Tiramisu is an Italian dessert typically made from Lady Fingers, espresso coffee, mascarpone cheese, eggs, cream, sugar, marsala wine, cocoa, and rum. The Italian name tiramisù means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically, "Make me happy", although it could have a more sexual meaning), referring to the two caffeine-containing ingredients, espresso and cocoa.

The Lady Fingers are sprinkled with or briefly soaked in a mixture of the coffee,

rum, and sugar. They are then layered with a mixture of mascarpone cheese and a custard made from egg yolks, marsala, and sugar, known as zabaglione. Cocoa powder is then sprinkled on top.

The dessert has become one of the most popular types of dessert served in upscale restaurants of all types, not just Italian restaurants. The recipe has been adapted into cakes, puddings and other varieties of dessert. Other flavours are often used now in place of coffee, including strawberry, lemon or chocolate.

History

There is some debate regarding the history of tiramisu. Some believe it was first created during the First World War. Women in northern Italy made these desserts for their men to take with them as they were being sent off to war, presumably to remind them of their love together, as the bitter-sweet taste of the dessert alludes to the perplexing feeling of love itself. Or more practically, they might have believed the high caffeine and energy content of these desserts give their men

more energy to fight and help bring them home safely.

Another story regarding tiramisu dates back even further. It is said that during the Renaissance periods, Venetian women made these to be shared with their men during the late hours because they believed it would give them the energy to make more vigorous love later. A different take on this story is that Venetian prostitutes, living above cafés, would order this as a late night pick-me-up.

A less glamorous theory explains that the dessert was a way of salvaging old cake and coffee that had gone cold by using the leftover coffee and perhaps some liqueur to moisten the stale cake. The dish was greatly improved by layering it with cream or cream cheese.

Still others claim that the dessert is a recent invention, creating a trendy demand that will not last long. They point out that while the recipes and histories of other layered desserts are very similar, the first documented mention of tiramisu in a published work appears in an Italian cookbook. Backing up this story is that the author of the cookbook explained in an earlier article that tiramisu was created in 1971 (actually "10 years ago" in the article, which was written in 1981) in the restaurant Le Beccherie, and the owners of Le Beccherie do indeed claim they invented the recipe.

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