Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen I'm going to show
you how to make a delicious Limoncello Tiramisu.
Now, Limoncello Tiramisu is a twist on a classic tiramisu, which tiramisu is usually made with
coffee - and by the way, tiramisu is the Italian way to say it.
I never understood why a lot of Italian chefs got picked on when they, you know, say the
word the right way, you know, an Italian word the right way?
Because let's face it, half the time I say it with an American accent, the American way,
I'm just faking it for you!
Ha!
Because if I said to my dad tiramisu, instead of tiramisu, he would be like 'Get that apron
off and get out!'
That's what he would say to me.
But all jokes aside, a tiramisu is a traditional Italian dessert, it's layers of ladyfingers
and coffee and custard and kind of repeat.
This is sort of a Summer Spring version and I figured with Father's Day around the corner
- Mother's Day around the corner, Spring and Summer in general, this is such a fantastic
recipe you can make it in advance.
It's such a showstopper, and it is seriously one of the most amazing things in the world.
Look at this hand, it's like it knows.
It has a mind of it's own.
Let me run you through the list of ingredients, because it's short and sweet kinda like me.
What I have here is lots of mascarpone, Mascarpone is the Italian version of cream cheese, it's
lovely and soft and fantastic.
What I have here is some lemon curd.
I bought this but I also very often make it myself, and you can make it yourself I have
a great recipe for it if you want to do it.
Lemon, limoncello, which is a lemon liquor and I'll talk about this in a minute.
I've got some heavy cream, granulated sugar, water, these are savoiardi which are Italian
ladyfingers.
It's really important that you use these and not the spongy kind.
Alright, let's get started let's work on the syrup first.
So, small saucepan.
To it I'm going to add some water.
Now limoncello is a liquor made out of lemons and sugar and straight alcohol really.
This, by the way, this is nonna's limoncello, so every time I go to Italy, my nonna makes
limoncello a lot because she refuses to buy it, and I don't blame her and every time I
pack up to go she puts a bunch of it in little bottles and she puts them in my suitcase and
when I go home I have limoncello and it's the best ever.
So I'm going to wait for that to come to a simmer and while that happens, I've got my
standing mixer with a whisk attachment and I'm just going to whisk my cream until it's
nice and thick and I'll show you what it looks like when it's there.
Alright so my sugar has dissolved, you put that in there, now you're going to follow
that up with your limoncello, which is just - I know my nonna's limoncello is the very
best in the entire world, but you can use any limoncello you've got.
Set this aside for just one tiny second.
Because I just want to zest half of my lemon zest in my mascarpone because because I go
to cut it to add the juice to this I want to use the zest first.
So I'm just going to add half of the lemon zest here and then I'll add the other half
of the lemon zest to my limoncello mixture, plus the juice of a whole lemon to my limoncello
mixture.
Now I'll zest and then I'll juice it.
My syrup is done, my cream is whipped.
Time to work on the remaining part of the custard, in the same standing mixer I'm going
to add my lemon curd.
Now, lemon curd has egg yolks in it and lots of fantastic things, now you might notice
that I'm not using any egg yolks in here, and traditionally for a tiramisu, you do use
some raw eggs to kind of hold everything together, you make a zabagnlione.
I don't always do that because I don't always think it's necessary.
Now, in my book - in my Laura in the Kitchen book behind me, there's a fantastic recipe
for a hazelnut tiramisu and that does call for a traditional zabagnlioe and I do think
it makes a big difference in that one, but in here because I'm adding the lemon curd,
I don't think it's necessary.
And I'm also adding cream, so it's all good.
You gotta just trust your girl on this.
So I'm going to add the mascarpone, the lemon curd and the sugar.
And now I'm going to attach a paddle attachment and I'm going to mix this on medium speed
for a good 4-5 minutes until the mixture is super creamy, and I will show you what that
looks like.
This thing and I don't always get along.
Don't ask.
It's not a tilt head.
And it drives me nuts!
Ha!
I'm going to just mix this until it's nice and creamy.
Is that gorgeous or what?
Oh!
That is - I would like to drink that.
Yes sir!
Sugar is dissolved as well because it's been mixing for a while, and now I'm going to fold
in the whipped cream, right?
You don't want to lose a lot of the height and the airy-ness so I just fold carefully,
but I don't kind of go crazy.
Oh look how gorgeous!
I mean honestly, give me a bowl of that and I'm happy.
I would not be complaining about that.
Alrighty.
This is exactly what I want.
So now we have everything ready.
We've got the syrup and we've got the custard, we've got the savoiardi, we are ready to go.
And this is now you do it.
You're going to do everything in thirds, so it's going to be four layers of savoiardi
altogether, just because you need a top, you take each one, you dip it quickly in your
limoncello mixture, quickly, not too long because this believe it or not this quick
little dip absorbs so much.
And then just make a layer.
Okay, that is the top.
What I ended up doing is three layers of ladyfingers, three layers of the custard, ending with the
custard, so I'm not going to do a fourth layer of ladyfingers because it doesn't need it.
But you can if you want to, and you can if your dish is deeper than mine, but this is
perfect, so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to pop this baby - I'm licking my, like
I'm sucking on my saliva because I've been eating the custard and it's literally the
best thing on the planet.
So, I'm going to pop this into the fridge because you want this to set, it's gotta set
for a while, I'm going to loosely cover it with plastic wrap, don't worry about how the
top looks because traditionally you would touch this up with some cocoa powder at the
end, but what I'm going to do instead is I'm going to top it with lemon and raspberries
and mint and powdered sugar and it's going to be gorgeous!
So, I'm going to loosely cover this with plastic wrap, pop it in the fridge for several hours
or even overnight if you want to, so that it sets and then we serve and it's going to
be - you don't even know, but you will know, but you will.
I'm just topping this with some slices of lemons, some fresh raspberries, a little mint,
just to kind of bring it to live and make it look really springy and really summery
and fresh, and it's going to be - my mouth is watering because I know what this is going
to be like.
So I am very interested to just give this a dusting of powdered sugar, not really for
sweetness, but mainly just looks pretty.
Look at that!
Alright, now let's cut a slice because it's been setting for a while, so I'm just going
to cut this little corner piece right here, it's got my name written all over it.
Oh it's perfectly set!
I mean honestly, honestly.
Honestly.
I mean.
Honestly.
It's amazing!
The lemon comes through, it's not overpowering, just the perfect amount of limoncello.
Mmm!
What a delight and then some!
I mean the perfect thing to make ahead for any occasion, any party, anything that you've
got coming up, you and anyone else will love this.
Just go to LauraintheKitchen.com to get the written recipe, please make this as soon as
possible, you will not regret it, I promise.
I hope you have enjoyed spending time with me.
I'll see you soon.
Come close!