Many of the restaurant Tiramisu raters have given high marks to the Olive Garden for their dessert. Thanks to friend Peg Baldassari, who found these in the Mastercook recipe posting, Olive Garden Tiramisu aficionados can now make their own at home. No eggs are used in their recipe. Serves 6.
(Craig's note: This recipe is credited on "Flora's Recipe Hideout" to Chef Terry Henderson, The Olive Garden Restaurant at 770 Bathurst St., Rich, Ontario, Canada.)
(An advisory from William Richardson: "I just tried your Olive Garden recipe and frankly it was a waste of $15 worth of mascarpone. It's not even close. The consistency turns out like a cheesecake, good flavor but way off. Obviously there is an ingredient missing. I was going to try some heavy cream, but figured I would stick with the recipe. I had some Tiramisu yesterday at the Olive Garden by the way, so I do have something to compare it to. I tried another of your recipes and it turned out great.")(An update from Stephen Gallie: "The Olive Garden Tiramisu recipe on your web page has an error in it. I just received a faxed recipe from the Olive Garden restaurants and realized that it calls for 1-1/2 cups of superfine or powdered sugar, and not 1/2 cup as mentioned on your web site. This would obviously make a huge difference, and maybe the reason for the editorial comment stating that this recipe is "missing something." Obviously, less sugar would mean more of a "cheese" taste, much like cheescake.")
(Craig's note: Thank you, William and Stephen. The change has been made.)
(A website visitor wrote and said, "By the way, the Tiramisu at Olive Garden is not housemade. One time for a party, I had to bring dessert on short notice. I went to the Olive Garden to buy the entire pan. They sold me this frozen thing ... with the name of the institutional bakery on the package. But, it wasn't bad.")Ingredients
- SPONGE CAKE, 10-12", 3" tall
- STRONG BLACK COFFEE OR PREPARED INSTANT ESPRESSO, 3 ounces
- BRANDY OR RUM, 3 ounces
- MASCARPONE OR CREAM CHEESE, 1-1/2 pounds at room temperature
- SUPERFINE OR POWDERED SUGAR, 1-1/2 cups
- UNSWEETENED COCOA POWDER, enough to dust
Directions
- Cut across the middle of the sponge cake to form two disks, about 1" to 1-1/2" thick.
- Blend the coffee or espresso and liqueur together.
- Sprinkle the bottom half of the cake with the coffee liqueur blend, enough to flavor it strongly, but don't saturate the cake so much it will collapse.
- Mix the cream cheese or mascarpone with the sugar, and beat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the cheese is light and spreadable.
- Spread the bottom half of the cake with half of the whipped cheese, in a fairly thick layer.
- Set the second half of the cake on the bottom half, and repeat the process.
- Sprinkle the coffee/liqueur blend and spread with the remaining whipped cheese mixture.
- Put the cocoa powder into a wire strainer and coat the top layer of the cheese completely with cocoa.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving.
