We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Desi, home cook Daniel, and professional chef Jurgen David, director of pastry research and development at the Institute of Culinary Education - to make us their take on a classic tiramisu. Once each level of chef had presented their creations, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way. Which tiramisu will you be your next sweet treat?Get our recipe: TiramisuDirector: Lisa ParadiseDirector of Photography: Jeremy HarrisEditor: Manolo MorenoDirector of Culinary Production: Kelly JankeProducer: Tyre NoblesCulinary Producer: Mallary SantucciCulinary Associate Producer: Leslie RaneyLine Producer: Jen McGinityAssociate Producer: Sahara PaganProduction Manager: Janine DispensaProduction Coordinator: Elizabeth HymesAssistant Camera: Lucas YoungSound Mixer: Brett van DeusenProduction Assistant: Justine RamirezCulinary Assistant: Jami Samuelson-KopekResearcher: Vivian JaoPost Production Supervisor: Andrea FarrPost Production Coordinator: Scout AlterSupervising Editor: Eduardo AraujoAssistant Editor: Justin Symonds
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (liquid pouring)
00:02 (upbeat music)
00:05 - I'm Desi, I'm a level one chef.
00:07 - I'm Daniel, I'm a level two chef.
00:08 - I'm Chef Juergen, I am the director
00:10 of pastry research and development
00:12 at the Institute of Culinary Education.
00:14 I've been a professional chef for 33 years.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:19 - I'm making a classic, but easy, tiramisu.
00:22 - I'm making a classic tiramisu,
00:23 but I'm gonna spice it up a little bit
00:25 with some Puerto Rican inspired flavors.
00:26 - I'm making a twist on the classic tiramisu,
00:29 like the name says, is a pick me up,
00:31 and it gives you a little burst of energy.
00:33 - This is the upbeat coffee cake.
00:34 - Yummy.
00:35 (whooshing)
00:37 (upbeat music)
00:39 Ladyfingers are a must have component for a tiramisu.
00:44 - For my cookies, I'm using these Italian biscuits
00:47 that I found at the grocery store.
00:48 I read the back, I said I know they're Italian.
00:50 - This one looks like a store-bought Stelladora cookie.
00:53 Yeah, that looks very dense and very dry.
00:55 I would not use this cookie.
00:56 - Bye bye.
00:57 - So, I'm gonna make my own today.
00:59 Ladyfingers are a cookie that is made
01:02 with a separated egg foam,
01:03 and for that, you prepare a meringue first.
01:05 - Making your own cookie?
01:07 I don't know if I was cut out for that life.
01:08 They're so good out of the box,
01:09 I don't know if I could do any better.
01:11 - The first thing is going to be a French meringue.
01:14 French meringue consists of uncooked egg whites
01:16 and uncooked sugar.
01:18 So, if I put that between my fingers,
01:19 now it feels like a cotton ball.
01:20 The cotton ball test.
01:21 I'm going to fold my egg yolks into this.
01:24 A very gentle movement that's gonna cut through the mass
01:27 once it starts to look streaky like this.
01:30 I'm going to start to sift the flour on top.
01:33 By gently folding, I wanna make sure
01:35 that I do not deflate this batter.
01:38 - I figured if I was gonna get something that was packaged,
01:40 you gotta go for a little bit of a step up.
01:42 Pavicini Italian Ladyfinger.
01:45 The good stuff.
01:46 Ding!
01:47 - That means I can get ready to put this in a piping bag.
01:49 Now, I like to do it diagonally
01:51 because I think that looks pretty.
01:53 It's going to make the ladyfingers have a nice texture,
01:56 and I could have spread it with a spatula,
01:59 but I like the little ridges on it.
02:01 - We're doing reverse Ginga
02:02 as you put these biscuits in your bowl.
02:04 - That powdered sugar's gonna seal the moisture in.
02:06 It's gonna give you a nice texture on the top.
02:08 This will bake very fast.
02:10 I'm gonna throw this in the oven at 375 degrees,
02:12 and let's go.
02:14 - All right, well, we probably did the hardest part
02:16 of the meal, put the biscuits in the bowl.
02:18 - These ladyfingers are cooled off.
02:20 I'm going to use this ring to cut uniform circles,
02:22 and I'm planning on using four discs per individual serving
02:26 to make the layers for our tiramisu.
02:29 - So this is good enough for me.
02:30 I think the custard is a very important part.
