Tiramisu

This recipe I developed over LOTS of expensive trial and error, and I have lost and refound it several times. I’m finally getting it online so I never lose it again. This is a yummy not-too-complex tiramisu recipe. I hope you enjoy it!! Be sure to read the entire recipe before starting!

TIRAMISU

INGREDIENTS:

6 egg yolks
¾ cup white sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 pints heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract [pure vanilla, not imitation]
1 pound mascarpone cheese [next to the ricotta in the grocery store]
A pot of strong brewed coffee, room temperature
Bailey’s Irish Cream
2 (3 oz each) packages of ladyfinger cookies [Stella Doro- Margherite, in the cookie aisle]
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
A large pan, 7 x 11 inches ( a large lasagna pan)
Electric mixer

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for one minute, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Cover tightly and chill in refrigerator for one hour. This will make custard.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream with vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. [Use a hand mixer/ electric beater] Set whipped cream mixture aside.
3. Whisk mascarpone into custard mixture until smooth. [Use hand mixer/electric beater]
4. In a small bowl, combine some of the coffee and Bailey’s. The mixture should be a little more coffee than Bailey’s, but it is to taste. [I pour the mixture onto a large plate with a lip.]
5. Dip both sides of each cookie in the mixture. DO NOT let the cookie get too soggy- it will soak up the coffee quickly. As you dip each cookie, arrange in the bottom of a 7 x 11 inch dish. [A large lasagna pan]
6. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers, then half of whipped cream over that. Get these layers as thin as possible, which is difficult. It helps to spoon each mixture into its own Ziploc baggie and cut the corner, and use it as a pastry bag.
7. Sprinkle the first whipped cream layer with cocoa. Repeat another layer of coffee soaked ladyfinger cookies, mascarpone mixture, and whipped cream and sprinkle the top with cocoa. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Serve cold.

Remember!! Tiramisu is best 48 hours after it is prepared. This allows the flavors to soak together. Make it at least 24 hours before you plan on serving, it will taste weird if you eat it before it sets for 24 hours.

Experiment on Cream Puffs

I’ve been trying to make cream puffs, which a friend introduced me to. She saw them in this Japanese drama that was based on a manga, “Absolute Boyfriend.” She got me hooked on the show and wanting to try to make cream puffs (which were featured in the show).  I’ve never made pastries before this. Turns out, they’re actually a bit complicated to make and pretty sensitive (DO NOT open the oven while these are baking!). My first batch was on Wednesday night. They didn’t rise, I suspect because there was too much butter/egg in the recipe. So they ended up looking like small, flat cookie disks. Fail. I also made custard filling on Wednesday, which I wasn’t a fan of.

On Thursday, I resiliently bought more butter and looked up another, more complex recipe. It worked! They rose! I was seriously pumped. They were darling little puffballs. I did have a few technical mistakes and preferences that I hope to correct in my next batch. I think that the dough could’ve used more sugar, and more time in the oven drying out. (After they finish baking, you cut a small hole in the bottom of each one and put them back in the oven for about 20 minutes to dry out the inside of the pastry.) I would really really like a pastry bag to make filling these little pastries simpler. I had to cut my darling little puffballs in half to get the custard inside. And lastly, I really don’t think I am a fan of custard, and neither is my picky eater. I looked up another recipe Thursday night, and I tried it. And I’m not a fan of custard that other people make… I don’t know why I thought I’d be a fan of custard that I made. For a pastry, it seems like it’s just too heavy. I’d like to try folding in some homemade whipped cream into the second recipe that I tried, or even just making a vanilla cream filling.

Click Me! <- This is the blog that I took the second recipe from, both for the dough and the custard.

Overall, I am pretty proud of myself, knowing that I am capable of making awesome pastries (even if it’s only one kind as of now). And I am proud that I didn’t get frustrated with myself and quit after my first night of trying.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.