Easy Tiramisu

We've decided to treat ourselves with a nice dinner and dessert. We didn't have any ladyfingers or sponge biscuits, so I made them myself - I will share the recipe at some point, but I want to master it first.

This recipe is for a simple tiramisu without the eggs in the cream, so if you are after the most authentic tiramisu recipe it won't be the one, but it's still delicious!

Recipe is for 1 lb loaf tin - we made it small, because it's only for two people and it's the smallest tin we have, but go ahead and multiply it if you want to make a bigger one.

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Ingredients :

12-25 pcs. of ladyfingers - the amount depends on how many layers you want, my homemade sponge biscuits were quite flat so I made 4 layers of 5-6, you might need to stick to making 2-3 layers of 6-7 if you are using ladyfingers from the store

300 g double cream

250 g mascarpone cheese

50 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

300 ml of black coffee in room temperature (espresso based is best, but use what you've got)

15 ml black spiced rum

cocoa powder for dusting the top

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Method:

TIP: Line your tin with cling film, if you are using metal tin. This step is not necessary if you are using glass tray. Cream tends to react with metal quite often and can cause discoloration or unpleasant aftertaste, from my experience, so I prefer to avoid it.

1. Place cream and sugar in your mixing bowl, beat on medium-high speed until it starts to thicken (until soft peaks form).

2. Turn your mixer down to low speed. Add your vanilla and mascarpone to double cream and sugar mix, add mascarpone quarter by quarter, so it has a chance to combine with the cream properly.

NOTE: Stop immediately after mascarpone is mixed into the cream, you don't want to overbeat your cream - maybe you won't see a difference, but it affects the consistency. Leave about 4-5 heaped tbsp worth or cream on the side if you want to decorate it on the top, as I did.

3. Prepare second bowl. Pour the coffee and rum into the empty bowl.

4. Take your tin and ladyfingers. Dip them quickly in the coffee and rum mixture, one by one and place at the bottom of the tin until you finish first row.

5. Once you finished first row of ladyfingers it's time to place a layer of cream on top of them - you can use tablespoon or pipe it using piping bag.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until your tin is almost full. You can make as many layers or put as much cream inside as you want - the ratio is up to your preference.

7. When your tin is full and you want to decorate your dessert - place remaining cream in a piping bag or a freezer/zip bag, cut the tip off and pipe grape sized dots on the top. If you want you can skip the beginning of that step and just dust your dessert with dark cocoa powder through a sieve.

8. Chill in the fridge for at least couple hours or overnight before eating.

Enjoy!