This popular Italian dessert is composed of delicate ladyfingers dipped in espresso then layered with a velvety mascarpone cream, and dusted with cocoa powder for a finishing touch.
Start by beating room temperature softened butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat for about 3 to 5 mins until the mixture looks creamy and mixed through (pic 1-2).Do not mix for long.
Scrape the bowl, add vanilla and mix that through.
Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt on top of the bowl. Make sure to add only half of it.
Mix it and then add half of the weighed out milk. Mix that as well and finally incorporate the rest of the dry ingredients followed by the remaining half of the milk and combine to form a batter.
Transfer the batter to a piping bag and cut off the tip about 2 cms away from the tip.
Start piping straight lines of 3.5 inches leaving a gap of 1.5 inches between each one on top of the baking tin lined with parchment paper. (For even piping you can consider making a template of straight lines of about 3.5 inches leaving a gap of 1.5 inches between each line. Place it on your baking tray and top with another parchment paper on which you want to pipe and bake).
If you feel that the dough is out of shape, wet your fingers and using wet fingers try to give them a proper shape.
Dust generously with icing sugar. Bake in a preheated oven of 180°C for 8 to 12 mins or until slightly crisp on the sides and soft in the centre with pale colour.
Let it cool in the pan itself for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 2 - Coffee Syrup
To make the coffee syrup In a mixing bowl, add the coffee powder and sugar.
Pour hot boiling water on top and stir together to dissolve the sugar and coffee in it. Cool completely before using.
Step 3 - Whipped Mascarpone Cream
To make the whipped mascarpone cream Whip together heavy whipping cream and sugar in a mixing bowl until almost stiff peaks form.
In a separate mixing bowl, add the mascarpone cheese.
Add the whipped cream to the mascarpone a little at a time and gently fold through using cut and fold method until combined.
Step 4 - Assemble
Take a dish or a cake pan.The one that I am using is 7x7 inches. Dip the ladyfinger in the coffee syrup for about 1 to 2 seconds and remove immediately and place in the dish.
Cover the base of the dish or ramekin with the ladyfingers soaked in coffee.
Layer half of the prepared whipped mascarpone cream and repeat the steps until you reach the top.
Cover with the cling wrap and this is the hardest part of the recipe which is to refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
Generously dust with cocoa powder right before serving. Add some chocolate decorations on top if you like.
Video
Notes
Too much air:One reason for the ladyfingers to spread and loose its shape is the air in the batter. Beating the butter for long is the culprit so make sure that you do not over beat the butter.
Over-mixing: Alternating between dry and wet ingredients while preparing the dough ensures that you are not over-mixing the batter. (This and 9 other tip has been included in my free baking ebook which you can download by clicking here).
Scraping: Scrape the bowl before each addition to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed properly.
Creaming: Do not cream the butter and sugar for long. Just beat them for about 3 to 5 mins or so until they are combined and looks creamy.
Precision: Make use of a template to be precise while piping. Find out how to make the template by watching the video shared in the recipe card or click here.
Shaping: Wet your fingers while shaping the finger dough right before baking so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands.
Baking: You do not want a crispy cookie. Rather it should be soft in the centre and crisp around the edges hence take care of the baking time.
Beating the Heavy Cream: There is a very fine line between stiff peaks and overbeating the cream. I would say beat the cream to a stage where it is still not reached the stiff peaks stage as you would be mixing the whipped cream to the mascarpone in later stages which would mean there are chances of over-whipping the cream accidentally.
Lightly dip the ladyfingers in the coffee syrup or else it would become soggy, soft and eventually fall apart.
Layering the tiramisu is the key to make visually pleasing dessert. If layered properly you could see each layer individually once the tiramisu is sliced.
Me Time: Yes the tiramisu needs some "Me Time" in the refrigerator to give away the most flavour and also to firm up a bit so that it is easier for you to slice and serve.
Do check the post to understand why I failed in my first attempt so that you don't fail and also for other details like storage instructions, FAQ's etc.