Tiramisu

Malaysians now begin to like tiramisu, an italian dessert named such (Pick me up) because that's what the courtesans fed their lovers. there are a lot of recipes on Tiramisu. some are just mere imitations, and not fit to be called a Tiramisu. a popular Malaysian eatery serves tiramisu but sadly, it's just a cake, and not a tiramisu.

so, what is the real mccoy tiramisu?

it is layers of spongefingers soaked in coffee syrup (to which liqueur is added), mascarpone cheese, whipped cream and meringue, and finally dusted with cocoa.

now, that's the real tiramisu, of which you can see when Nigella shows it on tv.

here i'm going to share with you the recipe that i used, taken from the Better Home & Garden's Italian magazine.

Liqueur syrup

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tb espresso

Stir and let boil until 1 minute. cool.

Mascarpone filling

500g mascarpone cheese (this is really expensive and those made in italy can cost RM30 a bar)
1/4 cup sugar
vanilla

Mix.

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 cup cream
3 tb sugar

Beat until soft peaks form.

Meringue

3 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. add sugar then continue beating until it reaches hard peak stage.

6 oz spongefingers
2 tb cocoa


Add 1/2 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. place half of the spongefingers into a dish of 9 x 9 x 2. brush with half of the liqueur syrup. on top of the spongefingers, put half of the mascarpone cream. layer it out. then put half of the whipped cream, layer it out. put half of the meringue mixture, layer it out. dust with 1 tb of cocoa. repeat the same process with all the other half mixtures, ending with another dust of 1 tb of cocoa. refrigerate 4- 24 hours before serving.