Chef Massimo's Kitchen: Guinness Beeramisu

With St. Patrick ’s Day this month, I’d like to share a recipe that pairs with Ireland's favourite export beer, Guinness, with the famous Italian dessert, tiramisu. I like to call it, "Beeramisu."

Guinness actually pairs perfectly well with this dessert. Its hoppy bitterness, malty sweetness and roasted flavours remind me a lot of another black brew that’s more commonly used in tiramisu: coffee.

Enjoying Guinness, as it is often said, is an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, there is no other beer like it. A wise barman once said the best way to acquire a taste for Guinness is to use it in this dessert.

Guinness Beeramisu (makes 4 glasses)

Ingredients:
1 pack (about 7 ounces), savoiardi/ladyfingers
1 can Guinness beer
3 whole fresh eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
16 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 pinch of salt
4-1/2 ounces confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4-8 raspberries (optional)

Method:

• Take the ladyfingers and lay them on a flat tray or plate, then pour Guinness beer over them. You don't want to make them too wet — just enough to soak them. If you don't use the whole can, then drink the rest. Set the plate aside for later.
• To make the cream, separate the egg yolks from the whites in two separate bowls. Add the vanilla, salt and the mascarpone cheese to the egg yolks and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
• Add the confectioners' sugar to the egg whites and use the electric mixer (make sure you clean the whisk beforehand) to whip the whites till they are fluffy like a meringue.
• Fold the egg whites into the mascarpone cream using a spatula. Don’t mix it too much — just enough to combine.
• Line the bottom of dessert glasses with half the soaked ladyfingers, cutting them into pieces to completely cover the base of the glass.
• Pour in half of the mascarpone cream over the ladyfingers and spread it out evenly.
• Repeat the previous two steps with the ladyfingers and mascarpone cream to create another layer in the glasses.
• Dust the tops using cocoa powder pushed through a small sieve.
• Garnish the desserts with one or two raspberries in the middle, if desired.

Ideally, refrigerate the Beeramisu overnight so the flavours can infuse and then have a hoppy St. Paddy's Day!

Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa Pastry Chef Thomas Zimmerman has written this month's column while Executive Chef Massimo De Francesca is away.

This article appears in the March 2022 print edition of Camana Bay Times.