Tiramisu
Tiramisu is one of the most popular Italian desserts consisting of layers of coffee-soaked ladyfingers and rich mascarpone cream.
The name literally means `pick me up’ and according to one story it was invented in the 19th century by a maîtresse, “the owner of a brothel,” in Treviso to reinvigorate the gentlemen before they returned to their wives.
This story, while entertaining, is apocryphal. In reality, the origin of the dessert is disputed between the residents of the Italian regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto. According to the former, Norma Pielli modified a recipe for Dolce Torino in 1951 to include mascarpone and savoiardi dipped in espresso. According to the latter, the recipe for tiramisu was adapted by Roberto Linguanotto, the pastry chef of Le Beccherie, from a traditional dessert from the Veneto region, sbadutin.
Gigi and Clara Padovani, the authors of Tiramisù - History, curiosity, interpretations of the most loved Italian dessert found evidence to support the Friuli origin of tiramisu and traced the first classical tiramisu to Hotel Roma in the Friuli town of Tolmezzo. The Padovanis do concede, however, that Veneto did play an important role in popularizing the dessert nationally and internationally. For instance, the first published recipe for tiramisu was written in 1981 for the magazine Vin Veneto. In August 2017 Tiramisù was officially added to the list of traditional regional dishes for Friuli-Venezia-Giulia.
Given that Slovenia is just across the border from Italy it is not surprising that Slovenians adopted tiramisu and started experimenting with ingredients. For example, the bar Barba in Koper serves 50 different kinds of tiramisu. Me being on the conservative side, I decided to share my favorite recipe for a classical tiramisu.
Lokal v Kopru, kjer ponujajo kar 50 vrst tiramisuja
Tiramisù, All You Need to Know About the Iconic Italian Dessert
Recipe
Ingredients (for a rectangular 35x24 cm springform pan):
500 g ladyfingers (Savoiardi)
350 ml very strong coffee
50 ml spiced rum (I always use domači rum, a Slovenian product with geographical indication), or to taste
20 g vanilla sugar (can be replaced with 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)
500 g mascarpone
2 fresh eggs (room temperature)
25 g (2 tbsp) + 35 g (3 tbsp) sugar, divided
500 ml heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla essence or vanilla paste
cocoa powder
Instructions:
Mix coffee with rum and 20g of vanilla sugar.
Place ladyfingers to the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Cut them in pieces as needed to fill in any gaps.
Drizzle half the coffee mixture over the ladyfingers, one tablespoon at a time. Ladyfingers are quite porous and fall apart very easily, which is the reason I usually do not dip them in coffee.
Using the electric mixer in a medium bowl, whip together egg yolks and 3 tbsp of sugar until very pale yellow and fluffy. A slight ribbon should fall from the whisk attachment or beaters when lifted from the bowl.
Gently fold the mascarpone into the egg yolk mixture until combined.
Using the electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy, for about 1 minute. Slowly pour in the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and continue mixing until stiff peaks form, for another 4 minutes (do not over-beat as the egg whites can become dry).
Fold the egg white mixture into the mascarpone mixture and spread it evenly over the ladyfinger layer.
Place another layer of ladyfingers over the mascarpone layer and drizzle the coffee mixture over them, one tablespoon at a time.
Whip the heavy cream with 1 tsp vanilla essence until medium peaks form, for about 3-4 minutes. Spread the whipped cream over the ladyfinger layer.
Sift a dense layer of cocoa powder all over the top of tiramisu. Refrigerate overnight for the ladyfingers to soften (or at least for 8-9 hours).
Slice and enjoy.