Tiramisu

Serves 4-6

Over the years we have made this classic Italian pudding in many different ways in our restaurants but the one we had for lunch on arrival at Marina Spaggiari's place in Modena was simple, light and sublime and finished off the long light lunch perfectly, especially with a few glasses of the local walnut liqueur. The nice thing about this Tiramisu was that it wasn't too sweet; it had very little sugar in it, if any.

200ml whipping cream
40g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
500g mascarpone at room temperature
12-15 sponge fingers
3 shots of espresso
4tbsp Amaretto
Good-quality cocoa powder, to serve

Whisk the cream until stiff. Beat the egg yolks and sugar by hand, or with an electric whisk, for a few minutes until light and creamy. Then spoon in the mascarpone until well mixed, and finally carefully fold in the cream mixture. Lay the sponge fingers in a serving dish about 4-5cm deep.

Mix the hot espresso with the Amaretto and spoon over the sponge fingers until the liquid is all absorbed.

Spoon over the cream mixture (you can pipe it in if you wish for a decorative effect), cover and leave to set in the fridge for an hour or so. Before serving, dredge with the cocoa powder.