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Benvenuti al Tutti!

Welcome to Luigi's Tastes of Italy

This blog is my small dedication to Italian cooking, and is abolutely 100% free of pretentiousness, complicated ingredients, or any effort to present Italian cuisine as anything other than it really is, very simple.

Hope you enjoy reading my posts and maybe trying out some of the recipes.

Monday 12 October 2009

Tiramisu, Tiramisu, Tiramisu!


Tiramisu, is probably the most well known of Italian desserts, which if made correctly is so delicious and light, it is the perfect "pick me up", and in my opinion a perfect end to a meal. Incidentally, as a bit of trivia, Tira-mi-su, translated into English, does actually mean "pick me up".

Almost equally though, Tiramisu is rich enough to stand on its own, and can just as easily be enjoyed with a strong coffee, in the afternoon.

Sadly, my personal experience of eating Tiramisu from inferior Italian resuraunts, or trying ready made versions from chilled cabinets in supermarkets is NOT a good one.

Tiramisu these days bares hardly any resemblance to the original article. This Italian delight has been turned into a rather heavy, dense, claggy, artery clogging dessert, a thoroughly unenjoyable experience which sits far too heavily on the stomach. 

A more of a pull me under the table to die, rather than a pick me up as intended.

In the recipe below however, in my opinion, the balance is restored, and it is as light, and easy to eat, as it should be.  Although for those of you who may be calorie conscious, this is most definitely one to avoid.



INGREDIENTS:
(serves 4)

250g mascarpone
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, you could use the scrapings from inside a real vanilla pod if feeling posh!
3 tablespoons marsala wine, or a sweet sherry
125ml espresso coffee, cooled.
150ml single cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
16 savioardi biscuits (sponge fingers)
70% chocolate, dark chocolate bar
Cocoa powder, to dust


METHOD:

-  In a suitable bowl, combine mascarpone with the vanilla and Marsala and a 25ml of the espresso coffee, mix together thoroughly.

-Seperately whisk the cream and icing sugar until smooth, and then carefully add this into the mascarpone mixture, combine it nice and gently to keep if fluffy and light.

-On a plate, line out the savioardi biscuits, and gently spoon the coffee onto them. Keep doing this one spoon at a time, until it is absorbed, do this little by little. DO NOT soak the biscuits, we want them to maintain some firmness to them. You might have left over coffee, don't feel you have to use it all.

-In 4 suitable serving glasses, and yes I feel individual servings are better! Gently place a layer of the coffee soaked biscuits into the bottom. You will have to break them to fit inside.  Onto that biscuit layer spoon the mascarpone mix, next create an additional layer of sponge fingers, and repeat, being more generous with the final layer of mascarpone.

-Place the glasses into the fridge, and leave them for at least 2 hours, finish by grating some dark chocolate over the top, and dust with the cocoa powder.

Enjoy!
Tiramisu on Foodista

15 comments:

Mari said...

I love tiramisu! It's so light and fluffy and melts in my mouth. But you're right, some places can ruin it...I had it once and it was horrible which sucked because I was craving it so much.

were you born and raised in Italy?

Donna said...

I LOVE Tiramisu! Thanks for posting. Mangia!

Anonymous said...

love what you wrote about it. Sometimes restaurants will skew the authenticity of a dish to make it more tailored to their customers liking but in turn they compromise it as well. I've had it from store bought places (not so good) but I've had it homemade and its so much better. Much more light and fluffy. Yours looks delicious!

Karine said...

Tiramisu is so delicious! However, I don't like it when it has a strong coffee flavor... that is why I prefer to make mine instead of eating one in restaurants!

Velva said...

Tiramisu is wonderful end to a great meal or shared with two forks, and a great cup of coffee.
I love tiramisu and have tried a couple of times to prepare it from scratch-no cooled cabinets here. A fabulous dessert idea.

Kim said...

This is a recipe I would love to make, but we have trouble finding the sponge fingers or lady fingers. Looks great!!

Joanne said...

I just noticed that you added me to your blogroll! So sweet, thank you. I am honored.

Tiramisu is my all-time favorite dessert. I love your line about how it's more of a "leave you to die" kind of dessert these days rather than a "pick me up" as intended. I have been meaning to attempt it.

Your version looks amazing. It would definitely restore my faith in the tiramisus of the world.

Caitlin said...

I love tiramisu. There's a little restaurant in town that makes it fresh every day. Sad thing is when you finish a great meal expecting it for dessert but they don't have anymore. :(

Alisa@Foodista said...

I also love Tiramisu. And there's nothing quite like one made at home.I followed your blog Luigi from the foodieblogroll and I like what you have here.I'd love to guide our readers to your site if you won't mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to this post and it's all set, Thanks!

chow and chatter said...

oh wow this looks awesome love your blog will also follow along Rebecca

Anonymous said...

this looks great! Tiramisu is my faaavorite even tho I really can't have dairy.

Alma said...

The 1st time I made tiramisu when I was in the netherlands. Mascarpone cheese is so hard to find here in the philippines.
Will try to make your version once I get back in holland on december.

justjoycee said...

My favorite dessert.....looks so delicious! Looking forward to really checking out your blog. Thanks for following me....Joyce

Mo Diva said...

my ex boyfriend made me tiramisu before and I didnt love it. then I went to an italian restaurant in Little Italy where the men flirt like crazy and gave me a complimentary piece for my mother and i to share (cuz mom is straight up italian!) and it was heavenly! Now taht i know what real tiramisu tastes like Im all about it! i would love to try this recipe!

christine said...

Hello Luigi! I found this blog in foodista and followed it here. This is a lovely blog and awesome Tiramisu recipe. By the way you can place more foodista widget in your past and future blogs so that other foodista readers can follow and see your blog too. Just search for a related recipe or food and use its widget. I hope to read more from you. Cheers!

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