Even in these confused times, there are a few truths no one can dispute. Seltzer is the only true embodiment of the current human condition. The New York Knicks will always find a way to be terrible. And, when it is made correctly, tiramisu is a perfect dessert. Tiramisu is not everything, but it is the correct number of things.

The flavors — coffee, cocoa, mascarpone cheese, maybe some booze — make it seem like a dessert that would be dense, but the best versions are light, and smooth, and almost cloudlike. A great tiramisu, as Bar Primi chef Sal Lamboglia puts it, has “a gentleness that comes along with it.” It’s best when the dusting of cocoa is graceful, and the mascarpone is fluffy, the whipped eggs are buttery, and the ladyfingers — dipped in espresso — are soft but not soggy. It is the Alfa Romeo to icebox cake’s Ford.