Tiramisu

A classic Italian dessert, with literal translation being "Pick me up" or "Cheer me up".

It consists of a rich mascarpone cream with sponge fingers soaked in a coffee concoction and finally finished off with cocoa powder.

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

Mascarpone cream

Caster sugar 80gm

Water 30gm

Egg Yolks 4nos

Mascarpone cheese 300gm

Cream 160gm

Gelatine leaves 3gm

Saviordi or Cats tongue biscuit

Egg yolks 100gm

Caster sugar 30gm

Egg white 150gm

Caster sugar 100gm

Plain four 62.5gm

Corn starch 62.5gm

Icing sugar 50gm(For dusting)

(You can also buy these off the shelf in a super market, they are sold as sponge fingers)

Soaking liquor

Khalua (Coffee liqueur) 30ml (Optional)

Coffee concoction (Espresso freshly brewed/Instant coffee with hot water) 150-200ml*

*The strength of the concoction is subjective, since the mascarpone cream is sweet the bitter coffee complements it.

Cocoa powder 50gm (For finishing)

Method:

For the Saviordi

1. Pre-heat the oven to 210 degrees centigrade, line a flat baking tray with grease proof paper.

2. Combine the yolks and the sugar in a bowl and whisk till creamy, place aside.

3. Prepare a meringue with the egg whites and sugar, obtaining a soft peak consistency.

4. Now slowly add the yolk mixture to the beaten whites, folding gradually using a spatula.

5. Fold in the flour and corn flour to the above mixture. Do not over mix it.

6. Using a piping bag, pipe long strips of the mixture onto the tray.

Dust the icing sugar onto the mixture and bake it in the oven for about 9-12 minutes.

7. Allow to cool and place them aside.

For the mascarpone cream

1. Soak the gelatine in ice cold water, place aside.

2. Whisk the yolks in a medium sized bowl using a whisk or electric beater using a whisk attachment. Simultaneously make the sugar syrup, Step 2. (Use a medium sized/larger bowl as you will be adding the rest of ingredients in this later on).

2. Combine the sugar and water in a small sauce pan, start cooking on a medium flame( Do not keep mixing them). The idea is to get the sugar cooked to 119-120 degrees centigrade.

If you do not have a probe thermometer, you can tell when it is done by dropping a small amount of the syrup in a bowl of cold water. Once cool, If it turns into a firm ball which is firm/pliable and be handled by the hand, this means the sugar syrup is ready.

3. Now gradually while whipping the yolks, pour the sugar syrup into the yolks and continue whipping for another 7-8 minutes. Note this transition from the sauce pan to mixing with the yolks has to be quick as the sugar temperature can vary if kept aside for too long. The end result is a creamy pale fluffy mixture which also cools down during this process.

4. Once the above mixture is cool, add in the mascarpone cheese and continue to whip, be sure to get rid of any lumps while mixing. Scrape the sides/bottom the bowl to ensure a smooth mixture.

5.Whip the cream to soft peaks in a separate bowl and place in the refrigerator.

6. Squeeze out the gelatine leaves from the water, microwave the soaked gelatine leaves in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Now add a bit of the mascarpone mixture into the melted gelatine and combine the two. This is done to prevent any lumps which might form if mixed directly.

6.Fold in the whipped cream, in three stages with the help of a spatula.

Assembly:

1. Use can use individual glasses as shown above or set the tiramisu in a bowl for people to share.

2. Start by soaking the saviordi in the coffee liquor, be generous and try not to squeeze out the soaking liquor out of the biscuit.Start by arranging a layer of soaked biscuits onto the base of the glass or dish.(Best to go one by one)

3. Pipe or spoon the mixture into the glass or the dish, flatten with the help of a spoon. Cover 1/4 the height of the serving dish/glass. Build the tiramisu by adding a layer of soaked saviordi like earlier. Top up with the remaining mascarpone cream and flatten with the help of a spatula or simply tapping the bowl or dish on a tea towel.

4. Allow to set for about 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

5. Before serving, dust with cocoa powder.

Enjoy 😋

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