Easy Authentic Tiramisu

                OKAY GUYS. It’s happening- I’m finally getting to share this recipe with you all! As you may know, my world revolves around two things: coffee and chocolate. So honestly, is it even a surprise that this is one of my absolute favorite desserts?

                   Now, creating a dessert means multiple trials and errors. The final step is getting it taste-tested by friends and family. I make sure to get their stamp of approval before I even think about posting it to share with you all. I work hard to make sure all my recipes are hits, easily reproducible, and seriously delicious (like 10/10 minimum). Now this recipe checks all of those boxes. It’s creamy and rich with biscoff layers dipped in espresso. It’s a recipe that I’ve made several times within just one month, and yet already have plans to remake again next month.
                   That wasn’t always the case however. I first attempted to create tiramisu about 10 years ago. In all honesty, it was more like a shadow of a real tiramisu dessert. Back then there were no stores around me that sold mascarpone cheese so I had developed a blended ricotta and cream cheese filling. The ladyfingers were handmade, which meant a lot of time and effort with not much reward. To note, I wasn’t super obsessed with coffee back then- which means my brewed coffee was weak and only added more liquid instead of flavor. All in all, it wasn’t worthy of many recreations. I set tiramisu aside as a dessert that I can splurge on at restaurants but wouldn’t be able to conquer at home.
                   Over time it became more and more of my favorite go-to dessert. Probably because my coffee obsession grew rapidly and this dessert highlighted it beautifully. Seriously, this tiramisu and my espresso creme brûlée are two perfect desserts that are meant for any coffee lovers out there.

                   Now, fast forward to this past year: my brother-in-law is from Italy, and his flight back has been delayed and delayed due to the states rising COVID numbers. Along with missing family, he was missing some serious Italian food. He heard that I developed a tiramisu recipe and asked if I would recreate it for them. Yeah guys, I was flattered but NERVOUS. I mean, making new dessert concoctions is one thing, but making a recipe for someone who’s had the authentic version- YIKES! I definitely hesitated on making it. Then, literally the next day, he showed up with all the ingredients in hand. I prefaced it while making the dessert and even when serving it that this may not be as authentic and satisfying as they remembered from back home. But guys…he LOVED it! I’m not talking about “oh that’s pretty tasty” either. I mean that the whole dish was gone by the end of the day, and they were already remaking the recipe by the next weekend- andddd I have promises to remake it again next month for them. I mean, out of all the compliments and descriptions I could get for this recipe, what more could I possibly ask for than an Italian giving it the stamp of approval?!

                   With the multiple attempts and fine tuning of this recipe, I have so many tips to make this the perfect tiramisu.

1. Make sure you brew espresso for this recipe! Brewed coffee is not as intense and deeply flavored. It will make things liquid and watery, but fail to add any real coffee flavor.

2. Biscoff is hands down the best way to make this. I think part of the reason that it took so long to create a good tiramisu is that I was adamant on using ladyfingers. I made them fresh from scratch, I bought the packaged store version, I even bought some from a bakery. They just don’t add enough flavor or texture for me. Thanks to my friend’s insight, he said that biscoff was readily used in tiramisu and he preferred it even. He was right. It’s so flavorful and holds up so much better in the final product.

3. DIP means DIP, not soak. When you’re dipping the biscoff into the espresso, make sure it gets fully immersed but not left in there long enough to become soggy or disintegrate. If you soak it then it will bring all the liquid into the layers of the tiramisu and the biscoff will seize to exist. It will basically taste closer to a pudding without the beautiful distinct layers that tiramisu holds.

                   As the majority of my other recipes, this is truly an easy dessert to recreate and definitely worth it. Make it for yourself or make it for your friends, either way this is a HIT and you’ll be asked to recreate it again and again.