Italian: Dirty Chai Tiramisú

Recipe by Kayla Lammy <klamm3@illinois.edu>

(makes about 15 servings)

Tiramisú translates to “pick me up.” Its origins aren’t entirely known. A restaurant named “Le Beccherie” in Treviso, Italy claims it’s the first restaurant to feature it on its menu in 1972. Regardless of its origin story, tiramisú is a refreshing, creamy, and comforting dessert enjoyed by many. Traditional tiramisú omits alcohol and uses beaten egg whites instead of heavy cream. Today, many people have their own variations of tiramisú. I created this chai-infused version to bring in the flavor of fall!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strong brewed coffee with chai

• For a standard coffee pot:
• 2 cups water
• 6 Tablespoons of your favorite coffee (dark roast ideal)
• 4 tea bags of chai  

• 1 Tablespoon vanilla infused dark rum (or sub vanilla extract)
• 4 large egg yolks (use pasteurized eggs)
• ½ cup sugar, divided
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 16 oz mascarpone, room temperature  
• 7 oz (24 count) Biscotti Savoiardi Lady Fingers (Ex: Alessi)

Topping  

• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground all spice  

Procedure:

1. Brew chai-infused coffee. Add 2 cups of water to a coffee pot. Cut open tea bags of chai. Add coffee and loose chai to a coffee filter. Brew. If a “strong brew” setting is available, select that. After brewing, place in fridge to cool.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add 4 egg yolks (save whites for your breakfast in the morning!) and ¼ cup of the sugar. Beat until smooth, fluffy, and light in color.  
3. Add room temperature mascarpone to the egg yolks and gently fold until combined.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, use the whisk attachment on your mixer to beat heavy cream with remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Do not overmix after it’s become stiff (if you keep beating it, it will eventually become butter!).
5. Gently fold in whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.
6. Once coffee is cooled, pour into a shallow baking dish or bowl. Add the vanilla infused rum and mix.
7. With a 9x13” baking dish ready, begin dipping lady fingers one at a time to layer the bottom of the dish. Lady fingers are very porous and don’t take long before they can become soggy. About a 2-3 second dunk is sufficient.
8. Once the first layer of lady fingers is added. Add half of the mascarpone mixture and spread evenly over the top. Repeat with another layer of dipped lady fingers and remaining mascarpone.
9. Mix together the cocoa powder and spices. Using a sifter or fine mesh strainer, dust the top of the last mascarpone layer.
10. Cover dish and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Notes: If you want a lower calorie version, try using beaten egg whites instead of heavy cream. Follow the same process: instead of heavy cream, beat the 4 egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form, then gently fold it into the mascarpone. Use pasteurized eggs to increase safety of consuming raw eggs.