THE REAL TIRAMISU...for me from him!

This time, it's me who is doing all the talking about the cake as opposed to last year when he did it all.So it was my birthday yesterday and as usual (the 2nd time) he asked me what I wanted him to bake for my birthday. He gave me about a month's time to decide because I need time to think always( because my mind wanders and I dream too much!). No prices for guessing, I changed my mind the last minute and chose my favourite dessert, Tiramisu. I have made a Tiramisu Cake before, but this time I wanted the real deal...The Real Tiramisu :-)

Whenever we dine out, if there's a Tiramisu on the dessert menu, I always always eat that. We once drove about 6-7 miles just to buy a small piece of Tiramisu just because I felt like eating it...from that particular restaurant!  :-D I'm not sure how many of you have eaten at Bucca Di Beppo, they have one of the best Tiramisu's I've ever eaten so I end up comparing the one I'm eating to the one I ate at Bucaa ...always! :-)

We were away for the weekend and got back home just in time for my birthday. We knew this early (duh!) so Jobin and I made sure all the things we needed for making my Tiramisu were in place before we left home. As soon as we got back, we unpacked our suitcases, opened a bottle of wine and chose a  'Suresh Gopi's' 'edi padam' to play as he took breaks from the Tiramisu-making. Then we spent the rest of the day (oh it's bright outside till almost 9.15 pm) watching the movie and slurping on some homemade Bisi Bele Bath.

That was my birthday gift sent to me by my reader and a good friend Elvina . Those tiny cakes are actually fridge magnets .Don't they look cute?? I really liked it, El. The minute I opened the packet, I was walking towards my fridge to place them on it :-) How on earth did you know that I have a fetish for fridge magnets?

Also, I have Rose (btw, the chocolate buttons you see on top of the Tiramisu was sent to me by Rose, sometime ago) baking a cake to celebrate my birthday (She lives 1000's of miles away from me) and Dhanya cooking up my Chatti Pathiri to give me a surprise on my birthday! Gosh, you guys are just fantabulous!! Another reason for me to love food blogging!!

THE REAL TIRAMISU
Recipe source : Recipe behind the Alessi Savoiardi Cookie packet.

Ingredients:
For 1 portion Zabaglione
5 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c marsala (you can sub it with rum)

For the cheese layer:
1c whipping cream, chilled
4 tbsp sugar
450g Homemade Mascarpone cheese,at room temp.

2c freshly brewed strong coffee
1/2 c Rum or Marsala
1 tbsp Vanilla
24 nos. Savoiardi Cookies/Lady Fingers or as needed
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

Extra Cocoa powder & Chocolate Curls for garnishing.
Method:
For the Zabaglione: In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks &sugar. Now, you need to set up a double boiler and let the water come to a full boil. Then reduce the flame to a simmer, place the bowl with the egg over it and whisk constantly and pour the marsala/rum into it. Keep whisking it till it forms into soft mounds. It won't take long. Transfer it to another bowl, wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

For the Cheese layer: Meanwhile, whip the cream with 2 tbsp sugar to soft peaks.Fold in the mascarpone and Zabaglione and mix carefully till well blended.Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a separate bowl, mix coffee,2 tbsp sugar,Marsala & Vanilla.

Arrange one layer of cookies to fit the pan that you are using and pour 1 tbsp of coffee mixture over each cookie so that they are well saturated but not falling apart.Spoon 1/3 rd cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1tbsp cocoa powder. Repeat two more time ending with cocoa. (We didn't follow this method of layering as I wanted it in a cake form)

Cover and refrigerate overnight so that the flavours mature well plus the cookies gets to soak up all that liquid.

Dust with some more cocoa and decorate with chocolate curls. Serve chilled.

Verdict: I couldn't stop licking the cream as and when he was making it because I just wanted to make sure it's up to the Bucca standards ;-) The next day (on my birthday) which was yesterday (confusing??) as I cut the cake and had a slice, the first thing  I said was,'Oh my goodness, this is so yummy! It tastes just like Bucca's! :-D

It is a very good one and is very very simple to make! Do try it at home. I'm sure you can substitute the  lady's finger with a good pound cake and proceed with the recipe if you live no where close to a supermarket which sells those fingers ;-) After all once they are soaked in the syrup, their texture is similar to a cake!

So make sure you try this for your next party!