Imagine the following: You’re stuck at a Telescope site. You have some off time, and it’s cold outside. Like really cold. You need to sustain your body weight. All you have are the ingredients listed below and your only chance of survival is to make a delicious Tiramisù. This exact situation has arised during my HESS shift in Namibia, when we have been forced to improvise Waffels because of course that has happened (none of this happened, except the Waffels, which turned out to be really good, despite being heavily improvised on the spot).

But in case you (or I) am stuck somewhere and I need to find a proven Tiramisù recipe, here it is. The following recipe is enough for 6 people and fits perfectly in a small Ikea tray.

2 egg yolk (optional)
500g mascarpone
150g sugar
1 tablespoon Rum (optional)
200ml cream
2 packages ladyfingers (size and amount may vary for you)
300ml coffee or cocoa
Cocoa powder for finish

• Make the coffee. Make some more so you can drink some while making the rest.
• Mix the egg yolks with the mascarpone
• Whip the cream and add it to the crema
• Dunk each of the lady fingers once into the coffee and lay on the tray
• After each layer put a layer of cream
• Repeat until the last layer of cream, then put cocoa on top using a sieve

2 layers are typically enough, but the Ikea form could be used up to 3 layers.

For the Irish cream variation of my Tiramisù, replace 100-150ml of the coffee with Bailyes (or Amarula). This gives a really nice touch.

If you want to make it without the eggs, then just leave the egg yolks out without further modifications. The crema will be a bit stiffer than usual, but still ok. Consider adding more cream if you like it creamier.