Jeff Smith's Tiramisu

Total Time: 6 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 1/2 cups espresso, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brandy or 1/4 cup amaretto
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 (8 ounce) package ladyfingers
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, shaved
• 1 lb mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup fresh whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• cocoa powder
• additional chocolate shavings

Recipe

• 1 stir the expresso, sugar and brandy/amaretto together until the sugar dissolves.
• 2 remove 1/3 of the coffee mixture to another bowl and set the remainder aside. whisk the egg yolks into the 1/3 cup mixture. add the marscapone and whisk together until smooth. don't overmix.
• 3 line a loaf pan with a large sheet of wax paper. tuck it carefully into the corners. there should be a lot of wax paper remaining outside the pan.
• 4 dip the ladyfingers one at a time into the reserved coffee mixture and begin to place them crosswide in the lined pan. they will expand when soaked with coffee. this will take only a few seconds, don't leave them too long or they will fall apart. line the whole bottom of the pan (7 ladyfingers). spread with half the cheese mixture. sprinkle with 2 oz of the shaved chocolate.
• 5 repeat layers of ladyfingers, cheese and shaved chocolate.
• 6 top the pan off with the remaining soaked ladyfingers.
• 7 fold the wax paper up around the top of the pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours.
• 8 invert the chilled loaf pan onto a serving platter and tap the bottom of the pan to remove the loaf. remove the wax paper.
• 9 place the cream, vanilla and confectioners sugar in a bowl and whip until stiff. spread the whipped cream all over the cake in an attractive manner.
• 10 dust the cake with cocoa and decorate with shaved chocolate.
• 11 slice to serve.