Tiramisu Cake

This dessert needs no introduction, it is one of my favorite desserts. As it turns out, it is a very simple dessert to make. 

The recipe that I used is by Giada, which is very standard compare to all other tiramisu recipes. As usual, I made some slight modifications. Here is Giada's recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/tiramisu-recipe/index.html

Ingredients (serves 4; everything in here is half of the original recipe)
 
3 egg yolks
1.5 tablespoon sugar
0.5lb of mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup of expresso, cooled before used
12 ladyfingers (in my case, I couldn't find ladyfingers, so I used loaf cake, which I thinly sliced)
A piece of dark chocolate (any chocolate from the candy section is fine)
Rum/amaretto (I did not use this because I don't have any)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns thick and pale. (Yes, the yolk mixture will turn white)
2. Add the mascarpone cheese and continue beating the mixture until smooth.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of expresso and mix thoroughly.

Arranging the tiramisu cake

1. This is where I use a technique which defers from others. In most recipe, you soak the ladyfingers in the coffee. However, this will cause the ladyfingers to break apart very easily. Instead, I use a spoon to drizzle the coffee over the ladyfingers after I lay them down.

2. Place a layer of ladyfingers at the bottom of a pan/large bowl. Add a scoop of the egg/cheese mixture over the ladyfingers.

3. Sprinkle some shaved chocolate.

4. Repeat step 2 and 3.

How did I do with my first (surely will not be my last) try? My food tasters used the following words to do describe it "light", "not too sweet", "just the right cheese and cake ratio"(this can be attributed to the way I plated my tiramisu cake as I added lots of cheese mixture on top of thinly sliced caked).

I am not afraid to say that this was a successful try. Delicious is an overused word in describing food but there is not better word. DELICIOUS!!



Footnote:
According to my Italian friend, traditional tiramisu cake is served in a bowl, not a plate and it shouldn't be served like a conventional cakes, which are sliced.