“Thus do I pine and surfet day by day,/ Or gluttoning on all, or all away.” Sonnet 75, William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s Tiramisu Sonnet recipe is part of what food critics term the “Good Food” recipes in which Shakespeare exalts the value of traditional preparations and fresh, quality ingredients. In “Tiramisu” he proclaims the ability of a simple, “sweetest” dessert to brighten his outlook after a crap - filled day.
When stuck in traffic after a bad day,
I alone am really, really pissed-off,
Victim of political office play,
Thinking of the boss I’d like to tell-off,
Dreaming I had more money in the bank,
A cooler car, a bigger house, a Wii,
Wishing I looked much cooler in a tank-
Top, leaner, with less body hair to see,
And just in general feeling like crap,
I say to myself, screw it, at least when
I get home I’ll go to the fridge and snap
Open last night’s tiramisu and then
With that sweetest, fresh dessert so creamy,
My loser’s life’s a bit less unseemly.
*First appeared in Alimentum.
The real recipe:
Ingredients:
1 fresh, good egg
2 egg yolks of the same high quality
+/- 1/2 cup of sugar to taste (100 grams or so, though I use a bit less)
Unsweetened coco powder (quality, though)
Vanilla extract (optional)
400-450 grams or so of Mascarpone cheese (if you can get it fresh, all the better)
A large pot of very strong, good espresso - no sugar added
Good Rum(optional. Works fine with whatever tips your hat: Marsala, Whiskey, Limoncello, etc.)
1 or 2 packages of Lady Fingers (or better, Savoiardi Cookies. Truth: I've yet to make them though I should and will, at some point.)
Lemon zest (optional)
1 cup of cream (optional)
It's an assembling job, and you can vary it however you want: more cheese, less coffee, less egg yolk, more chocolate, a different liquor or cookie, etc. Separate the eggs. In one mixing bowl whip the egg white with a pinch of salt, in another whip the yolks with half the sugar, a little at a time. In a large bowl work the cheese with the rest of the sugar until smooth, and finally in a different bowl beat the heavy cream - if you're using it - and a dash or two of vanilla (the cream and vanilla are optional. If the Mascarpone is fresh, I prefer and make it without. In that case, simply add the Mascarpone a big plop at a time to the yolk-sugar and mix well.) Now incorporate the cream into cheese by folding in with bottom-up movements, using a spatula, then the yolks then the whites. Mix the strong unsweetened espresso with a bit of good Rum (optional again, and if the coffee is good, like Illy, make sure it's good stuff. I like a teaspoon of Marsala for the added contrast to the sweetness and fat,) and place the mixed liquid in a bowl. Soak the ladyfinger cookies well either directly or by brushing the fluid generously over top in or with the coffee and liquor, then place on the bottom of a deep pan. Now spread a layer of the cheese mix, then another layer of soaked cookies, etc. On the final layer of Mascarpone generously sprinkle a layer of unsweetened chocolate, and refrigerate well before serving. It'll reach its peak the following day, if the Tiramisu makes it through the night. If this will be the first time you make it... trust me, it likely won't. You'll open the fridge again at 11 or so if it's a weekday, jut a tiny piece. Well, we can take off a little more, straighten out the slice. Well, what the heck, might as well finish the first column, leave one for tomorrow.. and so on, fork after fork, particularly i you balanced the coffee-liquor contrast. Ah, if you don't use the whipped cream but only the eggs, it will look a bit more yellow than it appears in the picture. Serve with a Moscato.
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