Cooks Corner

I recently attended an “Italian Feast” cooking class at Melbourne’s Electrolux Cooking School, which is located at the Queen Victoria Markets.  We made a feast of Italian dishes, including foccacia, lobster tortellinni, roast pork and tiramisu, and then we got to enjoy all the wonderful food with some Italiano vino.  Bellissimo!

One of the tips I learnt from the chef was get all your ingredients organised and do all the chopping before you start cooking, this takes the stress out of the actual cooking.

I thought I’d share one of the recipes with you:

TIRAMISU

• 1kg         Mascarpone
• 2             Egg yolks
• 100gr   Sugar
• dash      Strega Liqueur, Sambucca (white) Liqueur
• 2             Cups strong espresso
• 1-2pkts Pavesini Biscuits

For the Meringue

• 250gr        Egg whites
• 500gr        Sugar
• 80 mls       Water

Method:

Mix 2 egg yolks with sugar until creamy, then whip in mascarpone and liquers until the mixtrue is thick like piping cream.  Put aside.

Place the sugar and water for the merinque in a pot and heat to soft ball (toffee) stage.  Dip biscuits into espresso and line the serving bowl (bottom and sides).  Whip the egg whites and incorporate the hot sugar mixture slowly until the mixture starts to peak.  Fold the meringue into the mascarpone mixture and place half into the biscuit lined serving bowl.  Sprinkle with chopped chocolate and cover with the remainder of the mixture.  Smooth off the top and cover with ground chocolate or coffee.

Buon Appetito!