Tiramisu

Cream

            4 large egg yolks

            ½ cup sugar, divided into ¼ cups

            ¾ cup heavy cream

            1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone

Assembly

            1¾ cup espresso or very strong coffee, cooled

            2 tbsp rum, optional (see notes)

            2 tbsp unsweetened GF cocoa powder, divided into 1 tbsps (I use Hershey’s)

            Ladyfingers, 7 ounce package, about 24 (see notes)

            1-2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, grated or shaved, optional (see notes)

Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip together egg yolks & ¼ cup sugar. Whip until very pale yellow & about tripled in volume. When you lift up the whisk, a slight ribbon should fall back into the bowl.

Transfer this mixture into a medium bowl. (Clean the bowl & whisk attachment before the next step.)

Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the cream & remaining ¼ cup sugar until soft-medium peaks are created.

Add mascarpone & continue to whip until a soft, spreadable mixture that forms medium peaks is created.

Gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the egg yolk mixture until combined.

If you are using rum, combine with espresso in flat dish & set aside. (Or just pour the expresso in a flat dish & set aside)

Dust the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish (about 8 x 8 inch square or 9 inch round cake pan) with 1 tbsp cocoa powder. If you use a smaller dish, you can just make 3 layers instead of 2.

One at a time, quickly (see notes) dip each ladyfinger in espresso & place in dish, flat side down. Or place ladyfingers in bottom of dish, flat side down & spoon or brush espresso over them.

Create a single layer in the bottom of the dish. It’s ok to break apart some of the ladyfingers to make them fit & fill in any holes. (Small gaps are ok!)

Evenly spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the layer of ladyfingers.

Repeat with espresso dipped ladyfingers to create another layer.

Evenly spread the remaining mascarpone mixture over this layer of ladyfingers.

Dust the top with remaining 1 tbsp of cocoa powder.

Top with grated or shaved chocolate, if using.

Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but up to 24 hours is even better!

Slice or scoop out to serve.

Notes:

This is based on a recipe from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018684-classic-tiramisu. Thanks NYT!

Rum is generally GF, but some of the flavoring may contain gluten. So just be careful if you choose to use it & make sure it really is GF.

I found GF ladyfingers at my grocery store. Regular ladyfingers are fragile, but GF ladyfingers are REALLY fragile! I tried dipping them, but I couldn’t dip them fast enough – haha, they fell apart no matter how quick I was! When it is time to dip them in the espresso, I recommend laying them in the dish, then spooning a little espresso over each one, or even using a pastry brush to brush them with some espresso.

How you prefer your chocolate grated is a personal choice. If you like it fine, a zester works well. If you prefer it to be a little more coarse, use a cheese grater – play around with size to get the texture you want. Or if you are really talented, you can shave a few curls off of your chocolate bar. (I am definitely NOT that talented – haha!)