The Recipe Room

My first sweet is the utterly delicious tiramisu, which literally means ‘pick me up’, and – if you’re not already familiar with it – after one serving, you’ll be hooked for life. This rich, sweet, layered dessert is incredibly simple to make. Do it the day before you intend to eat it and chill it overnight. This allows the liquids to be absorbed into the biscuit, the flavours to intensify, and makes it firm.

If you are on a diet, I suggest watching this video of Phil Vickery as he demonstrates how to make a light tiramisu.

Ingredients:

• 475ml (2 cups) of strong black coffee or four shots of espresso
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 5 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
• 2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 1 packet of Savoiardi biscuits
• 250g mascarpone cheese
• 250ml double cream
• Cocoa powder, to dust
• Grated dark chocolate, to dust

Method:

1. Mix the cold coffee with half the amaretto and set aside.
2. Mix the egg yolks and caster sugar briskly, till the mixture thickens. Beat in the mascarpone, before folding in the cream.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, and then fold into the cream. Add the remaining amaretto liqueur, and mix gently together so as not to lose the aerated volume.
4. Soak the biscuits briefly in the coffee liqueur mix, and place a layer in the bottom of a rectangular glass dish (with sides a couple of inches deep). Spread half the cream over this layer, and then repeat the process with a second layer of biscuits and cream.
5. Smooth over the top layer of cream and dust with cocoa powder and a little grated chocolate. Chill overnight, and serve when you can’t wait any longer.
6. Remember, refrigeration is absolutely essential to this pudding. Without it, the tiramisu won’t firm up properly. And the longer you refrigerate the dish, the more the flavours combine and suffuse into the Savoiardi. If you’re doing this to impress at a fancy dinner party, you could try making individual portions in wine glasses.

This traditional biscuit from Prato, a wonderful city in Tuscany, is supposed to be very dry and crunchy; in fact, it is Tuscany’s traditional dipping biscuit, and one of the local specialities. Nowadays they are also called cantucci, even though that is a completely different type of biscotti. (Also try these Amaretti Chocolate Sticks.)

You might like to know that Prato is the centre of the ‘slow food movement’, which an international campaign founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986, promoted as an alternative to fast food. It works to preserve traditional and regional cooking and encourages farming in the local ecosystem.

I recommend enjoying these “biscuits” after a meal with a nice glass of Vin Santo.

Ingredients:

• 500g all-purpose flour
• 300g sugar
• 250g almonds, whole
• 50g pine nuts
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• grated peel of one lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Sift the flour and sugar in a bowl. Then add eggs and the other ingredients until it all becomes a ball of dough.

3. On a clean surface, shape the dough into a 3cm wide roll that extends the length of a baking tray. Cover the tray with a piece of parchment paper to prevent the biscuits from sticking and then place the dough on top, flattening it softly with your fingers.

4. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the roll from the oven.

5. Place it on a cutting board and cut diagonally, making 1cm wide slices.

6. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet, making sure you leave some space between each slice. Slide the baking tray back into the oven.

7. Lower the temperature to 150°C . Bake for 15 minutes, then take the biscotti out and turn them onto the other side and bake another 15 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remember to store them in an air-tight container to keep fresh.

Serves: 3 dozen aprox.

Time: preparation time 15 min/ cooking time 1 hour

Difficulty: medium