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TIRAMISU
Here's the original recipe to make a good Italian tiramisu' (pull-me-up). No cooking is needed.
The result is a super chaloric sweet that will take a lot of exercise to be methabolised!
INGREDIENTS
to make four normal sized portions, (this means just enough for 2 people ;-) of tiramisu' you will need:
2 eggs (absolutely fresh: they will not be cooked!)
250 grams of mascarpone cheese (it's not a cheese actually, rather a milk cream.
A pack of savoiardi or Pavesini biscuits (Lady fingers work - Rene)
75 grams of sugar
A suitable amount of coffee (home espresso coffee, moka coffee, etc.)
A cup of coffee liqueur or brandy (optional)
Some cocoa or bitter chocolate in powder or in little pieces to sprinkle over the tiramisu' (We grate chocolate bars that are put in the freezer to harden beforehand)
You will also need a tray and some containers of suitable size.
PREPARATION
Separate the yolks from the albumen (whites) and keep this apart. Thorougly mix the yolks with the sugar, then add the mascarpone. Mix until you obtain a soft and even cream. hint: squashing the mascarpone with a fork before mixing it will make it softer and easier to mix.
Whip the albumens thoroughly in a deep tray, until you get a compact foamy cream: use an electric whip or do it by hand using a specific whip or two forks held toghether and a lot of wrist work (good training!). If you choose the latter method, be careful NEVER to reverse the direction of whipping or you will end up with a horrible slime instead of a cream!
The cream should "stay up" and not collapse: the ultimate test to see if it is well made is to overturn the tray and see that the cream doesn't fall down!
Now you can mix the whipped albumens with the rest of the cream. You should obtain a very soft but steady cream: the softer the better! You can taste the cream and decide it needs some more sugar, but be careful to mix delicately at this point not to let the cream "craze".
Meanwhile make the coffee: if you don't want a strong tiramisu' you can also use long coffee, European style, or water down the moka coffee, but you do want it strong, don't you? So get hold of a home espresso coffee maker and make a good Italian moka coffee! If you want it alcoholic then mix the coffee with some coffee liqueur or brandy, like Vecchia Romagna. Whisky will do too.
Spread some of the cream in the tray, put the coffee in a plate and wet the biscuits in the coffee (savoiardi biscuits absorb coffee very fast: just dip them on both sides and take them off immediately otherwise they will dissolve in your hands). Lay the biscuits in the tray over the cream to make a first layer and cover them with more cream, add a second layer of biscuits, cover with cream again, add as many layers as the biscuits and the cream you made allow you. Leave enough cream to cover everything with a thicker top layer. Last, sprinkle the cocoa or chocolate on top of it.
Allow the tiramisu' to cool in the fridge, then enjoy it!
Buon appetito!
Luca
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