Desserts don’t get much easier than this delicious combination of coffee-dipped sponge biscuits layered with mascarpone (I use Pepe Saya) lightened with beaten eggs. Meaning ‘pick me up’ in Italian, tira-mi-su is a relatively new creation, first appearing in Treviso (near Venice) in the 1960s. It’s a great dish to have in your repertoire as it doesn’t require any cooking, only needs a few hours chilling and can easily be doubled to feed a crowd. I’ve seen recipes using all sorts of alcohol – rum, brandy, amaretto, coffee liqueur – and some without any, so feel free to experiment. I think the Sicilian fortified wine, Marsala, is the original. Buy an authentic Marsala from a bottle shop with a good selection of Italian wines (such as Amato’s in Leichhardt if you’re in Sydney) and serve the rest of the bottle with dessert. I use Pellegrino Marsala Vergine Soleras Riserva DOC, which is quite dry – I like the way it balances the sweetness of the tiramisu, but if you have a sweeter palate you may prefer a sweeter Marsala. You’ll need about 6 shots of strong espresso coffee and a 2 litre serving dish.
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, separated
- 150g icing sugar
- 300g mascarpone
- 200ml strong espresso coffee (about 6 single shots)
- 150ml Marsala DOC
- 200g Savoiardi biscuits (about 24)
- 1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Method
- Whisk egg whites with half the sugar until firm peaks form. Set aside.
- Beat egg yolks with remaining sugar until pale and creamy.
- Stir mascarpone to loosen it up, then fold it into the yolk mixture.
- Fold egg whites into this mixture and set aside.
- Combine coffee and Marsala.
- Dip half the biscuits into half the coffee mixture, so that they absorb it but aren’t soaked through, and arrange them in a single layer in a serving dish.
- Top with half the mascarpone mixture.
- Dip remaining biscuits into remaining coffee mixture and arrange them in the dish.
- Top with remaining mascarpone mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
- Dust with cocoa and serve.
