The Watermill cucina – An added delight to our creative courses: 3. Tiramisù, a heavenly pud that adds to creative conviviality
Every wedding has one: the difficult-to-please guest, possibly a relative (a many-times-removed second cousin, perhaps) who criticises everyone and everything especially (and particularly if he/she is from the ‘groom’s ‘side’) the bride, the bridesmaids and the bride’s family.*
(*And, in this day and age, when succinctness is next to godliness, how about that for an opening sentence to today’s recipe? No fewer than 4o words. I can almost hear our SEO software having an apoplectic fit!)
Where was I? Oh yes… Give him/her tiramisù for pudding and soon he/she will be saying: “They’re rather nice, aren’t they? And doesn’t the bride look beautiful?“
A sweet Italian classic from the Watermill kitchen
The reason for this remarkable transformation lies with tiramisù’s secret ingredient: half a tablespoonful of dark rum per serving! Not for nothing does tiramisù mean ‘pull me up!’
Of course, all our Watermill guests are always charming and appreciative, so they don’t need any alcoholic boost to their conviviality, but I’m sure that you will agree that it adds to the tiramisù’s piquancy. (And if you don’t like alcohol, we can leave out the rum on your portion.)
Lois says: “I make our tiramisù with a mix of mascarpone and ricotta for a lighter version of this heavenly pud.”
Recipe from the Watermill cucina: Tiramisù
Ingredients (serves 6):
3 large eggs, separated
50 g caster sugar
125 g mascarpone
125 g ricotta
24 sponge fingers (or ‘boudoir’ biscuits)
150 ml strong coffee
3 tablespoons dark rum
50 g dark chocolate (at least 72% cocoa solids)
Method
- Prepare your components, ready for assembling the tiramsù: grate the chocolate (I do this by putting it in the blender – noisy but effective!), break each sponge finger in half; add the rum to the coffee.
- Now prepare the ‘cream’. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff. Then, in a separate large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture becomes a light yellow and fluffy. Then add the mascarpone and ricotta to the yolks/sugar, mixing until smooth. Fold in the egg whites.
- Then assemble your individual portions. (I put on a plastic glove at this point so that the coffee does not stain my fingers!) Dip 3 halves at a time into the coffee/rum mixture and put into the base of 6 individual glass serving dishes. Using half the ‘cream’, cover the biscuits. Then sprinkle over half the grated chocolate, divided between the glasses. Repeat, this time using 5 halves of biscuit in the next layer. Chill the glasses in the fridge until ready to serve.
When you have served the pull me up, just listen to the surge in convivial conversation in the dining room!
A tribute to Watermill food by painting tutor Ruth Koch.
The Watermill creative courses
* One of the extra pleasures you’ll enjoy on a Watermill creative course is the food.
As well as inspired tuition, warm hospitality, beautiful accommodation and stunning locations, we offer you delicious, home-cooked dishes, many of them Italian classics with a Watermill ‘twist.’ We receive many accolades for our food from our guests on our Watermill creative courses. Comments like ‘out of this world,’ ‘outstanding,’ ‘top notch’ and ‘fabulous’ abound.
To whet your appetite (!), we thought we would serve you up a series of blogs about some of the special dishes at the Watermill. Below, you can explore the other food blog posts and discover more Watermill recipes inspired by Italian classics and convivial meals.