In the bowl of a stand mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the egg yolks are lemon yellow, smooth, and thickened- about 5 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.

Add the mascarpone to the egg yolks and beat until fully combined.  Set aside

In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream, slowly but gently increasing the speed, until stiff peaks form.  This will take 10 minutes. Don’t overwhip the cream. We don’t want butter.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone/egg mixture.  Set aside.

In a shallow bowl or dish, stir together the espresso and coffee liquor.

Gather a 9-inch square baking dish or casserole and set aside close to your coffee mixture.

Dip each ladyfinger into the coffee mixture just long enough to get them wet, but not long enough that the dissolve.  A second or two for each cookie is enough.

Arrange the ladyfingers in the bottom of the baking dish.

Spoon half of the cream mixture over the ladyfingers, using an offset spatula to spread the cream evenly over the ladyfingers

Repeat the process with the remaining ladyfingers and cream.

Use a fine-mesh sieve to dust cocoa powder all over the top of the dessert.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.