The only Tiramisu that I have ever eaten and liked

I have had Tiramisu several times and each time, they were horrible. Now, it could have been that I didn't like them because I am not a fan of espresso and even the mildest of coffees must resemble a cup of hot chocolate - lots of cream and sugar, sometimes chocolate. And even though one of them had an extremely strong espresso flavor, I didn't mind that as much as God forsaken dry lump of what resembled a two week old piece of cake.

So when I saw Tiramisu on the menu at cooking school the other night (well month, March cooking school through St. Louis Homes and Lifestyles), I was a bit hesitant to try it. The chef ensured me that it would not be dry and that I should be pleasantly surprised. And I was. It was fantastic! So moist and the flavor was amazing. I was expecting the taste of coffee and even though I had seen him sprinkle powdered cocoa on each layer I really did not think that it would be enough to mask the bitter espresso flavor. Boy was I wrong, wahoo! The chocolate blended with the cream and the espresso and the lady fingers like a symphony. It reminded me a lot of a really good cafe mocha with some texture.

Our chef for the evening was Chef Jaff Davis of Cafe Napoli in Clayton, MO. Other menu items included mushroom and asparagus risotto (this is where I got my idea to make my risotto. It was not his recipe though as we had not had the cooking school yet), bacon wrapped shrimp with spinach aioli, and Tilapia Involtini with Livornese sauce (stuffed fish with a great sauce). If you are ever in the St. Louis area, you need to make this restaurant a "must visit" on your list.

The recipe
Layer 1
In a mixer
whip 5 egg yolks and 5 ounces of sugar until thickened
On slow, mix 1 pound mascarpone cheese
add 3 cups of whipped cream (this was great, he used Ready Whip out of a can. Just spray it in and fold everything together).

Layer 2
Make at least two cups of espresso. Add orange liquor (Cointreau) and sugar, don't make it too sweet. Keep it hot.
Lady fingers - saturate lady fingers in espresso mixture. Do this as you are layering and not before.

Layer 3
powdered cocoa - have it in a container so that you can sprinkle the cocoa on the layers. It's a dusting, not an inch think or anything crazy. Keep in mind, powdered cocoa is very bitter.

Layer in order and repeat until your dish is full.

Garnish with strawberries, cocoa and whipped cream.

Tip:
You do not want your lady fingers to soak so long that they start to fall apart on you. Dunk them in on one side, flip and repeat. If it still feels hard, dunk it again.

Enjoy!