Ina Garten's Simple But Essential Tip To Prevent Soggy Tiramisu

Italian cooking is defined, in many ways, by its simplicity — taking a few basic (but high quality) ingredients and turning them into something truly wonderful. Few dishes exemplify that culinary philosophy quite as well as tiramisu. But such a simple dish is deceptively difficult to get right. With so few elements, it's crucial to ensure every single one is perfect in both flavor and texture. When it comes to tiramisu, that means cream in that satisfyingly-airy-but-not-too-sweet Goldilocks zone and well-soaked but not soggy ladyfingers. And unsurprisingly, some of the best advice comes from the queen of home cooking herself, Ina Garten.

In a Food Network clip, Garten recommends using high-quality Italian ladyfingers, which she says are crispier than their American counterparts and the best option if you want the most pleasing texture possible. Then, to make sure that you end up with biscuits that are flavorful but still structurally sound, she recommends dipping them only briefly in the mixture of booze and coffee rather than leaving them in there to fully saturate — they'll pick up more of the liquid than you'd expect, so they won't be dry. Just trust the process (and the Barefoot Contessa, of course!).

Savoiardi biscuits (the Italian name for ladyfingers) are extremely porous, essentially structured like tiny sponges, so the instant they touch any liquid, they begin to saturate. Once the outer layer takes on enough liquid, it turns soft, and the airy internal structure of the biscuit isn't enough to keep things together, leading to collapse. A soggy ladyfinger doesn't just affect the texture of your tiramisu — it can cause the layers of cream and biscuit to meld together, leading to an inevitable, and frankly sad, collapsing dessert.

Oversoaking your ladyfingers can also make your mascarpone become sloppy, as the excess liquid can seep out of the biscuits and upward into the cream. The goal is to have a biscuit that's saturated on the outside, but still a little dry on the interior, allowing it to retain its structural integrity.  

Much like Garten, pastry chefs tend to "touch and go" when dipping savoiardi; just a second is all you really need. Of course, the timing of your dip also changes based on the biscuits you use.  Store-bought ladyfingers make constructing your tiramisu a breeze and are often better than those you could make yourself. If you bake them at home, you might need a little trial and error to dial in just how long they spend in the coffee mixture.