Strawberry Tiramisu - A Fantastic Substitute for Strawberry Shortcake

After making Limoncello Tiramisu for Easter, I couldn't stop thinking of different variations. Here is my first of many - Strawberry Tiramisu.  By the way, the Limoncello Tiramisu was adapted from a recipe by one of my favorite chefs - Lydia Bastianich.  I'll be posting a video of that recipe soon.

4 lbs Strawberries (reserve 12 ripe small strawberries  for garnish)

5 large Eggs (separated and at room temperature)

4 cups sugar + (3 tbsp for whipped cream)

2 cups Mascarpone Cheese (in a large bowl at room temperature)

40 lady fingers

3/4 cups Chambord

1 pint heavy cream for whipping

1 tbs + 1tsp of vanilla extract

(9 x13x 2 baking dish

First you need to make a strawberry Simple Syrup:

Simple Syrup

4 lbs strawberries (- the 12 for garnish)

2 Cups  Sugar

Remove tops from strawberries

Rinse and cut in half and place in a bowl and set aside.

1. Pour 2 cups of water and 2 cups of the sugar into a large sauce pan.

2. Turn up the heat to high and when the sugar is dissolved add the strawberries.

The strawberries will get pink and start to get very soft and release moisture giving you the 3 cups you will need to make the dipping sauce.  It will get very foamy on top.  Stir occasionally.

3. Bring to a boil and boil for about 5 minutes and then cut off the heat and let sit while you prepare the zabaglione sauce.

Now let's make the zabaglione

5 Egg Yolks

¼ Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Chambord

4.  Combine yolks, sugar and Chambord in a double boiler or a metal bowl that will fit on top of a saucepan and whisk together. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. You don't want to cook the eggs.  Bring water to a hard simmer and wish constantly for about 5 minutes or so until the mixture is very thick when you lift out the whisk. You will also see lines left on top of the mixture.  Set aside zabaglione to cool.

5. Remove strawberries from simple syrup and place in a colander over a bowl and toss with a wooden spoon or spatula to remove the excess strawberry juice - you don't need all this liquid in your Tiramisu.

Place excess juice back into pot and set the strawberries aside to cool.

Now it's time to make the Dipping Sauce for Lady Fingers:

3 Cups Strawberry Simple Syrup

½ Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Chambord

6.  Remove 3 cups of strawberry simple syrup and place in a medium pot. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup Chambord.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid thickens up a bit 5-10 minutes.  Pour the syrup into a meatloaf pan and let the syrup cool while you move onto mascarpone. The syrup needs to be cool enough for you to work with. 

(You will have plenty of simple syrup left over. If you like add about a cup of sugar, boil it and save it for cocktails. You can also use some of the left over to garnish your plate)

7. Your mascarpone should be in a large bowl and at room temperature. Take a spatula and smear it around the bowl to soften it up. Set aside for a moment

Time to whip the Egg Whites

5 Eggs Whites

¼ Cup Sugar

8. Put the 5 egg whites in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.  When they start to foam add in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and blend until firm but not hard and dry.

Time to fold the Zabaglione, Mascarpone and Egg Whites together

9. Using a spatula, fold in about 1/3 of the zabaglione into the mascarpone to lighten it up. Then fold in the remaining zabaglione in two more batches. Don't forget to reach deep into the mixture and cut and then fold. Same thing with egg whites - fold in a third, and then two more additions. 

10. Take the reserved strawberries and place on a cutting board (use a meat board with a well around it in case they release some more juice) chop until they are basically a mash - they need to be spreadable,

you don't want chunks of strawberries getting caught on you knife when you cut the Tiramisu.

Now the fun part - time to Assemble

11.  Dip the lady fingers one at a time into the syrup that you should have cooled in a meatloaf pan and create a single layer across the dish. 

(If you dip more than one lady finger at a time do not leave them in for very long - you just want to coat them. If you like a wetter tiramisu leave the lady fingers in until slightly softened, usually one side will get soft before the other. You will have plenty of liquid in your dish to moisten up the cookies while it rests)

12. Spread 1/2 the mixture of the mascarpone/zabaglione/egg white  mixture across the lady fingers.

13. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mashed strawberries on top of the mixture

14. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers

15. Spread the remaining strawberries across the ladyfingers – there should be enough for a fine layer.

16.  Gently spread the rest of the mascarpone/zabaglione/egg white mixture across the strawberries

17. Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours until the last layer of the mascarpone mixture is just set so you can add the last layer which is whipped cream.

(You can also refrigerate at this point overnight and add the whip cream in the morning and chill until serving. Basically you want the whipped cream layer to be as cold as the rest of the tiramisu)

Let's make the Whip Cream layer

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 tbs + 1 tsp Vanilla

3 tbs sugar

18.  Whip the cream until stiff and spread across top of tiramisu – you may need to round up the cram towards the center and taper to the edge if you are about to spill over the pan!

Wipe off rim of the dish and recover with a new piece of plastic wrap. If you have left the tiramisu sit overnight, you only need to chill for a couple of  more hours, or two until the whip cream is cold.  If you have not let the dish set, leave it in overnight.  Most recipes will say chill for at least 6 hours but I think you need a good 24 hours to let the moisture distribute throughout the tiramisu and soften the cookies.

Time to Serve and Garnish

19.  When ready to serve – score the tiramisu with a knife into 12 squares but do not cut though.  Take your 12 reserved strawberries and make cuts starting from the stem to the tip, but do not cut all the way through the top of the strawberry, this will enable you to "fan" the strawberry.  Place one strawberry in the middle of each square.  (If you have a hard time making the fan, just put a slice on top of each one)

When cutting the tiramisu be sure to wipe off the knife frequently.  Place a piece of tiramisu on each plate.  At this point you can also put some of the reserved strawberry simple syrup (not the syrup you dipped the cookies in but the other batch) on the plate or in a small creamer for guest to do as they wish. 

Enjoy!