TIRAMISÚ




Tira mi su means 'pick me up', 'cheer me up' or 'lift me up' in Italian. Its origins are often disputed among Italian regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, and others. This recipe is one of the best I have eaten, and some of my friends agree with me. I made it for dessert for Christmas and it was scrumptious. 😍 From the cookbook 'The Food of Italy'.

INGREDIENTS
5 eggs, separated
180 g caster sugar
300 g mascarpone
250 ml cold strong coffee
3 Tbsp sweet Marsala or brandy
36 small sponge fingers
80 g dark chocolate, finely grated

METHOD
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy and leaves a ribbon trail when dropped from the whisk. Add the mascarpone and beat until the mixture is smooth. (I used a stand up mixer.)
Whisk the egg whites in a clean dry glass bowl, using a wire whisk or hand beaters, until soft peaks form. Fold into the mascarpone mixture in small batches.
Pour the coffee into a shallow dish and add the Marsala or brandy. Dip enough biscuits to cover the base of a 25 cm square dish into the coffee. The biscuits should be fairly well soaked but not so much so that they break up. Arrange biscuits in one tightly packed layer in the base of the dish. 
Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the layer of biscuits . Add another layer of soaked biscuits and then another layer of mascarpone, smoothing the top layer neatly.

(I used a trifle glass bowl, and I added 4 layers of biscuits and spread the mascarpone over each layer.)

Dust the grated chocolate to serve. The flavours will be better developed if you can make the tiramisu a few hours in advance or even the night before. If you have the time to do this, don't dust with the chocolate, but cover with cling film and chill. Dust with the chocolate at the last minute or it will melt.


(I made it and decorated it the day before and the chocolate didn't melt. But make sure the chocolate has been in the fridge before grating it, otherwise it will melt very easily!)

Serves 6-8

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