Tiramisu

A while back my housemate and I made tiramisu for the first time. I was looking for something I could make quickly and easily for an Italian dinner party later that night, so I grabbed a recipe off the internet and modified it heavily to fit what we had on hand. We made the happy discovery that tiramisu is very forgiving.

We substituted extra-strong regular coffee for the espresso, and used store-bought ladyfingers instead of piping our own. We also made it in baking dishes, but it would look beautiful in cups or glasses.

If you're ever looking for a rich, delicate dessert that you can make at the last minute, I recommend this recipe. The flavor will improve after it's been in the fridge for a day or two. But I know for a fact that instead of waiting you could just eat it all immediately as soon as it's chilled.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of coffee, brewed extra strong (we used four scoops of coffee in a drip coffeemaker)
• 7 Tbsp. Kahlua
• 4 eggs, separated
• slightly more than 1/2 c. powdered sugar (we didn't have castor sugar, so we used powdered sugar we'd made in a blender, and just went by taste)
• 500 g mascarpone cheese
• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 500 g ladyfingers (savoiardi)
• cocoa powder for dusting

1. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture goes pale and thick.
2. Add mascarpone and beat until combined. It doesn't matter if it's a little marbled.
3. Whip the cream until stiff peaks hold, and fold gently into the egg mixture. Gently!
4. In a perfectly clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
5. Fold the whites into the cream.
6. Mix the coffee and Kahlua together in a small bowl.
7. Dip ladyfingers in coffee & drain well.
8. Cover bottom of dish with ladyfingers, layer with half of cream mixture.
9. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers & cream.
10. Smooth top & dust with cocoa.