Olive Garden™ Tiramisu Recipe

2014-05-01
  • Yield : Med. Tray
  • Servings : 8-10
  • Prep Time : 30m
  • Cook Time : 20m
  • Ready In : 3:000 h

After a bit of adjusting, with the help from comments below,  I think we’ve put together the absolute best Olive Garden Tiramisu recipe available.

The word Tiramisu is Italian for “Pick Me Up.”  This probably comes from the coffee you’ll find in every Tiramisu recipe.  A nice blend of strong Italian coffee along with a bit of Kahlua can make for a nice dessert.

I’m not a Tiramisu expert, but I’ve heard many people say the Olive Garden Tiramisu recipe is one of the better varieties you’ll find.  I had some Tiramisu at a little Italian bakery in the Little Italy part of San Francisco.  It was amazing, but I think the atmosphere had a lot to do with it.

When you make this recipe, make sure you add plenty of sugar to keep it from that “cheese taste”.  This is a dessert, not an appetizer, so don’t be afraid to sweeten it up.

One of the restaurant recipes floating around uses sponge cake.  One trip to The Olive Garden and you’ll know it’s made with lady fingers, not sponge cake.  The following is as close as I’ve come to the real deal. As always, if you know of an improvement, share it in the comments and we’ll make changes that actually do improve the flavor.

Ingredients

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 cups mascarpone cheese (this is an Italian cream cheese)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 20 - 24 lady finger cookies
  • 1/4 cup cold espresso
  • 1/4 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa powder

Method

Step 1

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce heat so that the water is simmering.

Step 2

Whisk egg yolks, milk and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan (you can also use a double boiler for this step).

Step 3

Stir the mixture often for ten minutes. After the sugar dissolves the mixture should begin to thicken and turn light yellow. Remove it from the heat to cool.

Step 4

Use an electric mixer to combine mascarpone, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until mostly creamy, with a few small chunks remaining.

Step 5

Add egg yolk mixture to the cheese mixture and combine well.

Step 6

Combine espresso and Kahlua in a small bowl pour this mixture onto a dinner plate. One-by-one touch the bottom of each lady finger in the espresso. The lady finger will quickly soak up the espresso/Kahlua mixture, but you don't want the lady finger soaked -- just a dab will do ya. The top half of each lady finger should still be dry.

Step 7

Arrange the soaked lady fingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8x8-inch serving dish or baking pan.

Step 8

Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers, then add another layer of soaked lady fingers on top of the cheese mixture. spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of lady fingers spreading it evenly.

Step 9

Put two teaspoons of cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

Step 10

Cover and chill for several hours.

Step 11

To serve, slice the dessert twice across and twice down, creating 9 even portions (the first serving is always the hardest to get out).

Recipe Type: Ingredients:

Unofficial "Chef" who loves to share..

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