Classic Tiramisu

Prep: 20 mins

Cooling: 1 hour

Difficulty: medium

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

To buy:

250g mascarpone cheese

2–3 tablespoons cocoa powder

250ml Marsala wine

250ml strong black coffee (espresso)

1 x 200g packet of lady finger biscuits

Store-cupboard essentials:

3 medium eggs

3 tablespoons caster sugar

PREPARE your cream mix

SEPARATE your egg yolks from your egg whites.

BEAT the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl or use a free-standing electric mixer until it goes creamy, light and fluffy.

BEAT the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks.

ADD the mascarpone to the egg-yolk and mix to combine, and then gently fold in the egg whites – be careful not to lose the lovely light air in the cream mix.

SPREAD a thin, even layer of the mixture over the bottom of a serving dish approx. 22cm in diameter and 10cm deep (ideally a glass one).

SPRINKLE a little cocoa powder over the top using a fine sieve

QUICKLY dip each side of the biscuits one by one, first in the Marsala and then in the coffee. Don’t let them absorb too much liquid, as they can get rather soggy.

PLACE a neat layer of the soaked biscuits on top of the cocoa powder.

REPEAT this process, layering the creamy mixture, cocoa powder and soaked sponge biscuits, finishing with a layer of the creamy mixture. Each creamy layer should just cover the biscuits; don’t spread it too thickly. You ideally want 4 or 5 layers. Lightly dust with more cocoa powder

CHILL in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and preferably overnight.

TIP: When you put each layer into the bowl, try to avoid any dribbles on the side of the glass so that your layers end up being pretty and neat. For a festive addition you can crumble a layer of amaretti biscuits as an additional layer.