This is my very special Tiramisu recipe. The one people ask me about once they tasted my tiramisu [and fainted afterward because it’s a delight so high!]. the one i make less than once a year because they have to forget how good it is, and then faint again each time they eat it! the one i’m so proud about. and now i want tiramisu! no i can’t, diet is the keywords of these days, months, maybe years [cries silently].

Here we go:

Ingredients:
for up to 12 pp. depending on: number of layers you make, size of portions
sorry, metric system here!

• 500 gr of mascarpone. a good one please, it’s the main ingredient! it has to be super, this is no time to be cheap!
• 3 eggs. fresh and pasteurized eggs are a must because there’s no baking and you don’t want you or your guests to be sick, don’t you?
• 3 table spoon of sugar
• sugarless cocoa powder
• coffee (espresso). if  the tiramisu will be eaten by kids, you can add milk or water to the coffee so they won’t he hysteric for the rest of the day - or worse, night.
• Mistrà or Marsala
• Savoiardi biscuits or similar. a 400gr pack is enough, if i’m not wrong.

Instructions:

1. separate yolks from the whites
2. mix in a bowl the yolks with the sugar, whipping until it’s very creamy
3. add the mascarpone, mix
4. whip the whites with a pinch of salt, til they’re firm [in italian there’s a so poetic way to say that: a neve ferma = like firm snow - it gives the idea, isn’t it?]
5. add the whites to the mixsture and gently mix upside down in order to not make the whites melt [or whatever they do if rudely handled - i’m sorry my cooking english vocabulary isn’t that good]
6. the cream is done! in the meanwhile you had made the coffee [you did, right?] and put some sugar [follow your taste, i prefer a mildly bitter coffee] and liquor [i don’t use it usually because i don’t like cakes with liquor]
7. once the coffee is cooled down, put some of it in a dish, grab the Savoiardi and roll them into it. now, this is a crucial step because the biscuit has to be wet in the right measure. and which is the right measure? they haven’t to be too much wet to break or the tiramisu will become a mushy thing, but they do not have to be too dry either. so, i usually roll them in the coffee until the outer is soft and the core is still heavy;
8. [so resuming] you roll biscuit by biscuit all the savoiardi in the coffee, then putting them in a plate*. when the plate is covered with a layer of wet savoiardi, you smear half the cream on it. or less, according with the size of the plate and if you want more than two layers.
9. sprinkle the cocoa on the cream, forming a solid layer, there haven’t to be white spots anywhere!
10. start over with the rolling of savoiardi in the coffee, make another layer
11. smear the rest of the delicious cream, filling all the spaces and levelling the top. and yes, you are allowed to lick the spoon and the bowl, it’s written in the Charter o fundamental rights of the cooks.
12. sprinkle again a good bunch of cocoa powder, no white has to be there again! it has to be only a chocolatey rich brown expanse.
13. that’s done! congratulations! :)) now put it in the fridge and consume the delight after a few hours. or even better, the day after. i know it’s hard but it worths the wait!

*for the plate i usually use something like this which measures about 33x18cm and is 5 or 6 cm deep, it’s perfect for 2 layers tiramisu with these quantities.

Note: there are many Tiramisu recipes, I’ve tasted thousands tiramisu in my life, it’s my favorite cake to get at the restaurant [but lately i’m so on Catalan cream mmm] and i can say my tiramisu is one of the best i’ve ever eaten; i think it’s because it’s lighter than others that have more eggs in, and it’s less sweet than many; it’s delicate even thought still ‘heavy’ for the mascarpone presence. plus, other sometimes don’t use mascarpone [heresy!!] or add cream to it [like it isn’t fat enough!] while i like it simple as it is. basic. but delicious!