Tiramisu

Name: Tiramisu
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 250 g (¼ lb) sponge fingers; 2-3 free-range egg whites; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence; 100 g (4 oz) icing sugar; 100 g (4 oz) ricotta; 4 tablespoons thick yoghurt; 1 teaspoon finely ground coffee; 1 tablespoon grated plain chocolate; 250 g (½ lb) mascarpone or cream cheese; 3 tablespoons cognac; 150 mls (¼ pint) strong black coffee or espresso

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Modern Classics

By Frances Bissell

Published 2000

About

My husband Tom told me that tiramisu first came to England on an Alitalia flight from Rome some years ago. It jumped off at Heathrow, made for the open fields, and has multiplied to the extent that it has been found on every Italian, neo-Italian and pseudo-Italian menu since then.

Ingredients

250 g (¼ lb) sponge fingers
150 mls (¼

Europe
Italy
Dessert
Vegetarian
Mediterranean

Method

Dip half the sponge fingers in the mixed coffee and cognac, and place in the bottom of a glass serving bowl. Blend the mascarpone, yoghurt, ricotta, sugar and vanilla essence until smooth. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, and fold into the creamy mixture. Spoon half of it into the glass bowl. Cover with the remaining sponge fingers, dipped in the coffee and cognac mixture, and then spoon on th