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Chef Kathleen Lynch's Tiramisu
Article written by Joyce Gemperlein, Mercury News Food Editor, and appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, Wednesday, May 31, 1995. At the time, Chef Lynch was a Pastry Chef at the Los Gatos Brewing Co. THE BEST OF TIRAMISU
Kathleen Lynch, pastry chef at the Los Gatos Brewing Co., says tiramisu is a snap to make -- in fact, it's a good dessert for beginning cooks, because you are merely stacking yummy stuff in a dish. Plus, once you've gotten the ingredients together, it takes only about 20 minutes to make. The refrigerator does the rest. For good results, use high quality ingredients. At the heart of tiramisu is mascarpone (mas-cahr-POHN-ay), a fresh cheese made from cow's milk. It hails from Italy's Lombardy region and has close to 80 percent butterfat. (Cream cheese has about 45 percent.) It has an ivory color and a slightly tart flavor from added acid. Its consistency can range from that of heavy, slightly whipped cream to room temperature butter or warmish cream cheese.. Some cooks substitute cream cheese for it, but the flavor is not the same. When buying mascarpone, check the carton's expiration date. (Although some imported brands don't have them.) It does not keep long, a week at most. Use it as soon as possible. Also, since tiramisu is an indulgence to begin with, don't buy the cheapest mascarpone in the dairy case. Lynch says there are inferior or imitation mascarpones, and she sees a great difference in taste. High-quality mascarpone will cost $9 to $13 per pound. Rick Ebster, executive chef of Valeriano's agrees. He uses only imported Italian mascarpone, which he says is softer and has better flavor. Ladyfingers, delicate sponge cakes shaped like the human appendage, traditionally form the cake part of the dessert. Like all of the dessert chefs I talked to, Lynch does not make her own ladyfingers. She says very good commercial ones are available. Drier, firmer ones are preferable. Look for packaged brands from Italy. Select ones without much sugar topping. You can also make tiramisu with pound cake slices, angel food or even sponge cake. (Some Italian bakeries use sponge cake because it is easier.) The ladyfingers are dipped into a mixture of espresso or strong coffee and, usually, rum. Kahlua is used at Emile's. Lynch uses rum and advises against cheap brands. The dish isn't cooked, so if you cut this corner, you can end up with a harsh, bitter or alcoholic taste rather than a delightful accent. Some pastry chefs sprinkle bittersweet grated chocolate or powdered cocoa on the inside layer of ladyfingers, as well as sprinkling it on top. Kent Paras of Emile's adds small chocolate chunks to the mascarpone. In contrast, Ebster uses it only on top -- and sparingly at that. Lynch dusts hers liberally -- only on top -- with top-quality bittersweet cocoa. The brand she uses is Valrhona, which is hard for home cooks to find. A final note on ingredients: Some may hate me for mentioning this, but authentic tiramisu contains raw eggs.		Raw eggs, especially if improperly handled, can contain bacteria called salmonella enteriditis. People with compromised immune systems, pregnant women and the elderly should be extra careful about eating them. But Lynch says that if you omit the eggs, your tiramisu won't hold up or taste right. On the bright side, the incidence of contaminated eggs in Northern California is low compared with the East Coast and Los Angeles. The Los Gatos Brewing Co. sells about 240 pieces of tiramisu a week. It is made a day ahead because it tastes better after a night in the fridge. Lynch serves it in a pool of creme anglaise, a French custard sauce. Lynch's creme anglaise is flavored with the Mexican coffee liqueur, Kahlua. She garnishes the plate with berries, mangoes or other fruits in season. Here are Chef Lynch's Recipes: Tiramisu Cheese filling: 3 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 12 ounces mascarpone cheese 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Cake layer: About 40 ladyfingers 3 cups espresso or very strong coffee 1/2 cup high-quality rum Cocoa powder With an electric mixer or by hand, beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy yellow. Add mascarapone until just mixed. Slowly beat in cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Dip ladyfingers, one at a time, into espresso mixture until they are just moistened. Do not overly soak them or they will be too mushy. Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch cake pan or shallow casserole with a layer of ladyfingers. spread with half of cheese mixture. Dip more ladyfingers and put on top. Spread with remaining cheese mixture. Put about 1/4 cup cocoa powder into a sieve or sifter and liberally dust top of cake. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the top of the cake. (this is key -- if you do this the tiramisu will keep up to 4 days and won't taste old.) Refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours before serving. Redust with more cocoa. Serves 12. Kahlua Anglaise 2 cups milk 1/4 vanilla bean 1/2 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur Heat milk and vanilla bean in a saucepan until it is just below boiling. In a separate bowl, beat sugar and egg yolks until they are a creamy yellow. Add a little hot milk to the yolk mixture to warm it up and then, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon, pour warmed mixture into pot. Cook over low eat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture coats the back of the spoon. Stir in Kahlua. Cool over ice. Serve cold beneath tiramisu. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

lynch.htm
Updated September 1997