Olive Garden Tiramisu - Copycat

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce the heat so that the water is simmering.

Whisk egg yolks, milk and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan.

Stir the mixture often for 8 to 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens.

Remove the bowl from the heat, and to it add the 2 cups of mascarpone cheese and the vanilla.

Whisk the cheese until it smooths out.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer until thick.

Slowly fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until it's completely incorporated, but don't over mix or it will lose its fluff and flatten out.

Combine the espresso and Kahlua in a large, shallow bowl.

One-by-one, quickly dip each ladyfinger in the espresso.

The ladyfinger will soak up the espresso like a sponge, so dip quickly.

Arrange half of the dipped ladyfingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch serving dish or baking pan.

Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the ladyfingers, then add another layer of soaked ladyfingers on top of the cheese mixture.

Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of ladyfingers and spread it evenly.

Put two t. of cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

Cover and chill for several hours.

To serve, slice the dessert twice across and down creating 9 even portions.