I love tiramisu… love love love it. Coffee, cheese, booze and chocolate what isn’t to like? I admit, if you are skeptical there was once a time when I was too. It used to be on every menu, which led to a lot of bad, soggy versions of it – what turned me around was having it in Florence. That’s always the way, if you have a great version of something it helps you appreciate the sub par ones.
However, this is the first time I have ever tried to make it before – something I have wanted to do for awhile. When getting ready for the task I thought I would google, and you know see what it is all about. I came across the site Heavely Tiramisu – a site wholey dedicated to the one dish. It is quite an entertaining read, though I must say it certainly puts my obsession in perspective. What I quickly discovered was that the basic recipe was really consistent, however the variation is huge. If you compare it to a lasagna that means the lady fingers are the noodles, the coffee and liquor are the sauce and the marscarpone is the cheese. But is there a bechamel? Should it be a meat sauce? Do you add spinach?
Because of the variation I figured that it didn’t really matter where I started since it would just mean tweaking in a different direction to get to the taste I would want. I used the recipe in my Maroi Batali book Molto Italiano. The recipe is also available on Food Network’s website here.
It turned out that my friend who was coming over didn’t like Brandy so we made half of it with Brandy, and half with Coffee liqueur. As it turned out though we all liked the Coffee Liqueur side more. The general criticism was that it needed more chocolate and more coffee to balance with the Brandy. I guess I will just have to make it again. Although would you believe one tub of marscarpone (~500g) is $15!!! This picture is the day after by the way, so it truly doesn’t do it justice.
Tags: Food Porn, Italian, Dessert, Italian Recipe
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Ahhh Katerina,
Tiramisu is one of my faves and it’s assembly is so easy but as you said, so many varieties. I too gasp at the prices of Mascarpone…try Philly cream cheese, it works. Also, I’ve made a version that uses Marsala or sweet sherry. That could be your “compromise” booze.
I love Tiramisu. My fiancee makes the best one! The first time he made it for me, we did not have coffee liquer so we used a combination of Marsala wine and Frangelico and I am telling you, it was the best thing I ever had!
I guess for as we make it (to keep my girlish figure of course…) I splurge on the marscapone, I think it is worth it. But as Peter suggests you can always do 1/2 mascapone and 1/2 philly. A little ricotta strained through a cheese cloth works too mixed with the marscapone! YUM YUM!
I agree, unless it becomes a weekly thing it is probably worth splurging on – but I am sure if I made an effort I could find it for ~$10. The alcohol deserves some experimentation, I am thinking that kahlua might be good even if it is so unauthentic. I like the idea of marsala. Of course I have this massive thing of brandy which I don’t drink so I need to find recipes to use it up with!
okay, I love tiramisu too….and I’m just REALLY impressed that you have some left over for the next day!
that doesn’t happen in my house
hahah, well, lets see.. maybe it was the pizza, or the wine, or the appetizers that only allowed us enough room for one serving of dessert each. Me and my girlfriends mantra when we get together always seems to be “we have sooo much food”.
Tiramisu is the greatest dessert ever. I often use Kahlua instead brandy, it’s good. Mascarpone is very expensive but if you go to an Italian deli or something, and they make their own tiramisu there; if you ask, they’ll most likely let you buy it in bulk from their kitchen, so much cheaper than buying pre-filled tubs.
Wow, great suggestion thanks!
Your tiramisu looks delicious. I understand the day after picture – who wants to stand around waiting for the blogger to take pictures when there’s a fabulous dessert sitting there? At least, that’s how my family feels.
I use hot milk cake instead of lady fingers…yum! Or you can make the hot milk cake in cupcake tins for individual servings.