Tiramisu – history of the iconic dessert
Tiramisu literally translates to „lift me up”, but most people translate this as „cheer me up.” It cannot be denied that this exceptionally simple and tasty dessert has a unique predisposition for it. Currently, we can meet various flavors of tiramisu: pistachio, strawberry, peanut butter flavor. However, the most popular one is still a classic coffee flavor.
When was tiramisu made and where does it come from? There are many concepts. Tuscany sees its rights to dessert in the 15th century and the visit of Cosimo de’ Medici in Siena. He presented the local confectioners with a real challenge. He demanded a simple but elegant dessert. Sweet, but with character. What he was given was called Zuppa del Duca (now known as Zuppa Inglese), and we know that pieces of cookies floated in the sweet cream. In Piedmont, they believe that the origin of the savoiardi sponge cakes is sufficient evidence for the Piedmontese roots of the dessert. They are used to prepare the famous dessert. The inhabitants of Lombardy have an argument of a similar caliber; after all, it is from Lombardy that the fat and creamy mascarpone cheese comes from.
Historians unanimously conclude that the tiramisu recipe did not appear in two sources very important for Italian cuisine: the works of Ada Boni and Pellegrino Artusi. Ultimately, it is quite possible that it was created in Treviso only in the 1960s. In the restaurant „Le Beccherie”, tiramisu first appeared on the menu in 1962. The Tiramisu Museum is planned to be opened in this city.
Tiramisu – a classic Italian recipe
Ingredients:
0,5 kg of mascarpone
150 g of sugar
6 eggs
300 g of oblong biscuits
1 cup of coffee
1 glass of white wine (Marsala)
70 g of dark cocoa
100 g of dark chocolate
Instruction:
Whip egg yolks with sugar until the mixture will be light and fluffy. Mash the mascarpone and combine thoroughly with the yolk mixture. Beat the whites in a separate container (you can add a pinch of salt to make them stiffer). Very gently mix the egg whites from the bottom up with the yolk cream. This should be done at the lowest speed of the mixer, preferably manually. We mix coffee with wine. Soak the biscuits in the mixture for a while, but not too long so that they do not get soggy. Put the sponge cakes in an ovenproof dish. We put half the cream on them and sprinkle with dark chocolate or cocoa. Then we repeat the procedure with the other half of the ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator about 3 hours before serving. Enjoy your meal!
In the next post, I will present you with a strawberry variation of this delicacy, with the addition of white chocolate!