Tiramisu

We had this tiramisu for dessert on Italian World Cup night. I don’t follow a recipe for this — I just thin a tub of mascarpone with cream, flavour and sweeten it to taste, then layer in a bowl with coffee-soaked biscuits or cake, and top with grated chocolate. The longer it sits, the better it gets…

Tiramisu
(serves 8)

• 250g tub of mascarpone
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 Tb marsala or amaretto
• 1/2 cup (125ml) double cream
• 3 Tb icing sugar
• 1 cup (250ml) strong coffee, cooled
• 16 trifle sponges or lady’s fingers (or even stale panettone)
• cocoa powder or 1 square dark chocolate, grated, to decorate

1. Whisk together the mascarpone, vanilla, marsala, double cream and 50ml of the coffee until smooth.
2. Pour the rest of the coffee into a bowl. Dip the biscuits into the coffee one at a time, leaving them a bit so the coffee soaks in.
3. Line the bottom of a medium-sized dish with half the soaked biscuits, and spread half the mascarpone mixture on top.
4. Make another layer of soaked biscuits and cover with the rest of the mascarpone mixture.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the tiramisu to set and the flavours to marry.
6. Before serving, sprinkle the top with cocoa powder or grated dark chocolate (or both).

Family score: 9.3 out of 10

Tags: chocolate, coffee, Italian food, marscarpone, vegetarian