Tiramisu

So if there is one thing my husband, Dave will not compromise on, under no circumstances, whatsoever - it's Tiramisu. Light, airy and creamy with a bittersweet bite of coffee and liqueur, it just might be Earth's greatest food.

Dave has gotten to the point that when we are out to eat and the waiter or waitress asks if we'd like to see the dessert menu, he just blurts out, "Do you have tiramisu?" If the answer is no, he'll simply request the check because we're out of there. (I'll take an aside here and shout out to the waitstaff at the 111 Chop House in Worcester, MA who upon hearing my husband dismiss the dessert menu for lack of tiramisu, ran outside and NEXT DOOR to retrieve a slice from the kitchen of their sister property, Via, which happens to be an Italian restaurant. They saved our anniversary dinner. Now THAT's service!)

But it is this undying love and devotion to tiramisu that has Dave on a quest to make the perfect cake at home. We've tried many recipes, but we live in a culinary Black Hole and over the years, I have had trouble finding mascarpone, ladyfingers and even espresso. We've substituted a lot of ingredients and it just never came up right. But after a recent trip to Job Lot, I came across some bona fide real ladyfingers - and so we were back on the homemade tiramisu quest again. It is much easier to find mascarpone and espresso these days, and so we gave it another go. To our surprise and delight - we have come really close to perfect.

The recipe starts with liqueur and coffee (or espresso) combine with a little sugar and salt. It also requires a lightly greased loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. I've never done it this way before but it did make it very easy to flip over and remove from the pan for better presentation and serving. I also needed a double boiler set up which I whipped together with a pot of water and a glass bowl.

Once the water in the double boiler set up was at a low simmer, I added the egg yolks, sugar and water and whipped it on medium high with an electric mixer until it increased in volume and the color changed from egg yolk yellow to a very, light pale, almost cream colored white and entered into what bakers call, the "ribbon stage." The ribbon stage refers to a state in which the egg yolk and sugar mixture forms a slowly disappearing ribbon on the surface of the mixture when some of it is lifted with a utensil and is allowed to fall back into the bowl. The purpose of reaching this stage in beating is to ensure that enough air has been incorporated into the mixture and to ensure that the sugar is thoroughly dissolved in the egg yolk so that the egg mixture, when heated, won’t become granular. You can do this by hand, but trust me when I tell you - don't. Your shoulder thanks me.

Once at the ribbon stage, the egg mixture can be removed from the heat and set aside to cool, ideally under 90 degrees. While this is cooling, use the electric mixer to beat the mascarpone and heavy cream until it reaches medium to stiff peaks.

Once there, the cooled egg mixture can be added to the whipped cream mixture and gently folded into each other until no streaks can be seen. This combined filling is now ready to go.

We started with a thin layer of filling on the bottom of the loaf pan so that when the pan is inverted, a layer of cream would be on the top for dusting with cocoa.

The ladyfingers then need to be dipped into the coffee mixture, just 2 seconds per side or so - slow enough to sop up some liquid but quick enough to avoid the cookie falling apart in the liquid. You should be able to fit 8 cookies in the layer in the pan with a little coaxing. Once the cookies are down, another layer of filling should be spread atop the cookies, and then another layer of soaked ladyfingers. The tiramisu is finished with one final layer of cookies and filling. Once the pan is full and the cookies and filling are all used, the dish can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for a minimum of 6 hours and a max of 36 hours. This chill time is important as it allows the cookies to fully absorb the liquid and the filling layer to set well.

When its time to serve, a platter can be placed over the loaf pan and inverted. The plastic wrap can be used to pull the cake from the pan and then carefully removed, A final dusting of cocoa powder through a sifter finishes the dish. And if you are like my husband, you'll also swirl some chocolate all over it because, why not?

The cake can be sliced and more cocoa, chocolate or even whipped cream can be added to the serving dish. Any leftover cake (what is that, right?) should be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge.

And there you have it - delicious, fantastic and easy Tiramisu. It looks complicated and elegant but it couldn't be easier or more delicious. So don't wait to impress your guests and get some prepared - and then come on back and let me know what you think.