Daring Bakers-Tiramisu'

It is that time of the month already, can you believe it? I can't, life is so busy, I can't seem to catch up and I am not even working right now. This time I am prepared though, done with the challenge on time. Pictures are really bad, I waited until now to take them and there is no light left, all obscured by a dark cloud. One day I will have a good camera! For now, the i-phone has to do.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

I love this dessert, I named the blog after it because of the sinfulness and the simplicity. Tiramisu' means pick me up in Italian, a name that fits this rich dessert containing espresso, cheese, eggs and sugar. What I liked about the challenge was the thought of making mascarpone (something I have always wanted to try), and the biscotti Savoiardi, what we call lady fingers in Italian. I had only seen recipes for homemade mascarpone using tartaric acid, not lemon juice, so I was intrigued as tartaric acid is not something you can easily find. And the cookies turned out easier that I thought, so fear you not, if you have the time, these recipes are really fool proof.

I started making Tiramisu' soon after moving to the States since I grew up eating it and the ones I tried in restaurants were always disappointing. I didn't start with a recipe as I knew the ingredients, the method, and how it was supposed to taste. It took me three trials until I found the perfect combination. I normally make Tiramisu' with fresh eggs, and I love making it because it is one of the easiest dessert to make, if you use store bought ingredients it can be ready in 15 minutes, yes 15. Not to mention the effect it has on people! I normally use imported mascarpone since the domestic ones are not quite right, if you had tasted the real thing you would know what I am talking about. Yes, you can call me a snob, which is kind of true in many things Italian. Two blocks from my Venetian home there used to be a cheese store, or latteria Plip, knows as La Plip, and they used to make their own mascarpone. It was stored in little plastic tubs, nested in waxed white paper. It was so creamy and sweet, you could eat it by the spoonfuls. During the summer they wouldn't make it as it spoils really easily. Sadly, like many other small stores that couldn't survive the slow death Venice is suffering, the latteria is now defunct, and in its space there is a snack bar. RIP.

Mascarpone is pronounced with the "e" at the end, not like mascarpon, and the "e" is pronounced like in red not like in reed. Every letter is pronounced in Italian, and if you want to actually "hear" how it is pronounced check this post at Briciole, go to the bottom and click on the audio file to hear Simona's voice. The post has also wonderful instructions on how to make mascarpone.

This comes from the original post by Deeba and Aparna, to illustrate the history of this dessert:

So when, where and how was tiramisu born? Tiramisu is said to have its origins in Treviso (Italy), and there are quite a few stories about how it came to be created. One story traces the tiramisu as far back as the Renaissance claiming that it was first made in honour of the visit of Grand Duke Cosimo di Medici to Tuscany. Yet another one points to the tiramisu being an adaptation of the "Zuppa Inglese" referring to the sponge cake and cream layered English Trifle. However, experts in this area generally agree that the tiramisu as we know it today, was born in the ‘70s. Some believe that the Tiramisu was created in the the Le Beccherie (a restaurant in Treviso). Others suggest that Tiramisu was first made in 1971 by an Italian baker named Carminantonio Iannaccone in a small bakery in Treviso, Italy.

I am not sure where this dessert originated, the common version is that it comes from the Veneto region of Italy, where Venice is located. Tiramisu' is a staple in Italian restaurants, probably because it is so easily made and everyone loves it.

You can find the complete recipe and admire other bakers' creations here.

My notes:

* The gently heating the recipe calls for didn't work. My cream never reached 190F in the double boiler even with the little bubbles raising to the top. I had to heat it directly in a pot. Like the recipe says, the cream was really liquid and when I poured it in the sieve, half went right through, raising concerns that I would not have enough the next day. I then consulted the daring kitchen forum and it turned out that the cheesecloth was the problem, I used a napkin instead and the problem was solved. The cream thickened in the fridge and tasted amazing. I will never look back again and will only make my own mascarpone from now on.

* The recipe for ladyfingers is really easy, don't be scared, they look beautiful and are really light. I thought they needed a little bit more sugar, but for this purpose it wouldn't matter as they are soaked in coffee anyway.

* I decided to skip the pastry cream and the zabaglione since they are not traditional in the recipe and we were not required to make them. I just used my method of separating the eggs, whipping the yolks with half the sugar, adding the mascarpone, whipping the whites with the rest of the sugar, and folding all together. This version is light, not too sweet and oh so creamy. I normally use 3-4 eggs per 500 gr of mascarpone, and sugar to taste. I add only enough whites to create a creamy light texture, and whip the mascarpone with the yolks to make it stiffer. The savoiardi are dipped in cold espresso coffee to which I might add some brandy, or cognac, depending who is going to eat it.

* I ended up making few things with the cream: a traditional Tiramisu' that will be served for dinner tonight, and then I folded ground espresso powder in the cream and froze it to create a semifreddo, then I sandwiched the disk in between round ladyfingers.

Tiramisu' semifreddo sandwich

Thank you Aparna and Deeba for this month's challenge and to Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, the creators of the Daring Bakers' challenge.