Tiramisu is an Italian dessert made from ladyfingers that have been lightly soaked in espresso coffee, layered by a cream made from whipped egg yolks, sugar, and mascarpone cheese.
The last layer is topped with cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
Tiramisu used to be one of my favourite desserts and although I used to make it often in the past, after the bird flu, I stopped making it because of the raw eggs used in this dessert.
While in Rome, we were offered tiramisu a couple of times, as part of the menu and remembered what a great dessert it is and what we were missing all this time! 🙂
The phrase tirami su literally means “pick me up” or “pull me up” in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso. It is also thought to mean “pick me up to heaven” due to the delightful taste.
During our trip to Rome, we exchanged some gifts with Natalia.
Natalia was not only kind enough to show us around but also gave us some gifts to try some of the Italian products.
Extra virgin olive oil from Sicily, Italian wine cookies, delicious chocolates and a package of freshly ground espresso coffee.
The cookies were delicious, the chocolates disappeared in no time and I have left the olive oil to try it raw in salads.
Espresso vs other Coffee
The traditional coffee used for making a tiramisu is the Italian espresso coffee. However, you can get good results using any other type of strong coffee.
Espresso coffee is very similar to Greek coffee as the beans used are the same.
However, they differ in taste because of the level of roasting the beans, the grinding of the coffee and of course the way of preparation.
Unfortunately I do not have an espresso machine, so I have been making the espresso coffee just like we make the Greek coffee and then I filter it with a coffee filter.
It smells heavenly and of course it tastes hundred times better than the ones we drink in cafeterias.
I have even combined the two coffees together and in the picture you can see that the espesso coffee is much darker because of the roasting.
See how to make Greek coffee .
Since I wanted to use some of this espresso the first thing that came to my mind was to make (what else?) Tiramisu!!
Alcohol Options
Tiramisu is not a dessert for children and although my daughter is 17 ½ years old she doesn’t drink coffee and of course she doesn’t drink alcohol.
I used dark rum, which I mixed in the coffee. However, if you don’t drink or like alcohol, you can omit it entirely or if you don’t like hard alcohol, you can just add any kind of mild liqueur (not liquor).
Assembling the dessert
Instead of making a big container using both packages (48) of biscuits, I used a smaller one using 36 biscuits and 2/3 of the cream.
With the remaining 12 biscuits and one third of the cream, I made a mini chocolate tiramisu, just for her without the coffee and booze.
Instead of using coffee and rum, I melted some chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute and added some milk until it was quite liquid, in which I wet the biscuits.
The remaining procedure was the same.
Tiramisu (wiith eggs)
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert made from ladyfingers that have been lightly soaked in espresso coffee, layered by a cream made from whipped egg yolks, sugar, and mascarpone cheese. The last layer is topped with cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
Ingredients
- 2 packets (48 ladyfingers - 400 grams)
- ½ cup of icing sugar
- Four large, fresh free-range eggs, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 600 grams of mascarpone or Philadelphia cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 ½ cups of freshly brewed espresso coffee left to cool
- 1 teaspoon demerrera sugar
- 2 tablespoons of a dark rum
- 50 grams couverture chocolate shavings
- 100 grams of cocoa powder
Instructions
- After brewing espresso coffee mix cane sugar, allow to cool and mix in the rum and set aside.
- Use a vegetable peeler to shave the chocolate and set aside.
- Separate the eggs.
- Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice into a thick meringue and set aside.
- Beat the yolks with the icing sugar until a creamy consistency has been achieved. Then add the cream cheese and vanilla and mix until creamy.
- To this now add the meringue and fold in gently until all the ingredients are
incorporated. - Dip each biscuit in the coffee and use half of the biscuits for the first layer.
- Add half of the cream, another layer of biscuits dipped in coffee and finally top
with the remaining cream and refrigerate for a few hours. - Before serving, sprinkle with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings on top.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 316Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 87mgSodium 245mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 2gSugar 8gProtein 5g
Updated: February 2019:
The above Tiramisu was made many years ago, before the bird flu.
This time, however, I made it with pasteurized egg yolks and added whipped cream to substitute the egg whites.
Tiramisu with Pasteurized Eggs
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert made from ladyfingers that have been lightly soaked in espresso coffee, layered by a cream made from whipped egg yolks, sugar, and mascarpone cheese. The last layer is topped with cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
Ingredients
- 2 packets ladyfingers (I used 42)
- Four large, fresh free-range eggs, only the yolks
- ½ cup of icing sugar
- 600 grams of Philadelphia cream cheese
- 330 ml heavy cream
- 1 tsp icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 ½ cups of freshly brewed espresso coffee
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons of dark rum (optional)
- 100 grams of cocoa powder
Instructions
- After brewing the espresso coffee, mix in the honey and set aside to cool. (Mix in the rum).
- Separate the egg yolks.
- Put the yolks and the icing sugar over a double boiler and beat until white and fluffy.
- Set aside to cool.
- Prepare the whipped cream. Whisk the cream with icing sugar and vanilla, on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Add the cream cheese and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Finally, add the egg mixture and mix to combine.
- Dip the ladyfingers into the coffee.
- Line them along the bottom of the bowl (22 x 22 cm).
- Add one third of the cream and spread it over the biscuits.
- Add another layer of biscuits cream.
- Top with the last layer of biscuits and cream and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle with some cocoa powder on top and/or grated chocolate.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 352Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 117mgSodium 177mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 2gSugar 10gProtein 7g
PIN FOR LATER
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
Kevin
Tuesday 8th of December 2009
That tiramisu looks so good! I have been wanting to try making a tiramisu for a while now.
heni
Sunday 6th of December 2009
Yes a trip to Italy would not be complete without sampling tiramisu ... and bringing back some of those lovely food items! Tiramisu and Greek coffee ... wonderful afternoon sitting around with some girlfriends comes to mind! Lovely as usual Ivy!
Peter
Thursday 3rd of December 2009
One of the easiest yet tastiest desserts around...luv it! What's also amazing is that it's a new creation (from the 1980's).
Ellie
Thursday 3rd of December 2009
If you're concerned about the risk of salmonella in the tiramisu, you can always use a pasteurized egg.
Erica
Thursday 3rd of December 2009
That Tiramisu looks wonderful! Nice pictures.