Tiramisu
 
Tiramisu is an Italian cake made from lady finger cookies, mascarpone cheese, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Oh, and liqueur.
Ingredients
For the custard layer:
  • 4 (85g) egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon Marsala wine, dark rum, or coffee/chocolate liqueur
  • 3 (120g) egg whites
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 container (226g) mascarpone cheese (do not substitute!), softened at room temperature
For the lady finger layer:
  • 200g (about 16) lady fingers, divided
  • ~1 cup cooled espresso or strong coffee
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Marsala wine, dark rum, or coffee/chocolate liqueur
For the cocoa:
  • ~1/2 cup cocoa powder
Method
Prepare the custard:
  1. Combine the egg yolks, one tablespoon of the sugar, vanilla extract, and the Marsala wine in a small saucepan and whisk together over low heat until the mixture thickens. Cool to room temperature. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar and the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in the mascarpone cheese and the custard.
Prepare the lady fingers:
  1. Combine the coffee with the sugar and wine. Dip a lady finger in the coffee for maximum 2-3 seconds and then transfer it to a 9'' by 5'' loaf pan (this size gives the best proportion of lady finger to custard). Fill the bottom of the pan with dipped lady fingers (about 8 - this is half of them).
Layer the cake:
  1. Spread half the custard over the lady fingers, making sure they're all covered. Dust with half the cocoa powder so the custard is completely covered. Dip more lady fingers in coffee and arrange them perpendicularly to the first layer. Cover with the remaining custard, dust with cocoa, and let sit in the fridge for at least two hours before eating (this will allow the coffee to soak through and the layers to settle).
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2013/02/tiramisu/