Tiramisu - Easier said AND done!

Tysa Marie
Nov 21, 2013
3 min read

About once every two weeks I go to a local grocery store named Rulli Brothers. Rulli's is a family business and a great little Italian market that prides itself on offering quality products at low prices. It is one of the best places to save a buck on produce, meats, and deli items. It is also one of the best places to find all things Italian. Need a pizzelle iron? They have three different brands from which to choose. Need mascarpone? They have pounds of it. Need already baked ladyfingers for tiramisu? They sell them in bulk - wait for it - for only $3.99! That's all it took for me to attempt tiramisu - a $4 box of 50 ladyfingers. I knew ladyfingers were the foundation of tiramisu and I also knew I did not have a desire to make them from scratch. Low and behold Rulli's sale item of the week turned me into a tiramisu baker. Actually I probably should say "mixer" instead of baker because by using store-bought ladyfingers there was nothing for me to bake. Making this tiramisu recipe was the easiest dish I've taken on in awhile. Simply mix, dunk, layer and in the matter of 20 minutes, you've got tiramisu. In fact, the hardest part of this recipe was waiting at least two hours to dig into it! As easy as this recipe was, I still learned a couple of things I'd like to share with you:

There are raw egg yolks in this?! When I got home with my great purchase, I was so excited to use them that I started looking for recipes as soon as I got in the door. Every recipe I found called for raw eggs and I panicked... and then I calmly researched the risk. I found that the risk of salmonella was only a slight risk because I used eggs that have been properly pasteurized. I've made this recipe three times already and no one has gotten sick and everyone has asked for second helpings.
Using a timer made this recipe easy. The Giada De Laurentiis recipe I manipulated below said to beat the yolks for about five minutes until they are thick and pale. I set a timer and after 5 minutes they matched the recipe description perfectly.
At least 6 hours of refrigeration is best. The original recipe said to refrigerate for at least 2 hours but up to 8. My friends and I held out for 3 hours before we tried it and while the flavor was perfect, the ladyfingers were still a little crispy. After another couple of hours we dug in for seconds and the texture was perfect!
Amaretto v. Rum. I didn't have rum in my house at the time that I first made this recipe and quickly decided to substitute with amaretto. I later made the recipe like Giada suggests with rum, and I have to say I prefer the amaretto. To me the amaretto added a light, warm flavor while the rum added a spicier aftertaste. To each her own.
Cocoa Powder v. Bittersweet Chocolate. Giada is great with her super cute bar of bittersweet chocolate and candy shaver making the perfect curls to top her recipe. Me, I don't have time for that and always have cocoa powder on hand. I used a mesh tea infuser to sprinkle the cocoa powder all over my tiramisu in less than 2 minutes.

Tiramisu

Ingredients: 6 egg yolks

3 tablespoons sugar

1 pound mascarpone cheese

1 1/2 cups strong coffee, cooled

2 teaspoons amaretto liquor

24 packaged ladyfingers

1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, for garnish

Yields: 12-14 servings

Prep Time: 30 mins

Bake Time: No Bake

Directions:

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of coffee and mix until thoroughly combined.
In a small shallow dish, add remaining coffee and amaretto. Dip each ladyfinger into coffee for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom.
Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.
Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours.
Before serving, sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder. Enjoy!