TIRAMISU

 with Suzanne Dunaway

“Pick me up” is what this means, and pick me up is what it is because of the coffee and chocolate it contains.

Mascarpone is a type of Italian crème fraîche, and if you cannot find it, crème fraîche can be used very successfully. There is no real substitute, however, for mascarpone, and in France, I see it often in supermarkets.

The man who gave me this recipe, owner of San Benedetto Ristorante outside of Assisi, makes his tiramisu from fresh mascarpone which he gets down the road from cows that were munching grass outside his restaurant when we ate there!  Italian law now requires the cream to be sold packaged, but more often than you think, and as with everything else in Italy, you can buy fresh mascarpone from someone who thinks rules are for bending. You might even find a farmer here who will not balk at bending…

• 16 oz. mascarpone (or 2 8 -oz.cartons crème fraîche)
• 4 large eggs, separated, whites whipped firm but not dry
• 4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup very strong espresso
• 2 jiggers Cognac
• 1 package Savoiardi, Italian ladyfingers, or in a pinch, French         champagne biscuits
• bitter chocolate for dusting between the layers

Place one layer of ladyfingers in the bottom of an 8 to 10 inch glass dessert dish, one that can go to the table.
Sprinkle the cookies with half the coffee and half the Cognac, wetting them evenly.  They should not be entirely soaked.
With a wire whisk, beat the yolks and sugar until light yellow, add the mascarpone, and fold in the beaten egg whites, keeping as much air as possible in the mixture.
Pour half of this over the ladyfingers, then dust liberally with chocolate. I use a shaker for my chocolate.
Add one more layer of ladyfingers, wet them well with coffee and Cognac (you may need a little more), then spread the rest of the mascarpone mixture over all.
Dust again with chocolate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. This is good made in the morning and served at night.

NEVER IS WHIPPING CREAM NECESSARY IN TIRAMISU. Mascarpone is the cream in itself.

Suzanne Dunaway loves “cooking and painting, gardening, singing, playing the piano, her husband’s ex-wife, her two very individual step-children and six step-grandchildren, and she has strong opinions about cooking with indiscriminate dry spices, sprouted garlic, or green peppers, and ordering cappuccino in Italy after 10AM.”
She regularly shares with P-O Life readers her PO-inspired culinary creations.