TIRAMISU - Don't try this at home kids!

Ok, I made it at home today. It's a special treat for my fiance. It can be very nice at restaurants that make it carefully, don't cut corners. But it's not sublime. I wanted to produce a sublime tiramisu. So I ignored all the easy-make, quick-step, derivative, and variations on tiramisu and looked for something that, given my knowledge of cooking , had the right feel to it. I found my perfect recipe in Lorenza di Medici's Basic Tiramisu. The recipe is:

Ingredients

* EGG YOLKS, 3

* EGG WHITES, 3

* SUGAR, superfine (castor), 4 tablespoons

* VIN SANTO, or MARSALA, or BRANDY, or RUM 1-1/3 cups (I used rum)

* ESPRESSO COFFEE, very strong, 1/2 cup

* MASCARPONE CHEESE, 8 ounces

* CREAM, 1 cup (This is UK double cream so in the US get heavy whipping cream. NOT UHT crap, please.)

* SAVOIARDI (LADY FINGERS), I believe I used 18 of them for the bowl I used.

* Cocoa powder - the highest quality, pure cocoa.

* dark chocolate - I used a super high quality bar of black african chocolate - 86% which is amazing since the highest I've ever previously seen was 72%. This was dark, silky, and sweetly intense.

You will need 3 mixing bowls for this and 1 large glass souffle dish or any glass serving dish with high, straight sides - I recommend 4" high.

Directions

1. Make a zabaglione by beating the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in the top of a double boiler until ivory colored. (I used a large pyrex mixing bowl with a handle over a pot of boiling water and a hand mixer.)

2. Add 1/3 cup liquor and whisk over gently simmering water until the mixture begins to thicken. Let it cool.

3. Stir about 1/4 cup coffee into the Mascarpone. Taste and add a teaspoon or so of sugar if desired, I did. I also added a bit more coffee to get the soft, silky texture I wanted.

4. Whip the cream to soft peaks.

5. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the zabaglione.

6. Dip the lady fingers into the remaining liquor mixed with the remaining coffee and line the bottom of a 9-inch bowl or individual containers (wine glasses work well).

7. Cover them with half the Mascarpone, then half the zabaglione, then half the whipped cream.

7a. Dust with cocoa powder after the zabaglione layer before you add the cream.

8. Repeat the layers, starting with more dipped ladyfingers and finishing with the cream.

8a. Dust or sprinkle lightly with cocoa. Shave the chocolate bar over the top so chocolate curls/bits scatter all over it.

9. Refrigerate for several hours (4-24) before serving.

9a. Alan says add more shaved chocolate on top before serving.

Whew! I finished the tiramisu and it's now sitting quietly chilling in the fridge, the flavours maturing and mellowing.

We'll have it for dessert tonight. I'll know if my work paid off after we've tasted it. It looks gorgeous and smells gorgeous so I have high hopes.

If you have a dishwasher, this isn't any more than a horribly huge amount of fussy, careful, skilled work. If you have to wash it all up afterwards by hand, as I do, this is almost unspeakable. But one must suffer for beauty.

If you want quick and easy - get an "apple pie" at MacDonalds.