Tiramisu

One of the most glorious, most perfect of all desserts, rich, lush, a delicacy to savor as time stops for a while. It's like romance on valentines day, you let it sleep overnight, do not disturb, then pull it out gently and carefully scoop up a spoonful and roll it around the tongue, discover the romance of bitter coffee and cocoa, in a luscious, creamy almost silk like cheese. 

No wonder they say, this is the best dessert for a valentine! But do you always need a Valentines' day to savor this one, nah!! :)

You need:

Cream Cheese – 8 oz (room temperature)

Sugar – 6 Tbsp (will be used in parts at different stages)

Whipped Cream – 1.5 Cup 

Egg Yolks – 3

Strong brewed coffee – 1 cup (or as needed) mixed with 2 Tbsp Rum (optional)
White cake - Store bought mix -usually an18 Oz. Pack. (you will need only half of the mix)

Cocoa Powder - approx. 3-4 Tbsp

Strong brewed coffee - 1 Cup (use instant coffee powder as an alternative)

Powdered Sugar or Grated Chocolate – for garnishing

Rum / Kahlua - 1.5 Tbsp (optional but sure does add to the zing ;) )

Getting the cake ready - 

1. Bake cake as per package directions. Let it cool completely else it will break when you try to cut it.
2. Using a long bread knife, cut the cake horizontally (place your knife parallel to the work surface, that's the direction you need to move your knife, and along the centre of the  height of the cake), so that you get two discs/ layers of equal thickness. Special note: Don't assume it's your birthday and cut it into slices!  Sometimes cake cutting can be so exhausting!! (insisting on this because I have done it once and felt miserable, since the cake was so soft and nice, but … :))

Getting the cream cheese filling ready -

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese with 3 tbsp of sugar and whip until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. In a separate bowl, mix 3 egg yolks with remaining 3 tbsp of sugar and whisk continuously in a double boiler until eggs are cooked (approx 1-2 minutes). The color of the yolks should turn a lemon yellow when done.  Whisk continuously else they will scramble!
3. Immediately mix the egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture and stir well.
4. Add 1.5 tbsp of the coffee brew and 1.5 tbsp of rum/ kahlua into the mixture and mix well. If you don't want to add rum/ kahlua, replace with brewed coffee.
5. Fold whipped cream into the above mixture until well incorporated. (If you don't have whipped cream, see my remarks at the bottom of this post)

Layering the Tiramisu:

1. Carefully place first layer of the cake into the baking pan/ glass casserole dish of same size..
2. Using a pastry brush, dab coffee onto the cake. Don't be shy and make sure the cake soaks in good enough coffee, but at the same time not so much that it becomes gooey. If you have a glass pan, even better. You can see how much coffee the cake has soaked, and stop when the coffee reaches just the last bit of the base of the cake layer. 
3. Spread 1/2 of the cream cheese filling onto the cake evenly.
4. Dust with cocoa powder. Best way to do it - Use a clean, dry tea strainer. Put a teaspoon of cocoa powder in the tea strainer and place it over the cream cheese layer (distance of about 4-5 inches from the top layer). Tap it gently with a spoon over the cake. 
5. Carefully place the second layer of cake on top of the filling.
6. Dab more brewed coffee onto the cake. Again, don't be shy, make the cake real moist (read- not gooey:) )with the coffee. 
7. Spread remaining filling evenly and dust with cocoa creating an even layer.
8. Cover and chill for 7-8 hours. 

Making Tiramisu using lady fingers

If you have the lady fingers, just replace the cake with lady fingers as follows:

Gently dip the lady fingers in the coffee brew (for 1-2 seconds on each side) and place it at the bottom of the casserole dish until the bottom is completely covered.

Same goes for the second layer of cake too. 

*If you done have whipped topping/cream, use the following mixture -  Add  1 tbsp sugar to 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Whip it till it becomes 1.5 cups. Should form firm peaks by then

**I get to use the egg whites (which you have separated to make the cream topping) to bake the cake. Small little pleasures of life!!

*** How to transfer a very soft, and moist cake to a board/ dish without breaking it- Put a clean chopping board or a flat dish on top of the baking dish. Place one palm on top of the dish, and another palm at the base of the baking pan. Hold both flat dish and baking dish firmly between your palms and flip so that the baking pan is on top now and the dish at the bottom. Tap gently on top of the baking dish and the cake will slide beautifully into the flat dish without any cracks or damage :) Oh it's such a pleasure watching it perfectly executed !!!! :)