Little pick me ups

In Italian, "tiramisu" means "pick me up"... or at least that is what someone told me.

I am so excited about what just happened in my kitchen.  I made one thing that had been on my "to try making" list forever, and SUCCEEDED!  Tiramisu for everyone! (Well, everyone if you live in my house and are not covered in fur.)

The idea of working with lady fingers and needing to make zabaglione (huh, what?) was daunting.  But the other day I saw marscapone cheese at my local grocery store and thought, "heck, why not?" and went for it.  Let me tell you... I am really glad I did.

Making the zabaglione was probably the most involved and time consuming part of the whole endeavor.  What the heck is zabaglione?  Its pure heaven.

You need to cook the zabaglione in a double boiler to cook the egg yolks in it.

Zabaglione (pronounced "sah-buy-ohn"... yep there are a lot of needless letters in that word) is basically an Italian custard that is made with eggs and sugar.  Some recipes include wine.  Since I am a not a drinker, I opted not to include any wine.  The mixture is cooked over a bain marie (or double boiler if you want to be less fancy... or a dish over a pot of boiling water if you want to be me and not have extra pots in your house taking up space) until it makes a nice thick yellow custard.  Try not to eat all of this at this stage.  It will be hard.  But try not to.  It is meant to serve a higher purpose.

This custard is then combined with whipped cream and marscapone cheese to make it even more delicious.  Marscapone cheese is a sweet cheese made from creme fraiche.  If you don't have any marscapone, or don't want to make a special purchase, you can substitute the marscapone in the recipe with cream cheese mixed with sour cream and some whipping cream.  Once again, try not to eat it all up at this stage either.  It will be hard not to.  Just don't do it.

This picture is not blurry.  You need glasses.  Okay fine, maybe its really blurry.

I am going to be honest.  I have no idea what use lady fingers have outside of tiramisu, but as I was assembling my tiramisu, I ate one.  WOW.  It was pretty dang good.  They tasted kind of like pound cake, but with some sort of extra something.  Next time around, I may need to try my hand at making lady fingers from scratch.  I have also decided they would be pretty fantastic with ice cream and some hot fudge or cajeta.  Mmm.

Most recipes for tiramisu call for some sort of alcohol to be brushed over the lady fingers.  Since I am not one to imbibe in alcohol, I opted to use straight up espresso.  Let me tell you, it tasted pretty darn fabulous.  And the left over espresso?  Well, down the hatch!

Hello Tassimo coffee maker.  Want to help me make tiramisu?

Be sure to generously brush the lady fingers with the espresso, as they can soak in a lot more coffee than you might think they can.  Also do not forget to brush one of the layers of your lady fingers with espresso like I did.  It makes that un-caffeinated layer feel inferior to the others.

Also be sure to completely evenly cover each layer.  My recipe said to only do two layers of lady fingers, but I had enough fingers and zabaglione to do three.  It still tasted pretty darn good.  So go with how you feel.  And use up as much of that espresso as you can!  TRUST ME.  You might worry the lady fingers will get soggy, but really, they will not.  At least as long as you don't pour the coffee on.  If you brush it on, they will be fine.  I promise.

A little dusting of cocoa and all is well in the kitchen.  Again, I am going to tell you... try not to eat it up!  The longer it sets in the fridge the better it gets.  I made this last night and I am eating it now as I type and it is even better than it was at dinner.  Of course, do not let it set too long... dairy and eggs and all that.  You know.

Make this.  Make it now.  Make it for someone you love.  Make it for someone you like.  Make it for someone you can just sort of tolerate.  Just make it.  Because we can all use a little "pick me up" now and then.

Tiramisu
Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks (save the whites in the freezer to make macaroons)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups marscapone cheese (or substitute, recipe follows)
• 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 6 ounces lady fingers
• 1/3 cup espresso
• sweetened whipped cream
• unsweetened cocoa powder for garnish

Directions:

Combine egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy and lemon colored, about one minute.  Pour mixture into double boiler over boiling water, bring temperature to low and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. (Stirring constantly is VERY important!)  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  Add marscapone cheese beating until mixture is well combined. 

Beat whipping cream in another bowl until stiff peaks form.  Do not over beat.  Fold whipping cream into zabaglione, careful to maintain the volume of the whipped cream. Set mixture aside.

Line the bottom of the three quart bowl with the lady fingers.  Brush with espresso until well soaked.  Top with half of the cream mixture.  Add another layer of lady fingers and brush with espresso once more before topping with cream.  Topped with sweetened whipped cream (recipe follows) and cocoa powder.  Chill in refrigerator several hours or overnight before serving.

Marscapone Substitute
Ingredients:

• 1 package cream cheese
• 1/4 sour cream
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:

Combine all ingredients until well mixed and fluffy.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form.  Do not over beat.  The mixture should still look a little glossy.

Source: Bakers lady fingers package