Tiramisu with Shaved Dark Chocolate

This Italian dessert, whose name means “pull me up,” swept across America in the 1970s and has remained popular. Tiramisu is a dessert I know quite intimately. First, it’s one of my favorite desserts. Its smooth creamy texture with a lightly bitter espresso coffee flavor is appealing. On top of that, I can never forget the eating adventure we had on a family vacation in Venice, where we ordered tiramisu in restaurants every night. Just in the name of exploring which is our favorite in town. Our finding may surprise you.

The bottom line is: our favorite tiramisu is the kind which uses dark chocolate shavings throughout instead of cocoa powder that is commonly seen. Cocoa powder can be overpowering and unpleasant as it gets in your nose when you inhale. Meanwhile, freshly shaved chocolate gives you the texture, mouthfeel and flavor that is unsurpassed. Based on our tasting experience in Venice, we’ve never gone back to tiramisu covered with cocoa powder. You may disagree; we are unwavering in our preference for dark chocolate shavings in our tiramisu.

Due to our inherent bias, we have not bothered to look elsewhere other than a recipe we got our hands on in Venice. Over the years, we’ve printed the Venice recipe for new brides while keeping it mostly to ourselves.

Here, I have to say the Ina Garten’s tiramisu recipe comes close to it. Most importantly, it uses real chocolate shavings. That’s all we care about!

Another secret ingredient in tiramisu is the sweet Marsala wine. I find rum to be too assertive for the dessert. Of course, you might have your personal favorite, mine is Marsala, for sure.

Should you prefer a light pillowy texture, I can’t think of anything better than adding chantilly cream (whipping cream until thickened together with icing sugar) to the mix. However, this step is entirely optional.

Now you have all the components to make your personal version of the ultimate tiramisu. Let me know how it goes!

Print Recipe

Tiramisu

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 6 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup good dark rum (we prefer Sweet Marsala)
• 1 1/2 cups brewed espresso, divided
• 16 to 17 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 30 crisp Italian ladyfingers, or savoiardi
• Bittersweet chocolate, shaved or grated
• Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Instructions

1

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until very thick and light yellow. Lower the speed to medium and add 1/4 cup rum, 1/4 cup espresso, and the mascarpone. Whisk until smooth.

2

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup rum and 1 1/4 cups espresso in a shallow bowl. Dip 1 side of each ladyfinger in the espresso/rum mixture and line the bottom of a 9 by 12 by 2-inch dish. Pour half the espresso cream mixture evenly on top. Dip 1 side of the remaining ladyfingers in the espresso/rum mixture and place them in a second layer in the dish. Pour the rest of the espresso cream over the top. Smooth the top and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

3

Before serving, sprinkle the top with shaved chocolate and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

4

Cook’s Note

5

To make espresso for this recipe in your electric drip coffee maker, use enough water for 4 cups of coffee plus 1/3 cup of ground espresso. You can find savoiardi and mascarpone in an Italian specialty store.

Notes

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tiramisu-recipe-1913352 You can also find a video demonstration here.