Tiramisu

This mysterious dessert intrigued us - how is it made? After it was a challenge on the TV show MASTER CHEF, we decided it was time to learn how to make it.

We looked at lots of recipes - basically lady fingers are soaked in a coffee-alcohol mixture, and layered with a creamy egg-based custard, with some chocolate or cocoa in the mix.

What sold me on David Lebovitz' version was his cream layer. All of them use raw eggs and mascarpone, but they vary in the the number of egg yolks and other ingredients. Most are heavy into the yolks, do not use the whites, and some add whipped cream. This recipe skips the whipped cream, and uses the whites (beaten separately then folded in) to lighted the custard.

We learned a bit about soaking lady fingers. They can accommodate a lot of liquid - and we didn't care for the "gush" of liquid produced, but this would easily be remedied by merely soaking until they are only half saturated. We also added a layer of grated chocolate and put cocoa over the top.

This recipe suggests serving after 4 hours, but it was much better after 24 hours. But why the had the master chef contestants serve theirs immediately I do not know.

I think this is a good recipe to know how to make. Its remarkably easy, and looks like you worked on it all day. This version would be great for serving to company.