02:33 You can have ladyfingers kind of falling apart,
02:35 or like the cookie layer's not that even,
02:37 but if your custard's okay,
02:38 I think it's possible to save a tiramisu.
02:40 - For the base of my custard, start out with the heavy cream.
02:42 - Heavy cream that I'm gonna whip by hand.
02:44 My twist on the recipe is that the base
02:46 of the mascarpone mousse is a savoyant, a stirred custard.
02:50 - So the base of my cream,
02:51 I'm gonna make a really simple custard.
02:53 I got some egg yolks, some sugar, and Marsala wine.
02:57 This is gonna go home with me.
03:00 - Trying to get the whipping.
03:04 - I could use a mixer,
03:05 but this is such a small amount of heavy cream.
03:07 I just will do it by hand, get a little workout in.
03:10 - I'm gonna slowly add some sugar.
03:12 Back to stirring.
03:13 Dump the rest.
03:14 - We wanna just whip this to a medium peak.
03:18 That's ready, I'm gonna put this in the refrigerator.
03:20 - I love vanilla.
03:21 I always wanted to be a DJ too.
03:22 It's like I'm at a tarot table right now,
03:24 for Master Flex.
03:25 - I'm going to use sheet gelatin.
03:29 It's more precise to use this over the powder gelatin
03:32 that you can buy.
03:33 Cold water.
03:34 Once the gelatin blooms,
03:36 I am totally ready to make my mousse.
03:38 I'm using a double boiler
03:39 because that is the most gentle heat,
03:41 and I do not want to overcook these eggs.
03:45 - I'm going to bring this water up to a simmer,
03:47 and then I'm gonna whisk my egg yolks,
03:48 my Marsala wine, and sugar in a bowl separately
03:51 before putting it on top of the double boiler
03:53 that I've created here.
03:54 - My water.
03:55 I'm going to combine this right away.
03:57 - The steam from the water is going to heat this
04:00 until I'm looking for it to kind of change.
04:02 It's supposed to get a little lighter,
04:03 and the volume is going to double, almost.
04:06 I'm thinking maybe like five, seven minutes tops,
04:08 if all goes well.
04:09 - Hot enough so that it's safe to eat,
04:11 'cause I'm all about food safety.
04:13 - So as I'm cooking this down,
04:14 the Marsala wine's giving off sort of those like
04:16 plummy, red fruit kind of notes,
04:18 and like that coupled with sugar,
04:19 it's like caramelized fruit.
04:21 Oh, you see it's getting a lot whiter.
04:22 Yeah, creamy, not chunky.
04:24 The eggs aren't cooking on me,
04:25 but that is my custard right now.
04:28 - I'm gonna do this very quickly,
04:30 and transfer these into the stand mixer.
04:33 Place a gelatin in here.
04:35 Look at this.
04:37 It kind of looks like mayonnaise or hollandaise.
04:39 I'm going to add this mixture to the mascarpone.
04:43 - It's a spreadable cheese.
04:44 You can use it on biscuits, crackers, bread.
04:46 - Sort of like a rich, velvety, kind of sweet cheese.
04:49 I'm only using it because every tiramisu recipe
04:51 said I gotta use this, I'm being a follower.
04:53 But according to Google, you can't make it without it, so.
04:56 - Thought it'd be a little sweeter,
04:58 but I guess like, got that velvety mouth feel.
05:00 - Okay.
05:01 It's like sour milk, but it's gonna work.
05:03 - You wanna really invest into getting
05:05 a nice, silky mascarpone that will allow itself
05:09 to fold nicely.
05:11 - Let's get back to the whipping.
05:12 - I get why it's in this recipe.
05:14 Off the rip, this looks super, super thick.
05:17 I'm gonna lighten this up by adding
05:18 and folding in some of the homemade whipped cream
05:20 to give it more of that fluffy texture
05:22 that we like in the custard.
05:23 - Nice and gentle so that I preserve the volume
05:27 of the whipped cream.
05:28 - Still has like a custardy texture,
05:30 but it's still airy, still light.
05:32 It's frigging delicious.
05:34 - The base for this was the sauvignon,
05:36 and it is flavored with the Marsala wine.
05:40 It is thickened with the gelatin,
05:41 and the last component is the whipped cream.
05:43 It is now considered a mousse.
05:45 Look at this.
05:46 Yummy.
05:47 - This looks perfect.
