Seasoned Advice Asked by Leonid Shevtsov on April 14, 2021
I see a lot of tiramisu recipes that soak savoiardi in pure undiluted espresso coffee.
Usually the recipe asks for a cup or more of espresso. As a person who regularly makes and drinks espresso, this seems way too much. It’s both too much to prepare (8 shots!), and will make for an overpowering coffee flavor in the tiramisu.
I can understand if the recipes are adapted. Especially if the recipe asks for "espresso or strong brewed coffee", while no strong brewed coffee is a by-volume equivalent of espresso.
But, wouldn’t original tiramisu recipes use espresso, but in some reasonable amount?
Or, is authentic tiramisu really so intensely flavored with coffee?
As a suppliment, I'll address your questions regarding "authenticity":
Tiramisu is not a traditional dish; it's a modern restaurant dish dating back only to the 1960's (but see other answer, it may go back to the 30s). It's generally agreed that it was created at the restaurant Le Beccherie in 1969 (although based on a long tradition of Italian cream cakes), so it's fairly easy to find their original recipe. This is it from a publication in 1981:
12 egg yolks
1 lb 2 oz (½ kg) sugar
2 lb 4 oz (1 kg) mascarpone cheese
60 ladyfinger (savoiardi) cookies
Espresso coffee, as necessary
Cocoa powder, as necessary
As you can see, no quantity for the espresso is given; likely the restaurant did not keep track of how much was used, particularly since they probably used "leftover" coffee from service. Interestingly, there is no alcohol in this version. Anna Maria Volpi, who is rather obsessed with the dish, uses 1.5 cups of espresso.
All of the advice in @dbmag9's excellent answer, therefore, applies.
Correct answer by FuzzyChef on April 14, 2021
A typical tiramisu will serve a good number of people, so each serving is unlikely to have more than about a shot's worth of espresso. There's a limit to what the savoiardi will absorb so you'd struggle to get more coffee than that into a portion. Further, the flavour is diluted by the flavour already present in the savoiardi as well as the alcohol, mascarpone, cocoa on top and other ingredients. I wouldn't worry about the coffee flavour overpowering the rest. Obviously if you've made it before and felt the coffee was too strong then reduce the quantity.
Note that in Italy, caffè will by default refer to espresso, or at home to the product of a Moka pot or equivalent. Filter or drip coffees are not a native part of Italian coffee culture (hence the americano, imitating filter coffee by diluting espresso). You could search for older recipes in Italian (although according to Wikipedia, tiramisu is not an especially old dessert) but they will probably just say caffè.
Remember that tira mi sù means 'pick me up', alluding to the fact that the dessert contains enough coffee to wake you up a little at the end of a meal.
Answered by dbmag9 on April 14, 2021
There are in fact multiple versions of tiramisu, all of which are authentic. Some contain espresso and mascarpone, others cream, marsala but no mascarpone.
'Tiramisu' dates at least to the 1940s as a name, and to the 1930s as a recipe (much earlier considering related desserts)
Following documentary proof presented to the Italian government, the Protected Origin to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region was granted in 2017.
This has two forms:
There are also:
Answered by thelawnet on April 14, 2021
Get help from others!
Recent Questions
Recent Answers
© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP