Rambling about tiramisu

In the late 90’s, right around the time I started cooking professionally, I went on a mission to find the best tiramisu in Manila. I don’t remember the first time I had tiramisu, I may have just seen a recipe or a picture of it, but once I started on my mission I was hooked. Back then good mascarpone cheese was hard to come by in the Philippines, so the first ones I tasted were (I know now) made from half cream cheese and half cream. They tasted more like cheesecakes than tiramisu. Some were topped with cheap shaved dark chocolate, some were dusted with so much cocoa powder it made me cough violently as I inhaled the bitter dust through my mouth eager to get to that first bite. Most were annoyingly too sweet.

The best tiramisus I had during those years were the ones from the Tivoli at Mandarin Oriental Manila and at Margarita Fores’ Cibo. I trained and took on my first job at Mandarin Oriental so I may be biased, but The Tivoli’s tiramisu was made with real mascarpone cheese infused with a bit of lavender (but not too much) and it had just the right amount of sweetness. The lady fingers were perfectly soaked with espresso and kahlua and the dessert was dusted with just the right amount of the best quality cocoa powder. I worked there for a year and never got tired of eating that dessert. For me, back then,  it was perfect…

My next favorite was Margarita Fores’ version served at Cibo and at her catering events. I liked it because it was tiramisu with a delicious twist. Instead of lady fingers, she used a cookie similar to palmiers soaked in espresso. The filling was made with real mascarpone cheese and eggyolks – but sweeter than that of Tivoli. And where others put cocoa powder, she puts big shavings of dark chocolate (a good quality one!) on top of the dessert. So sinfully decadent. More than a decade later, I still make it a point to have one at Cibo whenever I am home.

So fast forward 14+ years, I still love tiramisu and have the love handles to prove it. I’ve had many, many more versions of it through my travels, but I’ve never been to Italy yet to have the real, REAL deal. I work now at a resort where an Italian restaurateur serves as a consultant and my sous chef is Italian. I said to myself when I started surely I can get a good tiramisu at this place. And I was right. Our pastry cook made it one night and I was again hooked! We run tiramisu as a dessert special maybe 4 times a month. And the recipe for it, THAT precious recipe, is one I do not want to forget. Hence, this blog post.

Tiramisu

2000 g mascarpone

350 g sugar

200 g egg white

400 g egg yolks

Lady fingers

Coffee, kahlua

Cocoa powder

I copied this recipe in verbatim from our pastry chef’s notebook. The amounts are huge but it can be divided into half or a quarter. The procedure is as follows:

1. Divide the sugar into 2. Combine the egg yolks with half of the sugar and beat in a mixer until pale. Add the mascarpone cheese and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the mixture into another bowl.

2. In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar together until soft peaks form. Fold this egg white mixture into the mascarpone mixture as if you were making a mousse. Chill until ready to use.

3. Soak a few lady fingers in a mixture of espresso and kahlua. Place the soaked cookies in a glass serving dish. Spoon the filling over and dust the dessert with cocoa powder – but not too much! Or grate some good quality dark chocolate over the top.

4. Eat and enjoy!