Tempting Tiramisu in Under Ten Steps

I've always wanted to make the desserts you order at a restaurant. Tres Leches, Tiramisu, and my favorite, the Napoleon. I've conquered Tres Leches so I can check that off the list and I also make a pretty friggin' delicious Tiramisu. It did not come easy that's for sure.

My dad used to make it in a bowl when I was a kid. Like ice cream, so I never took into account consistency or getting it to stay together like at a bakery. Tiramisu is delicious whether it looks fancy or frumpy but here is my tips and tricks on how to get it to be delicious and serve-able.

Egg whites are temperamental little critters. If you aren't used to working with egg whites they have the potential to ruin your dessert. Its all about consistency. If you don't want to use the raw egg, whipped Mascarpone by itself is still delicious. But its 100x better the "real' way. 

The ingredients to make Tiramisu aren't cheap either. Just warning ya. 

Remember how we talked about the order of ingredients and how sometimes its important and sometimes it isn't? Well this time, its pretty important. This is my NO-FAIL Tiramisu, It's big enough to serve as dessert for company but small enough to make for just you and your hubby for a romantic in-the-house date night.

Double the recipe to serve 12.

Ingredients you need are

2 eggs

8oz mascarpone

cocoa powder-no measuring necessary.

coffee-if you have a Keurig,1 pod, large setting. If you're kicking it old school, brew a pot and call it a day.

Kahlua-I used about 4 generous "pours". Use your judgement
24 lady fingers

1/2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon

I used a 9x9 brownie pan with the easy lift from the infomercials with 2 layers, if you double the recipe use a 9x13 with 3 layers.

Separate your eggs into two bowls. In the bowl with the egg yolks, add in 1/2 cup sugar and whisk until smooth.(you really don't need a mixer for this step). Add in the Mascarpone cheese a little at a time and whisk until smoothed. You want all ingredients blended without melting the cheese and making it runny.Which is why doing it by hand is better then using the mixer.


OK, now you can use your mixer. Whip your egg whites until soft peaks form... Soft peaks really means, that the egg white is frothy enough to hold a shape. Once you see this happen, add in the tablespoon sugar and beat a little longer until those soft peaks look more defined and glossy "stiff peaks". For this step I recommend 2 things. The first is to make sure your bowl is clean and cool, a warm mixing bowl will stop your whites from forming. I also recommend using metal, metal bowl and metal whisk attachment. Gently fold in the egg whites into the cheese mixture with a spatula. 

Here is what your batter should look like.
It should be about the same consistency as instant pudding and yellowish/white in color.





Here comes the fun part.

Add the Kahlua to your brewed coffee.
1. Dip Lady fingers into coffee and arrange in your pan to form a layer
2. Pour half the cheese mixture over 1st layer
3.Sift cocoa powder onto cheese mixture
4.Repeat steps 1-3




Once assembled, refrigerate 4-6 hours and ENJOY. I recommend a strongly brewed cup of espresso on the side :)