Tiramisu!
Yesterday I spent about 3 hours trying to think of what dessert I was going to make for this week’s Project Runway Girls Night. It wasn’t until I was 3 minutes away from home that the idea came to me. TIRAMISU! And the best part…I had all the ingredients waiting for me in the kitchen!
I ran home and immediately started my online recipe search. I had less than an hour to pull it all together, so I went right to Martha Stewart’s EVERYDAY FOOD site and searched.
Below, you will find my version of the recipe. I decided to use mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese to make it more authentic.
Ingredients:
- 2 3oz. packages ladyfingers
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 8oz. container mascarpone
- 3 tablespoons instant espresso
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 splash coffee flavored vodka (Kahlua would be fun too)
- 1 1/2 cup water
- a bunch of bittersweet chocolate shavings
Put the 3 tablespoons of instant espresso in a medium bowl combine with 3 tablespoons of boiling water. Stir until the espresso powder completely dissolved. Add the 1 1/2 cups of water and the splash of booze. Stir!
Meanwhile, whip the cream with the 1/2 cup of sugar. When you have made whipped cream, add the mascarpone and stir it up! Try not to take too many tastes, because you might get stressed at the assembly part and think you may not have enough! (I’m serious)
In the dish/bowl/serving container you are using put 3 heaping tablespoons of the cream on the bottom. Dunk each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture for less than a second. Layer them on top of the cream in the dish. When you are done with the first layer, add more cream on top. It’s like you are making a lasagna! Now continue with your second layer. Top that with the last of your cream. With the help of a potato peeler, and shave a hunk of bittersweet chocolate on top. If you do not have a hunk of bittersweet chocolate lying around like I do…. Dust the top with cocoa powder.
I let this sit in the fridge for about 45 minutes and then brought it over to my friends house. We ate it about 3 hours later and it was scrumptious! It took about 20 minutes to assemble (phew!).
Here’s a shot of the layering process:
Up close on the shavings-
Here’s the layered dish:
January 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
i loved it!
January 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
come and live with us, please?
January 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
bdogg- so glad that your fav dessert was tiramisu. I totally lucked out on that one.
jenny- sure thing! All i require is a room painted blue and a new vintage wardrobe. I would be there in a heartbeat ;)
January 24th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
go my! that looks gooood… gotta go grocery shoppin tomorrow. ^ ^
January 25th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I am a PROFESSIONAL CHEF and Master-degreed PASTRY CHEF educated at Peter Kump’s Culinary Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
Your tiramisu is acceptable, but not as complex as I would have done. I doubt seriously that “Big Bear” would eat it. Of coure, the guys down here in Clearwater who were born and raised in the swamps aren’t much into fancy desserts. They prefer pretzels and beer. Besides, Bear weighs 437 pounds and really doesn’t need any tiramisu.
But hey, after four divorces, a 50-year old unemployed PRO like myself has to take what she can get.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I am a PROFESSIONAL STUDENT and I think it looks delicious and more than merely acceptable. Props to you.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am
i’m a PROFESSIONAL CONSUMER OF TASTY THINGS, and i would cheat on being vegan to eat this.
your food always looks so good- and the fact that it is relatively simple to prepare helps people like me, who don’t like to spend all day in the kitchen, see how possible it is to make something delicious.
because of you, tracy, i’ve become so much more experimental in my kitchen- i thank you for freeing me from the chains of following recipes! you’re my inspiration.
chiffOnade, mess with my girl, and “Mama Bear” gets angry. who goes around commenting on blogs with such rambling negative comments? watch it!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:11 am
i’m an PROFESSIONAL BLOG READER and SUPER-DUPER, UBER-AWESOME FRIEND.
chiff0nade–rude. jerktrain. wtf?
tracy–i’m in awe that you had all the ingredients in your house already. you are a goddess. :) that looks absolutely divine and i don’t actually even care for tiramisu…. thank you for being lovely! heart u!
January 25th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Can I say heaven?
January 27th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the clarification Big Bear! I do consider eating Pretzels with Beer perfectly ACCEPTABLE ;)
February 10th, 2008 at 6:22 am
yum- looks incredibly sinful! tiramisu is prob my all time fav dessert.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
oooh! thanks. I really love tiramisu too…..especially the creamy parts!
March 29th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
oh this is so perfect, i’ve been looking for recipes for tiramisu, and a lot seem so complicated. this one seems perfect, i’m going to make it when i get paid to beable buy ingredients.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:35 am
jessica- i hope you love it! it IS pretty simple! and it has great results!