Tiramisu

I'm not Italian, so I'm not going to claim anything about authenticity; I even went to Italy last Spring, but the trip was so rushed that I don't even remember eating any tiramisu. I just think this tastes amazing and is incredibly fattening (but mostly natural!), which is bad for the waistline but oh so good for the soul. And since the soul is what outlasts our frail human bodies, our soul should be nurtured more than our body. Or something like that.
Also, this works pretty well as a bribe for just about anything.
(And I shamelessly stole this picture from a random site online cause I'm going to be in a wedding in a few weeks, and can't afford the extra calories that comes from actually making this. So sad.)

Ingredients:
- 6 egg yolks (save the whites and make Berry Pavlova!)
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 8 oz container mascarpone cheese
- 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup espresso, or coffee flavored liquor you can make here
- 2 packages of lady fingers, or a box of vanilla wafers
- Cocoa powder for dusting
- Your favorite kind of chocolate for garnishing

Assemble:
Combine egg yolks and sugar in a double broiler and bring water to boil (or a glass bowl set on top of a pan of boiling water). Reduce the heat to low/simmer and cook for about ten minutes, always stirring. Remove from heat, and whisk until it thickens and becomes a lighter yellow color.
Add the mascarpone cheese and beat till combined.
Whip the whipping cream in another bowl until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold whipped cream into egg mixture and set aside.
Dip wafers or ladyfingers in the espresso/coffee liquor and cover the bottom of two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 loaf pans with them placed as snug as possible. Spoon a quarter of the mixture into each pan and spread evenly. Repeat with a second layer of dipped wafers or ladyfingers, and divide and spread the rest of the filling on top.
Garnish with a generous dusting of cocoa powder; I spooned it into a small strainer and sprinkled it as evenly as I could.
Refrigerate overnight. Serve with flair, or whatever Italians do. And really good black coffee.