Tiramisu, oh how I love you

Tiramisu is my favourite dessert.
Of all time.

Ever.

It is also one of N's, however... we used to work together in a French restaurant, waiting tables. At the end of an evening service the staff were allowed to put to one side some of the food left over from that night (shared amoungst us all).
On the odd night there were desserts... or burnt or spoiled Creme brulee.

On one particular night there were alot of slightly spoiled creme brulee.
What a pity.

Well so they didn't go to waste, and it (was) one of my favourites... alot of them ended up being eaten by myself and N.

Now creme brulee is no longer a favourite... But rather an 'oh my god, they have creme brulee on the menu', kind of thing - in a bad way.

Lesson be learned.
Now I just stick to Tiramisu.

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Like many people I am often disappointed with restaurant Tiramisu. The only one I love is Pizza Express (I know its probably made in the masses but is lovelllly) and this other one my sister and I discovered on the buffet selection at our holiday hotel, but that was in Ibiza so can't really go back for that!

Having read this recipe some months back at Sparkling Ink I knew that all I needed was a true Italian to tell me the answer to all my Tiramisu dreams.
That true Italian is Giulia, a friend of Tiina's from Juls Kitchen, (a wonderful and sweet blog, that I am so pleased I found through Tiina), who showed her the recipe.

I would like to call Giulia my 'tiramisu friend', surely we all need one of these??



And then I was given one to try by a dear friend, claming it was amazing... silly me for giving in, I almost wept for more...
So I then brought N along on another occasion for an excuse a second opinion to try it.
How my friend puts it is that N looked like he was in pain, whilst eating this amazing Tiramisu he had made, it was that good.

So low and behold his Tiramisu turned out to be almost exactly that of Tiina's (sparkling Ink).

So I set to it pronto. And invited friends over so I had another excuse chance to make extra quantities.

And yes, I ate mine with that giant spoon and almost entered creme brulee territory.

The recipe is simply the best tiramisu ever, so simple, so delicious, everything my tiramisu dreams were filled with.
It is best made with the freshest, organic produce you can find.
But containing raw eggs, it needs to be eaten within 2 days...

Not a problem there.

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Tiramisu
(Followed exactly from Tina @ SparklingInk) 


Notes:
The only thing I adapted was that I didn't have Marsala wine, a sweet Italian wine, it really is the best for authentic taste. I used Moscatel instead, a sweet Portuguese wine, ok but I definitely should of added more.
The recipe is based on a 1 egg, 1 tbsp sugar, 100g mascarpone cheese ratio, so is very easily scaled up (or down if you are insane).
I used 2x 250g tubs of mascarpone, so scaled up for that.

Ingredients

(serves 8)

- 4 good quality eggs - I used organic and definitely noticed a difference in taste and when beating the egg whites.
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 400 g mascarpone
- 2-3 tablespoon sweet wine (Marsala, Moscatel, or Amaretto is also very good)
- 200 g ladyfingers
- 1/2 cup espresso or strong coffee
- 70 g dark chocolate
- 3-4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Separate egg whites and yolks into two bowls. Add sugar in yolks and whisk until light and foamy, and until the sugar has dissolved (around 5 minutes or until you can form soft ribbons in the mixture, to test if the sugar has dissolved rub alittle of the mixture between your fingers to feel for the sugar grains - if its smooth, you're done). Add mascarpone and mix until smooth.

Beat egg whites until firm peaks form. Mix egg whites in the mascarpone mixture. Pour in sweet wine of your choice and mix. Vin Santo is a lovely Italian alternative.

Spoon mascarpone foam on the bottom of a large dish. Sprinkle with roughly chopped dark chocolate. Dip cookies lightly in espresso on both sides, and place them on top of the first layer. Spoon more foam on top and sprinkle with chocolate. Repeat for a few times leaving a mascarpone layer last. Sift cocoa powder generously on top. Let sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

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