Traditional Italian Tiramisu

I’m sorry that this post has taken *this* long! I know you guys have been waiting for this recipe. I had a great time making this tiramisu for the first time. The final dessert is so pretty, the vintage plates are pretty, and the photos are pretty! I’m happy!

The ingredients are pretty basic. I promise, anyone can do this. Did I mention that this is my first tiramisu? I have always been squeamish about making tiramisu because of the use of raw eggs. I know there are versions out there which use whipping cream instead of egg white meringues, and recipes which call for the egg yolks to be warmed in a mixing bowl over boiling water. I don’t exactly care for those because cream is wayy more fattening than egg whites and heating egg yolks over boiling water is too much effort. Using egg whites also results in a lighter and more airy texture.

For the record, I don’t eat Tiramisu outside, either.

The traditional recipes which use raw eggs (both yolk and white) always highlight the need to “use the freshest and highest quality eggs you can find”. Fresh eggs may taste better, but they’re not bacteria nor Salmonella-free. I’m happy I discovered pasteurised eggs that kill Salmonella bacteria. Now I can make Tiramisu for Ah-mm and 88 at home!

I even sliced up some bananas (they go sooo well together!) and served it on my pretty plate.. this is mine!

I used the KitchenAid to whip the egg whites to gorgeous stiff peaks and refrigerated them before mixing the egg yolks and mascarpone cheese. You could do it either way, i.e., mix the egg yolks first before the egg whites, or use two KitchenAid mixers to beat them concurrently. What? Some households do have more than one KitchenAid!

For the chocolate, I used semi-sweet baking chocolate which I chopped to small pieces. You can use chocolate curls or prepared chocolate shavings. I also only used Bake King’s cocoa powder which I sifted over the top. Please feel free to use better quality cocoa powder, and by that I mean Valrhona and NOT Hershey’s.

If you end up with a few sponge fingers and filling, prepare some sundae glasses and serve your Tiramisu in a cup.

Ready for the step-by-step recipe? Let’s goooooo! (Please do not make this with regular eggs. If you don’t eat raw eggs because of bacteria risk, why should you make a dessert with them?)

Traditional Italian Tiramisu
Makes: 8 servings (including the 2 extra sundae cups!)
Total cost per serving: $1.65

What I used:
1 package Savoiardi- 250g (sponge lady fingers)
3 pasteurised eggs (separate the yolks and whites into clean bowls)
Half teaspoon cream of tartar
250g Mascarpone cheese
60g sugar
200ml of what’s supposed to be espresso but I used strong kopi-o (with 2 teaspoons sugar) + 2 tablespoons baileys
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cocoa powder
Chocolate shavings

Steps:
1. Prepare your coffee: Make the espresso or kopi-o with sugar and mix in the baileys. Set aside.
2. Whip your egg whites til stiff peaks. If you need a how-to, please refer to my previous KitchenAid post.

3. After the egg whites are done, transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate. Quickly wash up the mixing bowl, then beat the egg yolks and sugar on low speed.
4. When well incorporated, add the mascarpone cheese and vanilla extract.
5. Continue to mix til creamy.
6. Fold in the egg whites gently to the egg yolk mixture with a spatula til the mixture looks like this:

7. Now it is time to assemble! Dip each lady finger one by one (about 2 seconds each side- cannot soak or it will disintegrate) into the coffee. Line in a single layer on your glass dish.

8. Slather on 1/3 of the tiramisu cream from step 6 and sift over some cocoa powder.

9. Repeat with a second layer of lady fingers, cream, cocoa powder, and then top with a final third layer of lady fingers and the rest of the cream.

10. As a final step, sift over some more cocoa powder and sprinkle chocolate shavings all over. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

How much I spent:
$3.30 for lady fingers
$6.85 for mascarpone cheese (I used Granarolo)
$0.93 for eggs (I used Egg Story’s pasteurised eggs)
$2 for baking chocolate (I used half a portion of “Baker’s Semi Sweet” baking chocolate from Sheng Siong)
Everything else from my pantry

I got my glass dish with cover for $10.40 from Japan Home, Yew Tee Point. You should be able to fit 6-8 Savoiardi per layer. If your dish is bigger, like if you can fit 12-16 fingers per layer, buy the larger package of Savoiardi, double the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla extract but just use 5 eggs instead of 6. And don’t worry if you have leftover coffee. Either pour it away or drink it all up.

I hope you try making this. You won’t regret it!

Traditional Italian Tiramisu

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Chrissy@budgetpantry.com