05:48 Nice and fluffy.
05:49 Looks good, though.
05:50 - Ladyfingers are soaked in a liquid
05:52 before they go into the full assembly of a tiramisu.
05:55 - It's got very distinct flavor combinations.
05:58 - Hey, man, I'm gonna keep it real simple.
05:59 You know, since we're from New York,
06:00 you gotta drink coffee out of a cup like this.
06:02 - I am Puerto Rican, and I went recently
06:04 to the island with my family,
06:06 so I wanna bring that island vibe
06:08 to this tiramisu that I'm making here,
06:09 starting with cafe bustelo,
06:11 Puerto Rican jet fuel for the beginning of your day.
06:13 - Some coffee.
06:14 - Really nice espresso.
06:15 This dessert is called tiramisu,
06:17 and that means pick me up.
06:18 We're gonna add orange juice.
06:20 It's a little sweet, and it's mellow.
06:23 It's not as aggressive as lemon juice would be.
06:25 It makes a really nice, balanced, rounded out,
06:28 soaking syrup.
06:29 I learned that one in Switzerland.
06:30 - Add some KahlĂș liqueur.
06:31 - Coconut rum.
06:33 - Amaretto.
06:34 - See how it's stretched to R?
06:35 Liqueur.
06:35 - And we have rum.
06:37 Gives it a nice kick.
06:38 - Salute to the tiramisu and the chef.
06:40 Mines on top.
06:41 Make your eyes pop, but it's good.
06:44 - Now, the beauty behind powdered sugar
06:46 is that it dissolves into this very easy,
06:48 and doesn't leave me with any like chunks,
06:50 like regular granulated sugar would.
06:52 - A little bit of vanilla mellows out the flavors in here.
06:55 It takes the edge off things.
06:56 (sucking)
06:57 Ah!
06:58 - I've got everything I need.
06:59 Time to assemble this bad boy.
07:00 - Let's start building my reverse Jenga.
07:02 Take my little biscuit, get the dip in.
07:04 - My little lady fingers.
07:05 Remember, nice and crispy.
07:06 Don't want 'em nice and crispy.
07:07 Want 'em nice and soft.
07:08 - Everyone else is dunking?
07:10 'Cause I'm a pro.
07:11 Anyways, I'm going to use a pastry brush
07:13 because I have the best control,
07:15 and I can do it the fastest.
07:16 The syrup gets soaked into the nooks and crannies here.
07:20 And also that way I guarantee
07:21 that they're not completely soggy and wet.
07:23 I wanna preserve a little bit on the bottom
07:25 so that we have a little bit of the cookie texture.
07:28 - Line the bottom of this.
07:30 - We're from Jenga to Tetris.
07:32 - And if all goes well, it'll be nice and photogenic.
07:34 But if it's not, don't tiramisu me.
07:37 - I'm a big fan of making individual portions
07:40 because I'm special, you're special.
07:42 I'm gonna have my own.
07:43 I'm gonna do this on the scale
07:44 so that all my layers are uniform.
07:47 I'm placing one cookie at the base of each of my rings.
07:49 - The next layer is custard.
07:51 - You wanna cover all cookies.
07:52 - Layering this out.
07:53 - I'm gonna fill it like a pro.
07:55 I'm just going to check what's happening on the scale.
07:57 And it should be 25 grams each.
08:01 I'm making this uniform so that each dessert
08:03 is exactly the same as the other
08:04 'cause you don't wanna make anyone jealous
08:06 by having a much bigger serving.
08:08 - Trying to add another layer.
08:10 Back to soaking.
08:11 Look at that drip, nice little tear drop.
08:12 - Going now to another layer.
08:14 And I get to collect my tax for doing such a good job.
08:17 This is gonna be great.
08:19 Rest of the custard is going on.
08:22 The last thing I'm gonna do is dust this
08:24 with some chocolate and some special friends
08:26 and get this in the fridge.
08:27 - The last layer, I'm gonna do a thin layer of this custard
08:31 to just kinda make it flat.
08:32 It's gonna look very pretty
08:33 when we put our cocoa powder on top.
08:36 I'm gonna pop these in the fridge
08:37 for about one to two hours until they're completely set.
08:41 - I'm in love with the cocoa, hello cocoa.
08:45 - First thing I'm gonna do is sprinkle
08:46 a little bit of nutmeg, not too much,
08:48 just enough to kinda bring out more of the chocolate flavor.
