La dolce vita: Tiramisù al panettone
Over the holidays it is not uncommon to buy, receive or gift a panettone: a brioche based bread filled with candied fruit, or sometimes even chocolate chips or lemon cream. However, after eating it for some days - you may wonder, hmm, what else can I do with it? Aside from freeze it…Simple answer: make a tiramisù! Tiramisù literally means “pick me up” and actually has quite a “spicy” origin in northern Italian brothels. Right?! The success of this recipe is in timing: you need to let this set in the fridge for at least two hours once you put it together. Or it falls apart when you try and serve it. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. This one below serves four.
It is a simple construction: fresh raw eggs mixed with sugar then mascarpone cheese then layers of coffee soaked panettone (in place of savoiardi) and topped with cocoa powder. (This is not a dessert for pregnant women)
Ingredients:
200 grams of panettone
2 eggs
1/4 cup/50 grams of sugar
1 Cup/250 grams marscapone
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or scrape a bit of vanilla bean)
cocoa powder for dusting
2/3 cup/150 ml espresso coffee already brewed - room temperature is best (I use a 3-cup moka and this is more than enough)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Cut the panettone into one by three inch sticks and lay out on a sheet pan. Toast these for about 10 min until lightly browned. You want these to be a bit dry. Set aside and prep the eggs.
Next have two bowls for the egg prep. Separate whites in one, and the yolks in the other. Start with the yolks - beat with a hand mixer(you can use a whisk, but that is some work!) until it starts to go light and foamy, about two minutes. Add half the sugar and keep mixing, then add in the vanilla extract and marscapone a spoonful at a time and mix until even and somewhat fluffy. Wash the whisks and get ready for the whites! Start whisking the egg whites until foamy, and start adding the remaining sugar bit by bit. This will become glossy and stiff. Its ready when you can flip the bowl and nothing comes out. Really. Next, fold in the whites into the yolk/marscapone mixture - don’t stir or it will collapse. Light touch! once all the egg white is mixed in, you are ready to construct.
Take a small dish, I used a small casserole that measures 5x7”(around 12x18 cm). Start with a thin layer of the cream. Take the panettone sticks one by one and dip in the coffee and lay in a row on the cream. You don’t need to have them completely soaking in the coffee, a dip is more than enough. Add a generous layer of cream and repeat. After you cover the last of the panettone with the cream, top with cocoa powder and put in the fridge for 2-4 hours. Enjoy!