Tiramisu

Method

1. whisk8 min
   bowl over barely simmering water, 160°F/70°C
   egg yolks + sugar + marsala + salt, whisking without pause until the mixture triples and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that sits on the surface for a second — stop whisking over heat and the yolks scramble at the bowl's edge, and there is no recovering scrambled zabaglione
2. rest10 min
   off heat, room temperature
   zabaglione, stirred occasionally, until no warmer than your hand. Mascarpone is a high-fat curd cheese and it splits into grease and grain if warm custard hits it
3. mix2 min
   low speed or by hand
   cooled zabaglione + mascarpone, just until smooth. Mascarpone is already whipped by its own structure — beat it hard and it breaks into butter and whey, which shows up as a weeping layer six hours later
4. whisk3 min
   cold bowl, medium-high
   heavy cream to soft peaks that slump when the whisk lifts. Stiff peaks will not fold in without deflating, and they leave white streaks through the finished cream
5. fold2 min
   gentle, spatula
   whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture in two additions, cutting down and turning over rather than stirring = the cream. It should mound softly, not pour
6. prep6 min
   cooled espresso in a shallow dish
   dip each ladyfinger one second per side and lay it straight into a small dish, one snug layer. Savoiardi are dry twice-baked biscuits and they keep drinking for another hour after assembly — a biscuit that feels correctly wet in your fingers is already a biscuit that will be mush by dinner
7. cook4 min
   assembly
   half the cream spread over the biscuit layer + a second dipped layer laid crosswise + the remaining cream smoothed flat, edge to edge so no biscuit is exposed to air
8. rest360 min
   refrigerated, covered
   the assembled dish, at least six hours and ideally overnight — the biscuit gives up water to the cream and the cream gives up fat to the biscuit until the two read as one texture. Cut it at two hours and the layers slide apart on the spoon
9. top1 min
   immediately before serving
   cocoa powder pushed through a fine sieve over the whole surface. Dust it at assembly instead and the cocoa hydrates overnight into brown mud with no bitterness left in it