Classic Tiramisù (My Family's Recipe!)
Ariel, another tiramisù recipe?! Yes and for good reason! My mom and I recently traveled to Rome and visited our family 30 minutes outside the city in Valmontone. While there, they served us this tiramisù and I begged for the recipe. It’s more custard-like than the others on my page and the eggs are fully cooked (if that concerns you). It also has a lot of lovely citrus notes from both the lemon pastry cream and added Cointreau. The recipe has been translated from Italian to English, to the best of my (and Google translate’s) ability. 😂 We recently served this at my Roman Supper Club. See how it’s made here.
Here are the silver coupes pictured above.
Ingredients
For the Pastry Cream:
4 whole eggs
150 grams sugar
50 grams flour
2 cups whole milk
20 grams unsalted butter
zest from 1 lemon
pinch of salt
For the Tiramisù:
1/4 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
48 ladyfingers
500 grams mascarpone
2 1/2 cups fresh espresso
3/4 cup coffee liqueur
unsweetened cocoa powder for topping
Make it!
In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until combined.
Carefully add the flour, little by little, and whisk until no lumps appear.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk with the lemon zest without boiling (you’ll see a little steam come off it). Pour the warm milk through a sieve to remove the lemon zest. Slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture, while whisking. This tempers the eggs, so that they do scramble when they hit the heat.
Place this mixture into a medium sauce pan over medium heat, whisking constantly until the cream thickens. Do not stop whisking even for a moment or your eggs will scramble! Once the mixture has reduced by almost half and slow bubbles come up from the bottom, it’s ready. Remove from heat and add the butter and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap down onto the pastry cream so that it doesn’t form a skin. Cool completely.
Prepare your espresso and let it cool completely. Once cooled, add the espresso liqueur.
Once the pastry cream has cooled, transfer it into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the mascarpone and beat on medium until fully combined. Add the Cointreau now, mix again.
Assemble! Select your vessel and layer the bottom with a thin layer of the cream. Quickly dip each ladyfinger into the espresso mixture and cover the length of the vessel. Add a healthy layer of cream evenly across the top of the ladyfingers and repeat the dipping. Laslty, add the final layer of cream and smooth it across the top. Dust with cocoa powder and cover. Chill for a minimum of 6 hours in the fridge before serving, even better if it’s overnight! Buon appetito!
