Tiramisu

How To Make Heavenly Tiramisu

Servings: 8-12 | Prep Time: 25 mins | Ready In: 8 hrs

How to make tiramisu that's to die for! A heavenly Italian dessert with alternating layers of rich mascarpone and ladyfingers dipped in espresso, laced with rum. Top it off with cocoa powder and what more could you want? This is a luscious tiramisu made with generous mascarpone, bold espresso, and noticeable dark rum flavors, not a light perfectly stiff tiramisu full of whipped air and barely there flavors.

For quality tiramisu, use quality ingredients— get authentic mascarpone and ladyfingers, marked "Made in Italy." You can find both at Whole Foods. Our tests using various mascarpone cheeses made outside of Italy just didn't cut it, including ones made in perfectly nice parts of the USA. For the ladyfingers, we tried Trader Joe's and Whole Foods brands, but again, they didn't measure up to the Italian brand made in Italy. See photo below. Also, make a good quality espresso or simply buy it from a local coffee shop. The result is worth the effort.

Our rich, moist recipe for tiramisu is sinful but oh-so-good. So tempting, you'll hear yourself saying... Must. Have. More.

• 6 large eggs, separate into yolks & whites
• 2 pk (8.8-oz/ea) mascarpone (made in Italy)
• 2 pk ladyfingers (hard, 24 fingers/box)
(Bonomi is a good brand)
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup dark rum, separate from above
• 1 cup ultra fine baker’s sugar
• 2 TBSP ultra fine sugar, divided, set aside
• 1 cup espresso
• 1 TBSP fine cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Leave eggs and mascarpone on counter for 30 minutes to allow to come to room temperature. (Egg whites whisk to full volume at room temperature.) Get a 9x9 or a 7x11 baking dish, or individual trifle bowls, ready for layering.
To make the espresso dipping solution, mix espresso with 1/2 cup dark rum and 1 TBSP sugar. Set aside.
In first mixer bowl, beat separated egg yolks with 1 cup sugar in a mixer stand on medium setting until well blended. Will be creamy pale yellow. Add mascarpone and 1/4 cup dark rum. Beat again until creamy and well blended. Set aside.
In second mixer bowl, combine separated egg whites and cream of tartar. Whisk on low-medium setting to thoroughly combine ingredients first. Then move on to high setting until stiff (could be 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on temperature, humidity, and size of eggs). When you take the whisk out, the whites should make a nice stiff peak without falling over.

Then gently fold whisked egg whites into mascarpone mixture, a third at a time just until blended. Don't over blend or the egg whites will deflate.

Give the espresso/rum solution a quick stir again. Test your brand of ladyfingers with a little dip into the solution. Some brands soak up quite fast while others take longer to moisten. The goal is to have a moist ladyfinger, not a soggy one. We tested 3 brands below and BONOMI was our winning pick. An Italian brand made in Italy. The other two were Trader Joe's and Whole Foods store brands.
To make the layers of tiramisu, do a quick split-second dip with each ladyfinger (full submersion) then line the bottom of the cake pan with a single layer. You may need to align them in different directions to fill gaps. If there are areas of the ladyfingers that don’t look moist, brush some espresso solution on top.
Pour about half of the mascarpone mixture on top of the first layer of ladyfingers. Smooth out the surface, filling in the corners until fully covered. Line a second layer of dipped ladyfingers. Pour the rest of the mascarpone mixture on top and smooth out the surface.
Fill a fine sieve with cocoa powder and lightly powder the top of the tiramisu. Cover with lid or plastic wrap (make sure plastic wrap is taut so as not to touch the cocoa powder) and chill for 8 hours to overnight. To serve, slice up a piece of chilled tiramisu and dust a light fresh coat of cocoa powder on top. Enjoy!