Tiramisu is a bit like the comfort dessert that we all like to prepare whenever we want to please without spending three hours in the kitchen. However, in Italy, they will tell you that a real tiramisu, the one that is remembered for a long time, depends on a detail that few people know. And good news, this tip is accessible to everyone.
We often think we have mastered tiramisu by heart. A few biscuits dipped in coffee, a mascarpone cream, a veil of cocoa and off to the fridge. But in Italy, this monument of gluttony cannot be reduced to a simple succession of stages. Families each have their own little secret, passed on in whispers between two spoons of mascarpone. Today, we reveal to you the one who changes everything, the one who transforms a bon tiramisu in unforgettable dessert.
The Italian secret that changes everything: mascarpone worked cold and without haste
Italians place a lot of emphasis on one thing that we often forget: the cream. Not just any cream, but the one formed by mascarpone when worked slowly and cold. The most common mistake is wanting to go too quickly, whisking vigorously or incorporating the whipped yolks and whites without giving the mascarpone time to soften.
In Italy, we always let the mascarpone relax slightly in the refrigerator, then whisk it just enough to smooth it before incorporating it into the rest. Result, a cream that stays farm, aerial and above all stable. It is this texture that allows the tiramisu to keep its characteristic melting texture for several hours.
The other essential action: dipping the biscuits
If Italians are uncompromising about cream, they are even more so about biscuits. The secret is simple: just one round trip in the cafe. No more. The biscuits should absorb the liquid, but they should not drown. The idea is to keep this delicate chew which gives all the charm to Italian tiramisu.
Tradition also dictates that coffee be fort et very hotsometimes even slightly sweet. As it cools on contact with the biscuits, it flavors without becoming soggy. It is this subtle balance between intensity and hold that gives the layers of the dessert this perfect alternation of softness and firmness.
Rest time, the famous Italian patientia
Even the Italians admit it: tiramisu is better the day after. This is not a legend but a real culinary rule. The cream needs several hours to soak up the aromas of the coffee, the biscuits have time to soften just enough and the whole thing becomes perfectly homogeneous.
The ideal is to let the dessert rest a full night. Some families even go so far as to prepare tiramisu in the morning to eat it in the evening, but never straight away. This rest time is considered a step in its own right, almost more important than the choice of cocoa or biscuits.
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Journalist
A true cooking enthusiast, I see it above all as a moment of sharing, with family or friends, where I can give free rein to my creativity. In my opinion, …
