ebbio’s tiramisu

the classic Italian way- no cream in sight!

what you need

400 g lady fingers (I like Matilde Vicenzi Vicenzovo brand)

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated

100 g sugar

500 g mascarpone (I like nonno nanni brand)

3-4 cups of espresso or strong coffee, cooled*

cocoa powder

what you do

using a whisk or a hand mixer, whip the egg yolks and sugar together until fluffy and the mixture turns pale yellow in color(3-5 mins). mix the mascarpone to soften slightly and then add to the egg yolk/ sugar mixture, whipping together until fully combined. next, whip the egg whites until light and fluffy (3-5 mins), then gently fold whites into the cream mixture using a spatula. make sure not to over-mix (which would result in a deflated cream).

dust your serving dish with cocoa powder until evenly coated. dip each lady finger into your coffee/espresso twice quickly (you do not want to soak them in the coffee) and then place in your prepared dish. repeat until your first layer of lady fingers is assembled. spread half the cream evenly over the lady fingers. repeat the process for the top layer. dust with more cocoa powder then chill in the fridge until ready to serve. keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days and (I find) gets better with each passing day!

*the quality of your coffee/espresso matters a lot for this recipe. I don’t have a Moka pot, which would be ideal, so instead I used my french press. I freshly ground coffee beans and brewed using a ratio of 22 g coffee: 170 g water (in total this ended up being 88 g coffee: 680 g water). You can always brew more if you run out when dipping!