08:50 Add a little bit of that subtle like,
08:51 "Hmm, what is that?"
08:52 Nutmeg.
08:53 - I am going to make a nice chocolate sauce.
08:55 Milk, I'm going to heat it up.
08:57 Put it over the chocolate
08:59 and let it melt the chocolate for me.
09:01 Nobody wants burnt chocolate.
09:02 I'm going to let this sit a couple of seconds.
09:04 I'm going to take the cream, the sugar,
09:07 and my butter, which is unsalted.
09:09 I'm making this first, so when I put them two together,
09:12 I will bring this to a boil.
09:13 That way the chocolate won't burn.
09:14 I want this to look nice and luscious.
09:17 Mm, that's yummy.
09:19 Cream and butter and sugar are boiling.
09:22 I'm going to add my chocolate ganache to this.
09:25 Look how luscious this looks, it's beautiful.
09:28 Bring that to a boil one more time.
09:29 I'm not really thickening the sauce by boiling it.
09:32 I'm just gonna make sure that all these flavors
09:34 and ingredients really melt together.
09:36 Look at all the bubbles.
09:37 Here we go, and when it looks like this,
09:39 we can turn this off and I will refine this
09:42 by adding a little bit of coffee extract.
09:44 And we're gonna do a nice healthy pinch of salt.
09:47 That's like a ganache-based chocolate sauce now.
09:49 Look at how luscious this is.
09:52 It will then hold its shape on the plate
09:54 once it's cooled down.
09:55 Ah, it's delicious.
09:57 Next, cinnamon.
09:58 I will be a little more heavy-handed on this.
10:00 This is, I also love cinnamon and coffee together.
10:02 It goes well with the custard, the chocolate, the coffee.
10:05 Last, this is what I'm gonna be super liberal with.
10:09 So I'm using 100% cocoa powder
10:11 because there's a little bit of bitterness that I like,
10:13 and that's gonna kinda cut it back a little bit
10:15 and bring it all together really nicely.
10:17 I think the layers are pretty good-looking.
10:19 All that's left to do is put this into the fridge
10:21 for a couple hours, let the custard set,
10:23 get nice and cohesive, so when I cut into it,
10:25 it stays together, and then I can eat this thing.
10:27 - I'm going to melt some chocolate over this double boiler.
10:30 And while this melts, I'm going to prepare
10:32 some paper cornets.
10:33 I will cut the small opening.
10:35 I'm gonna make an oxo because it's hugs and kisses.
10:37 Since that is a romantic dessert.
10:40 I can also make a little heart.
10:43 Look at that, yes, this is it.
10:47 Little hugs and kisses.
10:49 See how fast I went?
10:50 You can do this too.
10:52 Now I'm ready to assemble my tiramisu,
10:54 and I'm gonna get ready to eat it.
10:55 First cut is the hardest, baby, I know.
11:00 Seriously, though.
11:01 Just look at it.
11:02 Bro, bro.
11:06 Release the croquette.
11:07 No, it's tiramisu.
11:09 Let's cut our first slice.
11:10 Sorry I gotta do this to you.
11:11 No offense.
11:13 - I'm gonna try my best.
11:14 I'm pushing the knife against the ring.
11:16 I'm gonna check.
11:17 Look, is it moving?
11:18 Yes, it is.
11:19 Hooray.
11:20 I find it less messy to do the cocoa powder on top right now
11:24 and then remove the ring, so that way I have
11:26 a little less spillage of the cocoa powder.
11:28 Yes!
11:29 Using the chocolate sauce, I'm gonna make it
11:31 teardrop shape.
11:32 Nice little swoop.
11:32 And it will make it look fancy.
11:34 Ooh, ooh, ooh.
11:35 It's like a cake bracelet with Big Mac.
11:37 Look at that.
11:37 Just see the layers?
11:39 Place that on here.
11:40 Using the whipped cream, I'm using a silver spoon
11:44 that I warmed in hot water to make my canal.
11:47 By making the spoon hot, the cream will not stick to it.
11:50 I'm gonna share my heart with you.
11:53 And this is my tiramisu.
11:57 - This is my take on tiramisu, baby.
12:01 - This is my tiramisu.
12:05 (dramatic music)
12:08 This is perfect, man.
12:13 I don't even wanna eat it, man.
12:16 - That was the whole point of the operation,
12:17 was to establish some layers, and I think we did it.
