Triple chocolate tiramisu from scratch

I'm not a huge dessert person, but I make an exception for those that are made from chocolate, cheese, or both. Tiramisu has all the flavors that I love as well as the airy texture that I find myself craving on occasion. 

Image 1. CHOCOLATE. CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE.

The hint of coffee soaked into the layer of ladyfingers just hits the spot, and I was determined to make this Italian delicacy from scratch. But why stop at a light dusting of cocoa powder on the top? Why not make a chocolate ladyfinger layer and a chocolate mascarpone cream? Is that too much chocolate? Can there ever be such a thing as too much chocolate?

The answer is no. This triple chocolate tiramisu is at least as good, if not better, as its non-chocolate counterpart.

The first step was to make the mascarpone cheese, as it needed to drain overnight to achieve the desired consistency.

Do you remember when I made fresh ricotta? Mascarpone is made in the same way, except cream is used instead of milk for that smooth, spreadable texture. The fat content doesn't seem to matter as long as it's at least 10%. For my batch, I used:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream (pasturized, not ultrapasturized)
• 2 cups half & half (pasturized, not ultrapasturized)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Heat the dairy mixture first and stir in the lemon juice once it simmers. Heat for five more minutes, stirring constantly, then pour the thickened cream (once it cools) into a mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Pop it in the fridge and let it drain overnight.

Image 2. Straining the mascarpone. Apologies for the poor lighting. 

Once you've set that aside, it's time to make the chocolate ladyfingers. Preheat the oven to 400F and get the following ready:

• 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder.

First, you gotta whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Note the metamorphosis below:

Image 3. Egg white: the metamorphosis

The next step is to combine the sugar with the egg yolks and whip the mixture until very pale. I have outlined the metamorphosis of the egg yolks as well:

Image 4. Egg yolks: the metamorphosis

Lastly, just stir in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, mixing until gently combined.

Image 5. Stirring in the dry ingredients

The mixture will be quite runny. This is normal; these are not macarons, after all. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag (or if you're me, a Ziploc bag) and pipe in a straight line (or if you're me, a circle). Do you like my professional piping skills?

Image 6. Artistic piping

STFU. You don't know about me. This is art.

Now bake for 8 minutes.

Image 7. Baked ladyfingers that look more like circles

By the way, you definitely want to coat the pan with non-stick spray or use parchment paper.

Image 8. Dat side view.

Now pop that in the fridge next to your mascarpone and go to bed.

When you wake up the next morning, check on the mascarpone. It should look something like this:

Image 9. Freshly made mascarpone

Once you've transferred the mascarpone into a clean container, it's time to make the chocolate custard filling using the following ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 c sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Set up a double boiler. It sounds fancier than it is; just put a glass bowl on a sauce pan full of water, making sure that the water surface doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat the egg yolks and sugar, stirring constantly until the mixture boils. Let it boil for a minute or so before removing from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract, and allow it to cool.

Once it's cooled, mix the mascarpone cheese into the custard.

Image 10. Making the mascarpone custard

Stir in the cocoa powder for that extra boost of chocolate. You're almost done!

Pour a 1/4 cup of coffee in a small bowl and dip the ladyfingers in them one by one (you can add a small amount of rum or Kahlua to the coffee, but I chose not to). Arrange a dozen coffee-soaked ladyfingers onto the bottom of the dish, then pour half of the mascarpone custard over them. Repeat this step one more time, and sprinkle some more cocoa powder over the top. Refrigerate the whole thing for about 4 hours, or until firm.

Once you serve this tiramisu, my friends, it should look something like this:

Image 11. I did not make this, nor did I take this picture :(

But if you are me and you suck at life, it will probably look more like this:

Image 12. Sigh

Oh well. It's only looks. It was delicious, by the way.

So here are my thoughts after planning out and following this recipe through to completion:

1. Making your own ladyfingers is not worth the effort, and I probably won't be doing it again. 
2. Homemade mascarpone cheese is much, much cheaper, but it's very runny.
3. I am such a n00b.

There you have it, folks. Almost 48 hours of preparation and labor in exchange for chocolate-y, creamy, coffee-soaked goodness. Worth it? Maybe. It is rather impressive to be able to say you made this from scratch, but I have a feeling that if it looks like what it does above, no one will care. Try it at your own risk, I suppose.