Tiramisu

Tiramisu, which literally means "pick me up" in Italian, is one of my favorite Italian deserts.  It is a simple cake that is made from savoiardi, a type of lady finger, dipped in coffee and topped with a sweet mascarpone cheese mixture.  My aunt serves hers in a single layer at her restaurant, but you can make your tiramisu as many layers high as you would like following this same recipe.



Tiramisu Ingredients:
1 package savoiardi lady fingers
1 cup strong espresso, cooled
3 tbsp sugar, separated
2 egg whites
2 egg yolks
8 oz mascarpone cheese
cocoa powder (use bittersweet if you can find it, if not unsweetened is fine)

Pour cooled espresso into small bowl and mix in 1 tbsp sugar.  Dip savoiardi in espresso mixture and let soak for 5 seconds, any longer and they will start to fall apart.  Place soaked savoiardi in a single layer on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan, breaking them if necessary to completely fill the bottom of pan.

In a clean medium sized bowl combine egg yolks, 2 tbsp sugar and mascarpone and mix.  In a seperate clean bowl beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  Carefully fold egg whites into yolk mixture.  Spread the egg mixture evenly over savoiardi.  Finally using a sifter, sprinkle cocoa powder evenly over top.

View of Santa Margherita from a friend's villa