Tiramisu: Heaven on a Plate

In a past life I used to spend the best part of my week behind the scenes at an Italian restaurant. The bonus for this? Access to fresh pasta and gnocchi, and being able to enjoy fresh homemade tiramisu on a daily basis. It appears I may have conquered my addiction as I am fast approaching 12 months without savouring it's creamy delights.
We have a delicious Queensland Coffee blend in our Your Inspiration At Home range, Rum Royale Coffee (100gm $11.95). I am not a coffee drinker (tea for me thankyou) so have never indulged, but I love the smell of this blend. I was contemplating ways I can use it, and I think it would be perfect substituted for espresso in Tiramisu. I am going to give it a test run today and will report on the results. For those of you who would also like to give it a whirl, here's the recipe.

½ - cup (125ml) espresso (or YIAH Rum Royale Coffee), at room temperature
½ - cup (125ml) Marsala wine
3 tablespoons Amaretto Disaronno
2 large eggs, separated, chilled
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons (90g) sugar, divided
1 cup (250g) mascarpone
twelve 3½-inch ladyfingers (70g, or 3 ounces)
Espresso powder,or shaved chocolate, for serving

Method:


1. Mix together the espresso, and Amaretto. The mixture should taste strongly of alcohol. If not, add more until it does. (That flavor will tone down when mixed with the other ingredients, but feel free to adjust to taste.)



2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl. Keep it chilled until assembling time is due.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, add the Marsala wine and in Bagne Marie (double boiler), cook the mix until an emulsion like Hollandaise is achieved. (This will avoid Salmonella from the yolks to ever develop) Keep it chilled until assembling time is due.

4. By hand, beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk, until lump-free.

5. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.

6. Submerge each ladyfinger in the espresso mixture for 5-10 seconds, until completely, utterly soaked. (Dried ladyfingers will take longer to saturate than softer ones.) Break the ladyfinger in half to be sure; they should be dropping wet, and can't be saturated enough. Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers per glass.



7. Grate a light amount of chocolate over each.

8. Top with remaining mascarpone cream, cover, and refrigerate at least four hours, but preferably overnight.

9. Right before serving, shake powdered espresso generously (or top with more shaved chocolate).



Recipe and photos:
www.cookwork.com