Tiramisu, what can I say? It's a delicate and decadent italian dessert that will melt in your mouth as soon as you take that first bite. If you are looking for that perfect dessert for Valentine's Day to share with your loved one(s), then look no further, this is the one for you.
When I was thinking of a dessert to make for my loved one, I thought of something that was out of the ordinary. Red velvet is overused every year for Valentine's Day. No offense to that lovely dessert, I love it just as much as everyone out there, but I wanted something different. I wanted something light, delicious, and very sensual and sexy. Tiramisu, just saying it says everything about it. I think it's perfect to serve after a light italian dish. Rather the main dish is light or heavy, it's great to serve with a white dessert wine, like a moscato or a white zinfandel. The combination of the flavors in this is just heaven. It may seem like a girly dessert, but I know that my love will enjoy it just as much as I will. After all, it is Valentines's Day, and what a better way to show the man that I love with something so delicious that he will never forget it. The saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." So with that being said, although I have already won his heart, this dessert will definitely get him through his stomach. If you want to win your way to anyone's heart, then this dessert will get them to love you even more.
Here's the recipe:
Total prep time: 40 min
Serves: 8
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp. of milk
1 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup (6 oz) of water
2 tsp. of instant espresso or strong coffee
2 oz (1 shot) of spiced dark rum or brandy (optional)
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 (8 oz) container of mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract or 1vanilla bean
2 (7 oz) boxes about 40 lady fingers (cookies)
unsweetened cocoa powder
semi-sweet chocolate
First thing I did was I took my eggs and separated the egg yolks from the egg whites. Put my egg yolks in a glass bowl and put my egg whites in a separate bowl to conserve them for later use. You don't have to conserve them if you don't want to, it's optional. Then I poured my 1 cup of granulated sugar and 2 tbsp of milk in my egg yolks and beat them until well combined. Then I put my glass bowl over a medium saucepan with simmering water and double boiled it for at least 10 minutes stirring consistently. * You don't want your egg mixture to cook or you will get scrambled eggs. After 10 minutes, your egg sugar mixture should have a smooth consistency and the color should be a canary yellow. Took the bowl off the double boiler and placed it in a bigger bowl with ice water. This will cool your mixture quicker and should take at least 15 minutes.
While my egg mixture was cooling, I took my boiling pot of water and poured it into a smaller shallow dish. Spooned 2 tsp. of *instant espresso and a shot (2 oz.) of spiced dark rum into my boiling water and gave it a good stir. The instant espresso and spiced rum is optional. * You can brew a pot of strong coffee if you do not have the espresso. But the espresso just makes it that much better. Now if you have kids that is eating this dessert and you feel that the alcohol is not safe, it is totally fine and you can omit it. However, the rum or brandy just gives the espresso or the strong coffee something that much more special. *You need to let the espresso or coffee cool until room temperature. *This should take at least 15 minutes. The reason for this is that when you dip your lady fingers into the espresso or coffee, it will make your lady fingers soggy.
While my espresso was cooling off to room temp, I got my mixing bowl and beater utensils that I had placed in the freezer for at leased 30 minutes, out. The reason for this is that the bowl and the beating utensils have to be really chilled for the heavy cream to stiffen. I poured my heavy cream and 1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract into the chilled mixing bowl and whipped the cream until stiff peaks. *This should take up to at least 5 minutes. * Do not over mix it or it will look like churned butter.
* You can use store bought whipped cream, but making your own taste even better.
After making my whipped cream, I grabbed my egg mixture that I had set aside to cool and put 1 (8 oz) container of mascarpone cheese and mixed it in until very well combined. * Mascarpone cheese can be found in the deli section with the specialty cheeses at your local grocery store. Then I took my whipped cream that I had set aside and dolloped it in with a rubber spatula. Delicately folding it in with the whipping motion of the spatula coming towards me and giving the bowl a quarter turn every time I folded. * This takes at least a few minutes. You want a light yellow color after folding and melding the two components together. * Do not over fold the whipped cream into the mixture or it will deflate.
After mixing the mascarpone cheese mixture, grabbed my 2 (7 oz) boxes of lady fingers and placed them one or two at a time, dipping them into the cooled room temperature espresso (for 1-2 seconds) and placed them into a 9 x13 in baking dish. Place about 20 lady fingers lined up side by side on the bottom row. Top it with about 1/3 of the mascarpone cheese mixture on top of the cookies, spreading it evenly throughout the dish. Repeat the second row as follows and then top with the remaining mascarpone cheese mixture and spread it evenly throughout, covering every inch of the dish. * You can find your lady fingers in the bakery section of you local grocery store. Or if not in the bakery section, they should be in with the cookies. * Do not dip your lady fingers in the espresso or coffee for no longer than a couple of seconds. You don't want them to be soggy. Cover your dish with a plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. If you like, you can keep it in there for up to 2 days. The flavors in this dessert melds well together and its better after a couple of days.
This sweet decadence will have your loved one(s) asking for more.
Now take a bite and Enjoy!
Happy Valentine's Day!
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