tiramisu – The Prose of an Electrate Mind

November 11, 2011November 6, 2011

[Foodie Friday] Lazy Tiramisu

You already know how much I love tiramisu. I’ve had some serious trouble finding the right ingredients around here, though. Luckily, we finally found some mascarpone cheese — even though all the marsala wine’s gone. My husband brought home a couple tubs of that tiramisu mascarpone, which is already flavored with coffee. I decided all it needed was some whipped cream and a base. So, I bought some sliced pound cake and set to work on what I’d like to call lazy tiramisu.

Espresso Extract
2 tablespoons of instant coffee or espresso powder
2 tablespoons of boiling water

Espresso Syrup
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tablespoons of espresso extract
1 tablespoons of Kahlua Mocha (or coffee liqueur of your choice) [I used ChocoVine this time around, actually.]

Mascarpone Mixture
8 ounces of tiramisu mascarpone cheese
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

To make your espresso extract, boil the water. In small container, measure the instant coffee/ espresso powder, then pour the boiling water over it. Stir to dissolve the granules. Cover loosely and set aside.

To make your espresso syrup, heat the water and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the espresso extract and Kahlua, stirring to combine. Allow the syrup to simmer until the syrup begins to thicken. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until you get stiff peaks. Do not over beat! Quickly whip the tiramisu mascarpone. Then fold in the whipped cream in intervals, carefully folding after each addition. The result should be a thick, creamy, and airy topping for your pound cake.

Brush the slices of pound cake with the espresso syrup. Spread a generous portion of the mascarpone mixture onto the cake. Garnish with cocoa powder, and enjoy!

August 10, 2011

July and August #Reverb11 Prompt

July: What new thing will you try this month?

I made a tiramisu with some of the marsala wine my sister brought back from Italy. I’ve made several tiramisu cakes that came out lovely, but this tiramisu wasn’t as photogenic. However, it was much lovelier than my first ever tiramisu that I made when I was 15. Nothing bruises your foodie ego like a leaky spring-form pan. Luckily, I have more marsala left, and I plan to buy some more mascarpone at my next earliest convenience.

August: Describe an unexpected moment, activity, sighting or conversation that touched you during July.

July was quite eventful for me, and my regular readers definitely knew something was up because my website went down for roughly half the month. The root cause was an unexpected moment that touched me negatively. However, that wasn’t the only unexpected event of July. I wasn’t expected for my whole family to contract ear infections. I wasn’t expecting to get both an ear infection and bronchitis. I wasn’t expecting that I’d have to ask the ER doctor to prescribe one inexpensive prescription. Economic hardship plagued the month of July, and living so poorly took an understandable toll on my self-esteem. It probably didn’t help that a major retailer called me back simply to tell me that I’m overqualified didn’t help — I’d become more or less accustomed to no call backs at this point. However, that month inspired me to write a book, so July couldn’t have been all bad if I still managed to glean inspiration from the negative events.

January 3, 2011

Reverb 10: Soul Food

Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?

I’m pretty sure it should be obvious that the tiramisu cake touched my soul. In fact, it should be fairly obvious that I adore tiramisu — very much so. The rich, creamy texture of the mascarpone, zabaglione, and whipped cream blends delicately with the moist, spongy consistency of the lady fingers soaked with espresso and liqueur to create an exquisitely unique dessert. Preparing it in cake format simply allows for a different serving method. Garnishing tiramisu — cake or otherwise — with cocoa powder enhances the richness of the dessert, and I do love my chocolate. Put more simply, I fell in love with tiramisu cake this year.