Barb’s Tiramisu Recipe

We love tiramisu and always order it any time we see it on the menu. In our opinion, we enjoy tiramisu when it tastes strongly of Mascarpone cream. I made both chicken parmigiana and tiramisu from scratch for Justin’s 2020 birthday dinner at home. This tiramisu recipe is adapted from this original recipe here, which I modified to our taste and as well as to suit a kitchen workflow that made more sense to me.

Easy Tiramisu Recipe

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250ml) very strongly prepared espresso, warm or room temperature
• 6 tablespoon (90ml) Grand Marnier*, optional
• 16+ ladyfingers
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup; 225g) mascarpone, cold or at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of rum, optional
• 2 eggs yolks
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar (can reduce to 30g if making for kids)
• 1 cup (250ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Set aside a 9×9 inch baking dish, or you can portion them directly into 6-8 cups for serving. Lay out all the ladyfingers you will need to create 2 layers in the dish. Our combination of dish size and ladyfingers called for 16, so yours might be different. Take ladyfingers out of dish and set aside.
2. Set up your stand or handheld mixer, an extra medium-sized bowl, and your double boiler setup with a heat-proof bowl over a small pot with water. Set aside a shallow bowl for dipping ladyfingers in espresso.
3. Dip half of the ladyfingers: There are 2 layers of dipped ladyfingers and Mascarpone cream. Begin with the bottom layer, and whisk the espresso and Grand Marnier together in a shallow bowl. Quickly dip one ladyfinger at a time into the espresso mixture. Quickly dip one side, flip it over, and then place into the dish. Arrange the dipped ladyfingers in the baking pan to make one layer. Set aside the remaining espresso mixture and ladyfingers for the second layer.
4. Whip the heavy cream: Use a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream and vanilla extract together on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Scoop the whipped cream into the extra medium-sized bowl and set aside. (You can do this before step 3, but set a timer for the whip if using a stand mixer, so you don’t lose track of time.)
5. Whip the Mascarpone cream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the same whisk attachment, whip the Mascarpone and rum together on medium speed until smooth. I didn’t bother cleaning the whipped cream out of the bowl or whisk.
6. Prepare the egg yolks: Place a heat-proof bowl over a small pot of simmering water over medium-low heat. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.  Using a whisk to mix the egg yolks and 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar together until light and foamy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately pour it into the Mascarpone mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined.
7. Fold in the whipped cream: Fold the whipped cream into the Mascarpone mixture. It doesn’t matter which bowl you scoop from or into.
8. Spread half of the Mascarpone cream evenly over the bottom layer of ladyfingers.
9. Dip remaining ladyfingers: Dip the remaining ladyfingers one-by-one into the remaining espresso mixture, and arrange on top of the Mascarpone layer. Then use a spatula to gently spread the remaining Mascarpone mixture evenly on top.
10. Refrigerate uncovered for 2-3 hours.
11. Add the cocoa layer, then chill: After a couple of hours in the refrigerator, use a sifter to cover the top with a layer of cocoa powder. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 8-9 more hours and up to 1 day.
12. Using a sharp knife to slice tiramisu, using very small sawing motions to create clean cuts. Wipe the knife clean between each slice.

Note:

• To modify for baby/children: Cut the sugar down to 30g, skip the booze and cocoa powder, do not dip the lady fingers.
• We did not have Grand Marnier on hand, and the recipe turned out just fine!
• I used this beautiful Black River Chocolate Madagascar Single Origin chocolate bar we received as part of a gift basket a million years ago, to make the chocolate panels on the sides. Using the double boiler method, I melted down half of the chocolate bar, and then poured it on the back of a cookie sheet, spread it out with a spatula, put the sheet in the freezer for a couple of minutes, used a sharp knife to slice out the panels, froze it a bit more, and then carefully scraped it all up and put into a separate container to chill until I was ready to plate everything.