Tiramisu

It’s been a bit quiet round here lately, what with me moving house (twice) and Jo having a baby and moving house (once). I’m living in Rome now, in a rented flat, and it’s taken me a while to get used to not just a new kitchen, but also unfamiliar ingredients (for example, the innumerable types of flour available in Italian that don’t quite correspond to what we use in the UK).

When I did start baking again, mostly I produced old faves. But now I’ve been in Rome nearly three months I felt I really had to try and make a tiramisu, it being the quintessential Italian desert and all.

“But Daniel,” no one is likely to cry, “you don’t like coffee!” to which I reply, yes, but I do like sugar, chocolate, eggs and dairy products, so I’m sure I’ll cope.

I debated buying the biscuits – sponge fingers in British English, ladyfingers in Yankese and biscotti di savoiardi in Italian – but thought, no, I’ve got to do the whole caboodle, so I used this recipe. I could almost hear my old teacher abusing my piping technique.

For the actual tiramisu, I used a recipe from ‘Cucina Romana’ by Sara Manuelli.

Who I am to judge the authenticity of the recipe? A bit of research indicates many use cocoa instead of grated chocoate, and plenty of whipped cream, but this one’s all about the mascarpone and raw eggs, man. (Hence I couldn’t make it last week when my pregnant sister-in-law was staying.) Mascarpone is basically cultured cream, so I’d suggest you don’t really need extra cream.

I scaled it back slightly.

2 eggs
70g sugar, granulated (though caster would be fine)
335g mascarpone
1 and a 1/2 (ish) tablespoons Marsala
20g ish dark bitter choc, grated
10 biscotti di savoiardi / sponge fingers
210g coffee, made fresh

Separate the eggs.
Beat together the yolks with 35g of the sugar until thick and pale.
Gently blend the mascarpone into the egg yolk mix.
Whisk the egg whites to peaks, then blend in the other half of the sugar, the Marsala and half the grated chocolate.
Fold the egg white mix into the egg yolk/mascarpone mix.

Layer half the biscuits on the bottom on a dish and pour over half the coffee.
Cover this layer with half the egg/mascarpone mix.
Make another layer of biscuits, and pour over the rest of the coffee.
Cover with the rest of the egg/marscapone mix.
Sprinkle the remaining choc on top and chill, preferably for at least four hours.

Eat. Eat too much. Make yourself feel slightly unwell.