Pick Me Up - a cake without baking

(ENGLISH) pick me up = (ITALIAN*) tira mi sù
* Venetian dialect

Yes! my favorite Italian dessert...


a simple Tiramisu

(Yield: 6-8 servings / Cooking time: 15 min (+ at least 5 hours to chill and set))

Traditionally, you need to bake ladyfingers, and make the cream cheese mixture with raw eggs. Here, I am going to use store-bought ladyfingers - you don't need to worry about the baking part. Also, I am not going to add any raw eggs - you don't need to worry about salmonella.

Ingredients:
+ 2 packages of ladyfingers
+ 1 cup of espresso*, at room temperature
+ 8 oz mascarpone (Italian triple cream cheese)
+ 8 oz heavy cream
+ 1/2 cup sugar**
+ 1/2 tsp vanilla extract + unsweetened cocoa powder
+ (optional) 1 Tbsp dark rum



* I used two shots of Starbucks doppio.
** I didn't use any sugar because the ladyfingers that I bought were sugar coated.

Procedures:
1. Whip heavy cream with vanilla extract until stiff peak stage.


2. In a separate bowl, whip mascarpone with sugar until the texture get fluffy. Then, fold whipped cream into mascarpone.


3. First, prepare a mold for tiramisu. I used a big Lock&Lock container layered with plastic wrap. (If you layer plastic wrap, it will be easier to lift the whole tiramisu out and cut into portion). Mix espresso and rum (optional). Deep ladyfingers into the coffee mixture, and layer in the bottom of the tiramisu mold.



4. Cover the coffee soaked ladyfingers completely with mascarpone mixture from #2.


5. Again, layer the ladyfingers after soaking in coffee mixture and cover the ladyfingers with another layer of mascarpone mixture.



6. Cover and place the mold in refrigerator for at least five hours to chill and set the tiramisu (ideally, overnight).


7. After the hours, lift up the plastic wrap carefully, and cut the tiramisu into portion, and dust the top with cocoa powder.

Enjoy~