12:20 This is like pretty textbook tiramisu,
12:22 if I do say so myself.
12:23 - I'm gonna taste it right away
12:25 because I can't wait any longer.
12:27 - Mm, even break off smooth.
12:28 - Mm.
12:34 - I'm speechless.
12:35 This is amazing.
12:37 - Especially with a little bit of that coconut,
12:38 like it's just enough coconut with the rum.
12:41 And I think the chocolate does exactly
12:42 what it was intended to do.
12:44 Cuts through a lot of that sweetness,
12:45 brings you back down to a place
12:46 you can like eat this whole thing.
12:48 - The texture of the ladyfingers, mm.
12:50 They're not over-soaked.
12:52 That means it still has a little bite to it.
12:53 - Honestly, I think this is the perfect combination
12:55 of like traditional Italian tiramisu
12:58 and a little bit of that island home spiciness that I like.
13:00 - I'm about to buy myself a trophy.
13:02 Soon as I leave here.
13:03 [dramatic music]
13:04 - Tiramisu is a silky, darkly robust layered dessert.
13:08 Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.
13:10 [dramatic music]
13:14 Desi and Daniel used store-bought sponge cake
13:17 piped into finger-length strips,
13:19 aptly called ladyfingers.
13:20 They're light and airy, but slightly dry,
13:23 so they absorb liquid flavors well.
13:26 Jurgen made his own ladyfingers
13:28 by beating egg whites to soft peaks
13:30 and gradually adding finely granulated sugar,
13:34 making a French meringue.
13:35 He sifted cake flour over the meringue
13:37 and then folded in whipped yolks.
13:39 This is a real balancing act.
13:41 The weight of the flour and the fat from the egg yolks
13:44 can both easily deflate the delicate air pockets
13:47 in the meringue.
13:48 [dramatic music]
13:52 Desi used cold coffee.
13:53 The flavor of coffee is derived
13:55 from various chemical reactions,
13:57 such as caramelization, pyrolysis,
13:59 and polyphenol degradation.
14:01 Over a thousand complex flavor and aroma molecules
14:05 have been isolated in brewed coffee.
14:07 To his coffee, Daniel added sugar and coconut liqueur,
14:10 which has a lower ABV than rum.
14:12 This alcohol imparts a coconut essence
14:14 and a sharp sweetness.
14:16 Jurgen combined amaretto, an almond-flavored liqueur,
14:19 rum, and orange juice.
14:21 There's more alcohol in this syrup,
14:22 and the base is espresso.
14:24 Espresso is a concentrated coffee
14:26 made by forcing pressurized hot water
14:28 through very finely ground and compacted coffee beans.
14:32 The increased surface area from the fine grind
14:34 allows maximum extraction of coffee aroma
14:37 and flavor compounds.
14:38 This is an intensely concentrated flavor
14:41 which works so well
14:42 with the delicately neutral flavored ladyfingers
14:45 and mascarpone cream.
14:46 [dramatic music]
14:50 Desi used whipped cream and mascarpone,
14:52 the traditional cheese used.
14:54 Mascarpone is like an Italian version of cream cheese
14:57 from the Lombardi region of Italy,
14:59 but it's less tangy due to the lack of starter culture
15:02 or rennet in this recipe.
15:03 Warm heavy cream is coagulated by citric or tartaric acid.
15:08 It resembles a dense cream.
15:10 The addition of the whipped cream
15:11 made the thick mascarpone easier to spread.
15:14 Daniel made a custard base,
15:16 which is sweet and thick from slowly cooking egg yolks
15:18 with sugar and marsala, a sweet wine.
15:21 The acid from the wine
15:22 keep the coagulated egg proteins soft and tender.
15:26 Whipped cream helped to lighten up his custard base.
15:29 Jurgen made a silky sabayon, a custard stirred over heat,
15:32 promoting the thickening of the sauce.
15:34 He stabilized the sabayon by adding gelatin,
15:37 a protein made from hydrolyzed collagen,
15:40 an animal protein derived from connective tissue.
15:43 He too added mascarpone and whipped cream.
15:46 Absolutely heavenly.
15:48 Tiramisu is more than a pick-me-up, as the name suggests.
15:52 It's a showstopper dessert.
15:53 If you're making it for a crowd
15:55 or as an individual treat,
15:56 we hope you'll take tips from our three creative chefs.
15:59 (whooshing)