life with tuyen

My take on traditional tiramisu using Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk

Vietnamese Coffee is my all time favorite so it felt only necessary to make a tiramisu using it! It’s deeper, richer, and more intense in flavor so the light cream compliments it so well. Made this and one of my friends told me it was the best tiramisu he’s ever had!! I included two versions: a more traditional tiramisu (using egg whites) and one that uses whipping cream for those that don’t feel as comfy with egg whites. This is a smaller batch recipe that uses only 2 eggs, feel free to double the measurements!

Vietnamese Coffee Tiramisu:

Vietnamese coffee syrup:

• 3 tbsp Vietnamese ground coffee
• ½ cup boiling water
• 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• Splash of vanilla extract
• Optional: Kahlúa and/or rum to taste

mascarpone cream:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 6 oz mascarpone cheese, cold
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: ¾ cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks (use instead of egg whites)
• pack of lady fingers
• cocoa powder
• extra sweetened condensed milk

Vietnamese coffee syrup 

You can usually find a vietnamese phin filter at your local Vietnamese or Asian grocery store BUT here’s an affordable one online if you don’t have one nearby (but please support local if you can hehe)

• Gently pack your coffee grounds into the phin base using the press. The tighter you pack, the stronger the coffee will be.
• Pour a small splash of boiling water over the grounds first and let it bloom for about a minute.
• Pour in the rest of the boiling water and let it drip all the way through
• Once brewed, stir in your condensed milk, vanilla, and any Kahlúa or rum
• Set aside to cool

Mascarpone cream

• Separate your two eggs
• Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until the mixture turns pale and fluffy
  • for pastureizing eggs, refer to my notes section!!
• Add your cold mascarpone straight from the fridge and fold it in gently until just combined. Don’t over mix, it’ll turn grainy!
• In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks — they should hold their shape but still look a little droopy
  • Skipping egg whites? Fold in ¾ cup of whipped cream instead for a richer, slightly denser cream
• Gently fold the egg whites into your mascarpone mixture until just combined

Assemble

• Working quickly, dip each ladyfinger into the coffee soak — just a second or two per side, if you dip for too long it’ll get soggy
• Layer the soaked ladyfingers in your pan, then spread half the mascarpone cream on top.
• Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and the remaining cream. A smaller square pan works great for this batch size!
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight is the best (please please please)
• Dust generously with cocoa powder AND A DRIZZLE OF CONDENSED MILK right before serving 🤍

NOTES:

• for the mascarpone cream: use cold mascarpone straight from the fridge!! Try not to over mix as the cream might curdle, if u see ur mascarpone cream starts to curdle, gently mix in some more heavy cream and leave in fridge
• pasteurizing eggs: since the eggs in this recipe is “raw”, we have to pasteurize it before eating, you can do several methods:
  • boiling the eggs in a hot water for 3 minutes at 140f
  • the double boiler method: Whisk together egg yolks and sugar over a pot of simmering water and whisk until everything is fluffy and dissolved, ~ a few minutes (this will bring the eggs up to temp to cook them, if you wanna be specific it should reach 160f) Let it cool before moving on.
  • buying pasteurized eggs from the supermarket (i heard trader joes carries it but i have yet to find it on my hunt!!) UPDATE: I FOUND IT AT GELSON’S MARKET!

HOPE YOU LOVE IT!!

love,

tuyen 🍓