coffee liqueur in.

my very best tiramisu

makes: one 10x6” dish or about 8 servings

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated

100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

1 lb mascarpone cheese

113 g (1/2 cup) heavy cream

1 cup strong brewed espresso, cooled

2 tbsp marsala wine

1/4 cup coffee liqueur

24 lady fingers

cocoa powder, for dusting

Procedure:

1. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar and place over a double boiler. Cook, whisking continually until the mixture is thick and lightened, all of the sugar has dissolved, and is warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and set it into a large ice bath. Continue to whisk for a minute more, until the mixture has cooled to room temperature and thickened to a paste-like consistency. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to soft peaks.

3. While the whites are whipping, combine heavy cream and mascarpone in a large bowl. Whisk vigorously until thickened and soft peaks form.

4. Gently fold the whipped mascarpone cream into the egg yolks, followed by the whipped egg whites. Continue to fold gently until everything is well combined and no streaks remain.

5. In a shallow bowl, combine espresso, marsala, and coffee liqueur.

6. Dip each lady finger in the espresso liquid briefly on both sides. (Be sure not to over soak your cookies here, they should still have a crunch because they will soften up in the tiramisu).

7. Arrange half of the soaked lady fingers in an even layer on the bottom of the dish. Spread half of the cream over the lady fingers, and repeat with the remaining cookies and cream. Smooth the surface with an offset spatula and then wrap the dish tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

8. When you are ready to serve, remove the plastic wrap and dust the surface of the tiramisu with a thick layer of cocoa powder.