Tiramisu soup, anyone? I have no idea why this went wrong.

E

evan

Well-known member
I made Tiramisu for DH's birthday today ( along with GayR's blueberry cake).

I have made Tiramisu numerous times before. I can practically make it in my sleep. I use the recipe from the New Basics cookbook, and it has always come out great. Except from today. The cream never stiffened and the cheese was impossible to whisk into the cream and I ended up with a lumpy sauce kind of thing. Since I was out of Mascarpone and hell bent on making the cake, I crossed my fingers and went ahead. As expected, the cream ended up as a lumpy sauce on the bottom of the serving dish, but the taste was normal. I still have no idea what failed this time. I whisked the egg yolks and sugar until stiff, added the Marsala wine and orange liquer and whisked some more, but when I added the Mascarpone, it only went downhill from there. Could the cheese have been bad even though the taste was fine?

 
Eva, I've been working on my zabaglione for tiramisu and found a few steps

that improved the process:

1. Cook over heat for long enough:
Over a double boiler, I whisk 8 eggs yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar until thick, then add 1/2 cup of whatever liquor I'm using (limoncello for a lemon version, port, marsala, etc). Then I continue whisking for almost 8-10 minutes. The cream will eventually mound softly. (Before, I was stopping at 5 minutes and the cream was thinner)

2. Chill the zabaglione first:
Pour into a clean bowl and set that bowl in ice water and stir until it is no longer warm. As it chills, it will continue to thicken and mound stiffly. Put in refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Smooth out the mascarpone first:
Beat the dickens out of the mascarpone until it is smooth, smooth, smooth. Add any additional liquor (more limoncello??) or flavorings and then fold in the cold zabaglione. If the zabaglione is too warm, it will slightly melt the cheese and make it look thin and curdly. Beat 1/2 C to 1 C of heavy whipping cream until stiff (I stabablize with a TBL of powdered sugar) and gently fold into the mix. (I prefer less heavy cream so the flavors aren't masked)

Since doing these extra few steps (stirring constantly, cooking it longer, chilling it thoroughly and beating the cheese until smooth BEFORE adding the zabaglione and cream) I've have consistent success.

Good luck!

PS: For those in the US, I've found the exact same 8 oz package of mascarpone cost:

SuperWalmart: $2.99
Publix: $3.99
Winn Dixie $4.99

Pays to shop around since I usually use 2 or 3 packages.

 
Thanks a lot, Marilyn. I will try this next time - I especially think that your step

about beating the cheese BEFORE adding it to the zabaglione is smart smileys/smile.gif

 
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