Tiramisu has been mentioned on this blog a few times before – but only in passing. But I now believe it is time to get to grips with this fine fine dessert (oooh, I’m salivating already. I’m hopeless, aren’t I?)
If you like creamy desserts, coffee, and more importantly, Italian wine, then Tiramisu will definitely take you there. It’s comfort food for wine lovers. Rich, creamy, indulgent. It’s the kind of dessert that you have to enjoy guilt-free or else it’s just not worth having it at all, because it’s that good.
So what is Tiramisu, then?
Well it’s:
…a thin layer of sponge cake generously soaked in Italian espresso, rum and Marsala wine, covered with a thick layer of whipped Mascarpone cheese, cocoa, sugar and eggs, finished off with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
Culinary poetry in motion. Yum!
(n.b: the sponge cake is often called ‘lady fingers’)
Marsala wine is made in the Sicilian town of the same name and is produced from a combination of white and dark red grapes. This rich wine has a yellowish-brown colour with a taste that tends to vary from sweet to dry. Commonly used as a dessert wine, it’s perfect for Tiramisu.
Now, there’s a whole manner of speculation over exactly where this genius of a dessert originated from. Some people say Tiramisu originated from as far back as the 1800s, while others say it was born in the 1970s (in a Treviso restaurant called ‘Le Beccherie’).
Whatever the history may be, one day, someone somewhere went into a kitchen and came up with a marvellous idea for a dessert that has made the bellies of a lot of people all over the world very happy. Very VERY happy.
Tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian. Indeed!
(img by: belgianchocolate)