A question for PASTRY CHEFS...about Tiramisu...?

Question

I made a tiramisu for my friend's birthday for tonight. All the recipes I looked up called for eggs, but none of them said to cook the eggs first, so my tiramisu contains raw eggs. Is this safe, and is this normal for tiramisu??? Thanks.

Answer 1

It looks like this recipe calls for raw eggs. I trust Martha.
Tiramisu
Ingredients
Serving: Serves 12
8 large eggs, separated
1 Pound mascarpone
4 Ounces small almond biscotti
3 Cups brewed espresso, cooled
1/3 Cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
42 store-bought Ladyfinger biscuits
1 Cup heavy cream
Best-quality milk chocolate, for garnish
1 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together yolks and mascarpone until smooth. Add 1 cup sugar; whisk until dissolved. Set aside.
Place biscotti in the bowl of a food processor; pulse for coarse crumbs. Fold biscotti into mascarpone mixture; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add egg whites; beat until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture; set aside.
Combine espresso and liqueur in a medium bowl; pour half the mixture into a pie plate. Quickly dip half the Ladyfingers individually into the pie plate, and place in the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish; fit snugly to line. Evenly spread half the mascarpone mixture over Ladyfingers; repeat layers.
In a large bowl, whisk together heavy cream and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream evenly over tiramisu; garnish with grated chocolate. Chill at least 2 hours and preferably overnight before serving.

Answer 2

I've never seen a tiramisu recipe that contains raw eggs, they're always cooked. The egg yolks and sugar get cooked over a double boiler till they reach the ribbon stage the cheese gets folded in, and then you fold in a meringue. Pasteurized eggs are widely available. The chances of getting salmonella from raw eggs are pretty slim, but you might want to tell everyone that it contains raw eggs before they eat it, or just don't serve it and make another one.

Answer 3

Yes, Tirami Su is made with raw egg yolks and whites in a proportion of 2:1, e.g. 6 yolks/3 whites. [My colleague Cheffy, earlier, has had one of our "senior kitchen moments" -- been there, done that, all too often! :-) -- and in his mind associated quite another dish, prossibly something zabaglione-like, with the name Tirami Su: no double boilers are harmed in this one's making. ;-) ]

There are as many recipes for this as there are cooks and chefs in Italy, many versions being heavily dressed up, but the fundamental one, taken from 'Il Cucciaio d'Argento', Italy's answer to Mme St Ange's 'La Bonne Cuisine' in France, is this:

TIRAMI SU
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4 egg yolks
2 egg whites
150g icing sugar
400g mascarpone cheese
200g biscotti
175ml freshly brewed extra-strong black coffee, cooled
200g plain, grated chocolate
cocoa powder to garnish

Method
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Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Beat the yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold the mascarpone into the yolk/sugar mixture, then the whipped egg whites. Carefully amalgamate.

Layer some biscotti ate the base of the presentation dish. Brush with the coffee. Cover with a layer of the mascarpone cream emulsion and sprinkle with the grated chocolate. Repeat and continue to repeat until all the components have been used up, ending with a layer of mascarpone cream.

Dust with cocoa and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours (3-4).

Remove from fridge some 30mins before serving, to acclamatise the dish to room termperature a little and restore depths of flavour. Serve.

As you can see, it's a blank canvas that almost begs for variations, but that's the bare bones of it.

Anyone immune compromised, pregnant, elderly or very young should take great care and caution before considering to eat raw egg dishes.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Most eggs these days are salmonella free but you should still be careful with elderly, young children and pregnant ladies. Look for Lion stamps on eggs in the UK as this is a guarantee that the eggs are safe to eat.

Answer 5

Yes this is normal and in today's market it is relatively safe. I would follow the suggestions and avoid serving it to people who may have health problems with it...compromised immune systems, elderly, young children etc.

Answer 6

Yes, it's normal for tiramisu.

Yes, it is safe, except for expecctant mothers or people who may have comprimsed immune systems (cancer, AIDS, etc.)