- 6 egg yolks
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2/3 C milk
- 1 lb mascarpone
Mik the sugar and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Slowly mix in the milk after these are blended, then bring to a boil. Boil for about a minute, then chill for an hour. Stir in the mascarpone.
- 1 1/4 C whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Whip the cream and vanilla until fluffy.
- 6 oz ladyfingers
- 1/4 C coffee
- 1/4 C rum
Soak the ladyfingers in a mixture of rum and coffee.
- cocoa powder
Lay half the soaked ladyfingers in the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread with half the mascarpone custard, then with half the whipped cream. Repeat. Top with cocoa powder. Refrigerate at least four hours - ideally overnight.
This is a dessert that can be endlessly varied. Every restaurant I went to in Italy had its own variation - different liquors, different cakes, raisins, spices...
My personal variation stemmed from being unable to find ladyfingers in England (I got confused looks and directions to the produce section). I ended up using a strongly almond-flavored cookie of about the same shape and texture, which was very well suited. So far, I've been unable to find an equivalent in the US.