Tiramisu from scratch

TIME3 days MAKESA 23x23cm tiramisu, or approximately 3 10x10cm tiramisu. PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

When my sister was pregnant, she was craving tiramisu, but needed a decaffeinated version. This is the recipe I used at the time, with homemade marscapone and homemade savoiardi (ladies fingers).

Note that this recipe does not use whipped cream or meringue in the custard. I was inspired by an Italia Squasita video not to — as I recall, the chef in the video (which I am no longer able to track down!) were saying that whipped cream and meringue is unnecessary to lighten the custard. Just whip the marscapone sabayon itself.

INGREDIENTS

Mascarpone

  • 1L cream (at least 40% fat)
  • 1/2 tsp citric acid dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Sabayon

  • 4-5 egg yolks
  • 120-150g sugar
  • 450g mascarpone

Savoiardi

  • 3 large eggs
  • 100g sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp (3g) vanilla extract
  • 150g plain flour
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Assembly

  • 500ml Italian espresso
  • Cocoa powder

STEPS

Mascarpone

  1. Pour cream into the pot and slowly heat to 85ºC.

  2. Add the citric acid solution and stir constantly for 5 minutes at 85ºC.

  3. Take the pot off the stove and leave to cool.

  4. Once cool pour the mascarpone into a cheese cloth lined colander. Place colander in a bowl, cover mascarpone surface with cling film, and place in the fridge overnight to drain until it has reached your desired thickness. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Sabayon

  1. Whisk egg yolks and granulated sugar in a double boiler until 95 percent of sugar is dissolved and the mixture measures 71ºC.

  2. Using a mixer, whip until 2.5 times its original volume. The mixture should leave a figure 8 ribbon pattern.

  3. Fold mascarpone into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk in the mixer until soft peaks form (the mixture should hold firm in a spoon and not flow). Be careful not to whip the mixture so far that it splits, as it has a high fat percentage.

Savoiardi

  1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC.

  2. Create a double boiler by filling a pot with a shallow amount of water. Bring to a simmer.

  3. In a stand mixer mixing bowl, add eggs and granulated sugar, and place above the saucepan. Whisk while the sugar dissolves, and continue whisking until the mixture reaches 71ºC (this should take less than five minutes).

  4. Place the bowl in the stand mixer and whisk at high speed for 7-10 minutes or until 2.5x original volume. The mixture should have soft peaks that look like soft-serve when ready.

  5. Carefully fold in vanilla extract and all-purpose flour. and transfer the mixture to a piping bag.

  6. Pipe 15 savoiardi onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Each one should be approximately 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, with 1 inch of separation in-between. You should have 30 savoiardi over two baking sheets.

  7. Dust the savoiardi with powdered sugar, and place in the oven for 8-12 minutes until lightly brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Assembly

  1. Brew 500ml of Italian espresso (using an espresso machine or a moka pot)1.

  2. Add a thin layer of mascarpone cream at the bottom of the container, to ensure that the coffee doesn’t leak.

  3. Quickly dip each savoiardi in the espresso, allow the excess liquid to drain out of the biscuit, and then place in the container. Try to have complete coverage. Cover with half of the mascarpone cream, and then repeat for one more layer of savoiardi and the rest of the cream.

  4. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight to set. Right before serving, dust with cocoa powder.

NOTES

  1. For a sweeter tiramisu, or for a bit of a kick, add 50g sugar and/or 3 tablespoons of rum, brandy, or masala wine. ↩︎

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