Social Media Icons

Thursday 26 December 2013

Coffee-Free Chocolate & Amaretto Tiramisu

Now Christmas is over it is time to turn our attention to New Year. I'm not a big partier - I never was, even before I had M.E. - so I have never really experienced a new years party. I hope that excuses the image I have in my head, which is heavily inspired by Hollywood. I don't know where this image came from but when I think of New Years party I see a lot of silver & gold glitter, crazy elegant 'finger food' & copious quantities of champagne. So when I decided to come up with a recipe for New Year it was into to that, entirely delusional image I went. You guys are going to LOVE this recipe!
What I came up with is this incredibly sumptuous, opulent tiramisu. Seriously, this stuff is....you know when people say something is better than sex? Well this is better than that, it is better than sleep or shopping or nice clothes. This is better than that feeling when you look in the mirror & realise that you look crazy hot.
The reason this works so well is, I think, the custard, and the Disaronno.
You make real custard with single cream & then whip in mascarpone, vanilla bean paste & 2 tbsps. of amaretto & it has this incredible depth of flavour. Add to that lady fingers lightly soaked in a mixture of good quality cocoa powder, hot water & more amaretto & you have a dessert that is indescribably good. Seriously after I tried this I was a mumbling wreck, & that was before the flavours had properly melded!
This does not, in any way, need to be served in champagne saucers. In fact it would probably be better in one medium sized, rather deep serving dish but I just thought this looked so fun....plus I was practicing using them for deserts & attempting to gauge what capacity they have (a lot more than you would think).

Better-than-Sleep Chocolate & Amaretto Tiramisu

Makes 8-10 small portions (or 1 larger tiramisu for 8 people)

  • 300ml single cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 250g mascarpone
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
  • 2 tbsp. amaretto (I recommend disaronno)

  • 10-12 lady fingers (I think using Savoiardi makes a real difference)
  • 3 tbsp. good quality cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup boiling water
  • 2-3 tbsp. amaretto

  • Grated chocolate/chocolate curls
  1. Beat together the single cream & eggs & then place in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water ensuring that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk at regular intervals, once the mixture starts to thicken take the custard off the heat & allow to cool. - This is a fool proof, but time consuming, method of making custard. If you are more comfortable doing it in a pan over a low heat, please feel free to do so.
  2. While the custard is cooling begin to whip the mascarpone & sugar together in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the vanilla bean paste & the amaretto & continue to whisk until the ingredients are fully incorporated.
  3. Once the custard has cooled to room temperature - or a little before - pour it in with the mascarpone mixture & mix until fully incorporated. Now is a good time to test for sweetness & flavour & adjust if need be.
  4. In a shallow bowl combine the cocoa powder, boiling water & remaining amaretto. Try to make sure that the cocoa powder is fully dissolved (this is tricky so don't worry too much).
  5. Place a layer of the custard mixture into the bottom of the serving dish.
  6. Dip enough lady fingers to loosely cover the custard into the chocolate mixture for just long enough to absorb a little of the liquid, but not enough to make them soggy.
  7. Drizzle a little of the liquid over the lady fingers in the serving dish, cover with a layer of custard & continue to build up the layers until the dish is filled, finishing with a layer of custard.
  8. Decorate the top of the tiramisu with the grated chocolate & place in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours to set.
Tiramisu is best served the next day, I would assume this lasts for up to 5 days when kept in the fridge but my family demolished this before it was fully set. If I ever manage to keep any in the house for 5 days I'll let you know how it fairs :)

2 comments:

  1. Mmmm...yummers! I love homemade Tiramisu. The shop bought ones can often taste like the sponge has been soaked in rubbing alcohol. I haven't made it myself in years though. I adore coffee flavoured things and mourn the loss of the coffee creams in the tin of Roses that everyone else was happy to see the back of, so perhaps would subsititute espresso for the ameretto - perhaps with a dash of almond essence (for my personal taste anyway). This does look glorious and am sure it was gobbled up!

    Have nominated you for the Leibster award over at my blog if you want to pop in and have a look.

    Love Vicky
    http://aroundandaroundandupsidedown.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's really kind of you, I will check it as soon as I get my internet back, (I'm currently using my mobile internet & may not get the broadband back till the new year!) x

      Delete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.