More than the sum of its parts
Tiramisu: I love the name. According to one source, it means “pick me up”; I don’t speak Italian, but it sounds plausible to my French-conditioned ears. It’s also exactly what one needs after a good meal: a sweet pick-me-up to carry on with the evening’s conversation. I love the idea of it, too: soft, spongy cookies and coffee, cocoa, and delicious mascarpone beaten with pastry cream. Oddly, though, I’ve rarely eaten tiramisu; I remember having it for dessert when I was in Nice, but it wasn’t terribly memorable, and as much as I love to bake, I generally prefer pies and cakes and cookies to a complex composed dessert. However, joining the Daring Bakers is all about trying new things, and so:
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.
The challenge required me to make my own savoiardi (ladyfingers) and my own mascarpone, which was fun. I’m no stranger to baking cookies but the technique for savoiardi was definitely outside of my experience (and clearly I need more practice with the method). I’ve also made paneer, and the method for making mascarpone is similar but not quite the same; it was interesting to compare the two. Making the tiramisu was a good way to get out of a baking rut that I didn’t really realize I was in: although I’ve got some experience with each individual part, except the zabaglione, I’ve never made anything that incorporated many different elements the way tiramisu does.
I definitely need to play around some more, though. My savoiardi were tasty, but I think I must have deflated the batter somehow, because instead of the predicted 36 cookies, I had 15, which wasn’t really enough. I also experimented a bit with the flavours, using amaretto as the liqueur instead of marsala, which I didn’t have. I really love the idea of the fruit flavours some of the other Daring Bakers tried, and if I make it again I think I’ll head in this direction, because sadly, I didn’t love my execution of tiramisu. It wasn’t that it was bad, but it didn’t really come together as more than the sum of its parts.
Tiramisu Recipe:
(Source: Carminantonio’s Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee; I used amaretto)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
For the vanilla pastry cream: (my favourite part of the challenge)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk (I used a mix of skim and half&half)
For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional; I skipped this)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi biscuits (you may use less; fortunately, as I had only 15!)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder
Method:
For the zabaglione:
1. Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove and use a heat-proof bowl large enough to rest against the sides of the pot.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth. Transfer the mixture to the top of the double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency. Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
For the pastry cream:
1. Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
2. Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
For the whipped cream:
1. You’ll want to do this right before assembling the tiramisu. Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.
To assemble the tiramisu:
1. Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8″ by 8″ should do) or one of your choice. I couldn’t find anything but one of my mom’s casserole dishes; it worked, but it could have been prettier.
1. Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract (if using) and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. This step may be a bit awkward if your mascarpone is stiff, as mine was; do not skimp on this step. I kept finding little lumps of unblended mascarpone in the assembled tiramisu, which was, I think, less delicious than fully blended-in mascarpone would have been. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.
3. Now to start assembling the tiramisu. Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the dish you’ve chosen for the tiramisu, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
4. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
5. Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and another third of the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.
Mascarpone Cheese Recipe:
(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese
Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. I strongly recommend using a thermometer. A candy thermometer can be had cheaply, and it would have made my life much easier.
2. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. It took me quite a while to get to this stage; however, I have a feeling that it was actually done much sooner, because my completed mascarpone was very, very thick. This is another reason why I should have gotten a thermometer.
3. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a colander with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Note: you won’t need all of this for the tiramisu. I used my leftovers to make a creamy version of Heidi Swansen’s harissa spaghettini. Try this, seriously. Not as healthy as the original recipe, but delicious.
Savoiardi Biscuits (Ladyfingers) Recipe:
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar,
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
2. Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth. This step is very cool. I don’t think my photos do justice to the change in the texture of the egg whites, but watching it happen was fun.
3. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy. This is probably what happened to my biscuits.
4. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5″ long and 3/4″ wide strips leaving about 1″ space in between the strips. Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
5. Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft. Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack. Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.
Well, it certainly looks good! And your ladyfingers don’t look particularly deflated. I beat the yolks and some sugar until really thick and light and I think that helped and made it easier to fold together. I bet the zabaglione was great with the Amaretto. I used it in my raspberry dipping sauce, but stuck with marsala in the zabaglione. The fruit flavour was great–give it a try next time. There will be a next time, right?
Mary, thanks for the tip!
There definitely will be a next time – I thought the amaretto was pretty good myself, but I really like the fruit idea.
It’s weird that you got only 15 savoiardi… They certainly look good! Good job on the challenge!
ap269: I think that my egg whites deflated a lot when I folded them with the flour mixture. Hopefully that will improve with practice!
Lovely tiramisu. Very nicely done.
Your Tiramisu is lovely.
Great job on this challenge!
Despite the odds, you did great on the challenge. Like the flavours you used. Nice. That’s a yum first pictuyre too!
I think your tiramisu looks delicious! I found that the lady fingers were fussy to make, and I think next time I make tiramisu I’ll just buy some. I always have problems when I work with egg whites.