Tiramisu without Alcohol

"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

~Ernestine Ulmer

 

                 It has been a while since I posted any dessert recipes on the blog. It is not that I seldom make any desserts. In fact, desserts are one of the frequently made items in my kitchen nowadays. But they get polished off pretty fast that nothing would be leftover  for me to photograph after the onslaught. And hence this long interval before posting an actual dessert recipe..

         Tiramisu is a popular coffee flavoured Italian dessert,  made by layering ladies finger biscuits( savoiardi) dipped in Strong coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, egg whites, mascarpone cheese and cream. Usually alcohol like rum is used in the mixture. But as I wanted an alcohol free version, I made it without alcohol.

                 This time I made Tiramisu when the boys were busy with their games. I whipped up everything almost in a daze and shoved it off into the fridge to set, with a secret smile of triumph. But it was not long before the boys smelled something was up and came straight for it, digging into the fridge. So I had to dish out the dessert prematurely and was at a loss when they insisted at having it right then before photographing.

               As it was weekend, the husband came to the rescue and offered to take the snaps while I dealt with the boys... So each one was given a piece of Tiramisu on the condition that they wouldn't ask for more until their father was done with photographing.
       And whoever said pricky preschoolers are killjoy, boy! I am with you ;)
 And don't tell me, the husband's clicks are 'far better than mine' and has a 'tinge of creativity n commitment'... blah blah.. because, I have heard that before ;)

        As the dessert was not given enough time to set,the pieces were a bit distorted with the filling slipping out in places when cut. But who cares! The minute, the dad was done with the shots, the boys digged in and the dessert was gone even before the lunch was served.
   Guess what! The ten month old girl is already dessert crazy and had a piece all by herself!
Later, I was caught musing aloud...'Boy! Did I ever thought I could store half of it for the next day or so...? Well! No way! What a strange notion!

The Elder one's comment: "Mom, You could send foods like this to school. I don't mind if you don't send potatoes n breads all the time you know"

The younger son: "Mmm.. cream! That cream is yummy"

And the husband: " But I thought you said you were making a big batch. I hardly had two pieces!"

                                    Period!!

Tiramisu without alcohol Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 eggs separated
250 gms mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream/double cream
15 to 18 sponge fingers/savioardi/lady's fingers
5 tbs sugar
1 cup strong coffee
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbs cocoa powder

Preparation:
1. Prepare 1 cup of coffee by adding boiling water to 1 tbsp of coffee+1 tbsp of sugar. Keep it aside.
2. Separate egg whites and yolks.
3. In a glass bowl, take egg yolks and add in sugar beat well with the egg beater until you get creamy and pale yellow mixture which is called zabaglione
4. Place another vessel on the stove and add hot but not boiling water and set it on low-medium flame. Place the glass bowl with egg yolk and sugar mixture (zabaglione) over the simmering water and whisk well for around ten minutes until the mixture gets thick. Add vanilla essence to this and keep it aside to cool.
5. Whip the Cream until peaks form and keep it aside. Don’t whip it for too long because it will start forming into butter. You can use wire whisk or egg beater for this.
6. Mix the mascarpone cheese in this whipped cream and mix well until no lumps appear. Add the cooled zabaglione to this and mix well.
7. Whip the egg whites until peaks form and fold into the cheese and cream mixture to keep it light and airy. Don't over mix it..
8. Now take a large glass dish, just dip the sponge fingers in the coffee and layer them side by side until you cover the bottom of the dish with the sponge fingers dipped in coffee. Don’t keep the sponge fingers in coffee for long time since they tend to absorb liquid too quickly. Just dab both sides in coffee and that should be more than enough.
9.Pour half of the cheese cream mixture over this lady’s fingers and again layer another layer of savoiardi dipped in coffee over this cream mixture and tip over the rest of cream mixture.

10. Cover and Refrigerate for minimum of 4 hours.

11.Just before serving,dust with cocoa by passing it through a sieve. You can also decorate it with candied fruits or chocolate shavings. Yum!!