Tiramisu

Ladyfinger cookies, soaked in sweet coffee syrup and layered with fluffy whipped cream and creamy mascarpone cheese. A quick dusting of cocoa and you’ve got homemade Tiramisu!

Also known as the Tuscan Trifle, Tiramisu means “carry me up” or “pick me up” in Italian, referring to the strong coffee syrup used to saturate ladyfinger cookies. In the recipe below, we make that coffee syrup in a flash.

Did you know that traditional Tiramisu is pudding-like? It still has sponge cake/ladyfingers dipped in a liqueur-laced coffee syrup and chocolate/cocoa, but the other layer is more of a custard, so it's served more loosely, like a trifle. Once chefs in Italy started adding mascarpone cheese, the custard became more stiff, and Tiramisu was served as a free-standing cake. Hallelujah to that.

About the ladyfinger cookies: Dry ladyfingers are known in Italy as "savoiardi." They're sweet, crisp, finger-shaped cookies, and you can find them in Italian markets and specialty food shops. Soft ladyfingers are found in the regular grocery store, either in the refrigerated case, the cookie aisle, the bakery, or - where I found mine - next to the strawberries in the produce aisle.

Tiramisu
Note: For the best whipped cream, make sure you start with a chilled mixing bowl and whisk attachment. Pop the bowl and attachment in the fridge at the beginning of the prep below and they will be cold enough. 

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
4 teaspoons instant espresso coffee
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur, amaretto or hazelnut liqueur, optional
16 ounces mascarpone cheese or cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
1 cup heavy whipping cream
48 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers) or 2 (3-ounce) packages soft unfilled ladyfingers (24 total), dried*
3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

To make the coffee syrup, in a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, water and espresso and set the pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coffee liqueur, if desired. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla.
In a chilled, large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the whipping cream and 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar on medium speed until soft peaks form.
Gently fold about 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Quickly dip 16 of the ladyfingers in the coffee syrup and arrange them in the bottom of an 8-inch square cake pan. Top with one-third of the mascarpone mixture and spread out in an even layer. Sift 1 teaspoon of the cocoa powder over top. Repeat layering with another one-third of the dipped ladyfingers, one-third of the coffee syrup, one-third of the filling, and 1 teaspoon of the cocoa powder. Top with remaining dipped ladyfingers and remaining mascarpone mixture. Smooth the surface. Cover with plastic and chill for 4 to 24 hours.
Just before serving, uncover and sift the remaining teaspoon of the cocoa powder over the top.

*If you’re using soft ladyfingers, you need to dry them first (so they soak up the coffee syrup). Split the 24 ladyfingers apart and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet (you will have 48 ladyfingers). Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. If you want to cover them, do it with paper towels, not plastic wrap.

Serves 6-8