Europa! 's Tiramisù Recipe

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Darling! Europa! is so happy to have you here! And now, to celebrate, Europa! will share with you her recipe for the perfect tiramisù. Even if you do not cook read it; it is very charming...

Europa! cannot begin to stress how important it is to know a good tiramisù recipe. The inhabitants of entire regions of Italy could not survive the ardour of a long, hot Italian country afternoon without its magical energizing qualities. Energizing, you ask? Of course! Tiramisù is the Italian word for "pick-me-up". It's a tasty treat which can put even the most exhausted "I-spent-the-whole-day-cooking-and-washing-and-scrubbing-bambinos" Italian mamma back on her feet... And that's because tiramisù, besides being rich in nutrients such as chocolate, butterfat and coffee, is also made with the wholesome goodness of alcohol.
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Ingredients:

(this is a small recipe which serves 4 and makes a darling-looking little tiramisù
for a bigger cake, just multiply the amounts)

12 or more Italian ladyfingers, also known as Savoie biscuits
250 ml mascarpone
one egg
60 ml sugar
2.5 - 5 ml pure vanilla extract (Europa! is a vanilla lover)
1/4 cup of pure cacao powder or
50g of grated dark chocolate
125 ml espresso coffee, cooled

Parfum mixte:
50 ml Crème de Cacao
30 ml rum

Tools:
1 café au lait bowl
2 mixing bowls
1 or more spoons
1 fine mesh strainer
1 dinner plate

Look proudly at your assembled ingredients. Decide you have time to make yourself a double espresso and watch some Sky news. Enjoy a few sips, realize that Sky news is repetitive, and return to the kitchen.

Mix the cooled espresso with the ingredients for the parfum mixte. Take a moment to appreciate the superiority of this blend to the espresso you are sipping. Resist the temptaion to drink it. Take two mixing bowls, and separate the egg, putting the white in one bowl, and the yolk in the other. Beat the egg white with the remaining sugar until semi-stiff peaks appear. In the other bowl, add the mascarpone, the remaining sugar and the vanilla to the egg yolk and stir until creamy and all the lumps are gone. Fold in the egg white mixture.

Wash your hands, unless you are from Serbia. Pour the coffee mix into a flat plate. Place a biscuit on its side in the plate until it absorbs a small amount of the mixture (about one second) flip it over, wait again, then pick it up and place it into the café au lait bowl, tip at the center, radiating out. Do not worry if it is not yet forming to the contour of the bowl. If you have done this correctly, the core of the biscuit is still dry, but the liquid will absorb slowly. Repeat with a second biscuit, placing it's tip on the first biscuit's tip, but radiating in the opposite direction. Now, with two more biscuits, make a cross. They should be beginning to melt into the shape of the bowl, but if not, light pressing or adding a few drops of the mix can help. Do not be upset if your biscuits break. The cacao powder later on cures all ills. Now cover the remaining surface of the bowl with soaked biscuit until you have a wet biscuit shell. With the strainer, sprinkle cacao powder onto this shell.

Fill 1/3 of the biscuit shell with a layer of mascarpone/egg mix. Top this layer with cacao powder or grated chocolate. Cover with a layer of soaked biscuits (it is not a problem if little holes show) then repeat the mascarpone and cacao steps. Top off with a final layer of soaked biscuits. You should have reached the top of the bowl. If so, top with a plate, turn everything over, and chill without removing the café au lait bowl. This will allow your tiramisù to cool, solidify and to absorb its liquids in a perfect little round shape. You must refrigerate your tiramisù for at least 3 hours, (overnight is better) so this would be a good time to go out shopping. When you return and just before serving, remove the bowl by gently lifting it off your tiramisù. Sprinkle your creation with cacao powder, chocolate shavings, grated walnuts, vanillezucker, anything you like... You can serve tiramisù with fresh berries, whipped cream, or all by itself. It's lovely!

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Now, darlings, Europa! knows that every tiramisù lover wishes to put their own special je ne sais quoi into their recipe... Good for you, darlings! Europa! would not respect you if you did not show this independent spirit. The best way, of course, to alter the cachet of your tiramisù is to modify your parfum mixte. For a cooler-weather tiramisù Europa! recommends you experiment with the peaty, robust charm of a Scotch whiskey... an Irish whiskey will make your tiramisù more glib and poetic. But be careful, darlings. Use whiskeys only in small, aromatic quantities, or your tiramisù will become too garrulous and bold. Europa!'s favourite addition to the parfum mixte is a good XO Brandy from France. These are generally far less expensive than the similar Cognacs, so named because of their region of origin. Also, the XO's are deliciously aged, making them smooth, with a delightful, oakey quality which, when blended with coffee says "Ah, che la vita è bella!"... Only it says this in French, natürlich.

Ciao!

Europa! 8-D