Tiramisu
No baking at all. A whipped mascarpone cream, a fast dip in coffee, and a full night in the fridge.
- Prep
- 30m
- Cook
- —
- Waiting
- 12h
- Total
- 12h 30m
- Serves
- 8
- Effort
- Moderate
Scale
Units
Method
| 300 g | 1 Dip each biscuit for one second a side 8m One second. Any longer and the layer collapses into sludge. | 5 Layer biscuits and cream twice in a deep dish 12m | 6 Refrigerate overnight, then dust with cocoa before serving 12h Overnight is not optional — the biscuits need time to soften into cake. | ||
| 1 1/2 cups | |||||
| 3 tbsp | |||||
| 4 | 2 Beat until thick and pale 6m Do not overbeat once the mascarpone is in — it splits and goes grainy. | 4 Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture 5m | |||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| 500 g | |||||
| a pinch | |||||
| 1 cup | 3 Whip to soft peaks 4m | ||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
- 1
Dip each biscuit for one second a side
8m- savoiardi biscuits 300 g
- strong espresso 1 1/2 cups
- marsala or dark rum (optional) 3 tbsp
One second. Any longer and the layer collapses into sludge.
- 2
Beat until thick and pale
6m- egg yolks 4
- caster sugar 1/2 cup
- mascarpone 500 g
- fine salt a pinch
Do not overbeat once the mascarpone is in — it splits and goes grainy.
- 3
Whip to soft peaks
4m- double cream 1 cup
- 4
Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture
5m- from 2 Beat until thick and pale
- from 3 Whip to soft peaks
- 5
Layer biscuits and cream twice in a deep dish
12m- from 1 Dip each biscuit for one second a side
- from 4 Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture
- 6
Refrigerate overnight, then dust with cocoa before serving
12h- from 5 Layer biscuits and cream twice in a deep dish
- cocoa powder 2 tbsp
Overnight is not optional — the biscuits need time to soften into cake.
The one-second dip
Savoiardi are dry and extremely porous — they take up liquid almost instantly. A one-second dip on each side leaves the centre dry, and that centre hydrates overnight from the moisture in the cream. Soak them properly and you skip straight to saturated, which is why over-soaked tiramisu weeps.
Notes
- Mascarpone at room temperature. Cold mascarpone seizes into lumps when beaten.
- Cocoa at the last moment. Dusted the night before it dissolves into a damp brown film.
- Cold, strong coffee. Hot coffee softens the biscuits before they hit the dish.