Tiramisu #1

I called my Mum last night and asked to go grocery shopping. Thankfully, she hadn't gone on the weekend, so we checked out the fliers and hit all the sales - went to 4 different stores. I was out of a lot of basics, so I think I spent around $200. I'm not sure if we saved any money if you factored in the gas & time, but it sure does feel good to walk out of a store with a cart-full of sale items ;)

I had a craving to make Tiramisu, but I only knew that I'd need Mascarpone cheese and Ladyfingers. The cheese was really expensive - $5.99/275g, but I picked up 2 anyway. Milano's Giant Ladyfingers were $0.69/12 at Loblaws, instead of $0.99 elsewhere, so I picked up 4 packs.

After unloading the groceries and cleaning the kitchen (which is a whole other story), it was around midnight. I tried going to bed, but I was in a get up and do something mood (from spending 2 hours cleaning), so I decided to make my Tiramisu...

I didn't have the whipped cream, heavy cream, or cream cheese that most recipes on allrecipes.com called for, so I went with a basic, traditional(-ish) type from ChefMom.com, made with Marsala (sweet wine) and without additional cream. The only problem was I didn't have Marsala, so I substituted Brandy - the only liquor in our house (I bought it for making truffles). Now, some of you might be thinking - Brandy? That's over twice the alcohol of wine and it's completely different! and yes, you would be quite correct in assuming that I have little to no experience in the area of baking and alcohol substitutions...

Thankfully, just before adding a full cup of brandy to my Zabaglione, I realized the problem with the extra alcohol, so I halved the amount called for. However, I forgot to increase the amount of liquid added, and I forgot to add some extra sugar... Meh, I figured it would turn out anyway...

I don't have an espresso machine, and I didn't feel like dusting off our regular coffe machine for 3/4c of coffee, so I dunked 2 spoonfuls of coffe into a mug and let it sit for a while, before pouring through a coffee filter into another mug. I realize now it would have been much faster to just use the machine... meh..

Everything else worked out fine, except the springform pan I used was about twice the size I should have used, so the Mascarpone/Brandy-Zabaglione layer was too thin - it just barely covered the Ladyfingers. It was 3 in the morning at this point, so I didn't really care. I dusted over a light layer of cocao, covered the pan in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge.

Oh, I should mention that most recipe reviewers complain about Tiramisu being too runny. I admit I was thinking about that as I was dipping the Giant Ladyfingers into the coffee, so I made a point of being as quick as possible. Most reviewers also mention that Tiramisu tastes better after a couple days in the fridge, so I thought it might be a good idea to bring the dessert to the Bible Study on Thursday.

Roughly 12 hours later, I'm waiting for my pork roast to cook (2.5 hours), and I start thinking that perhaps an alcoholic dessert isn't the best thing to bring to a Bible study (I have no qualms with drinking, just drunkeness, but others see it as a stumbling block, best to avoid)... and what if the alcohol is really strong...

So... I decide the best thing to do is taste it, just to see.

I cut into the dessert half expecting to see a puddle of coffee in the bottom of the pan. Thankfully, the Ladyfingers had absorbed all of the liquid, and the creamy layer was rather thick (of course it was missing 1/2c of liquid, so I didn't expect it to be slopping around). So far, so good.

I took a spoonful - I could taste the Brandy before it hit my mouth :(

I'm not a heavy drinker - in fact, most people wouldn't even call me a light drinker, so I might be a little sensitive to the alcohol. It might have been OK if I had remembered to add a little more sugar, but as it was, it was far too "adult" for my tastes...

Things to do next time...

1. Buy Marsala.
2. Check Italian specialty shops for Mascarpone cheese (apparently it's softer than North American styles)
3. Don't be so quick when dipping the Ladyfingers (They were good, but perhaps not moist enough)

Other than that, I think it turned out fairly good for a first try - edible, not too watery and definitely not too sweet - Just not my style.

The only problem with experimenting on Tiramisu is the cost of the Mascarpone, eggs and alcohol. I've heard some people complain about the Ladyfingers being expensive - I guess I'm using *really* cheap ones...