Everything Comes Together
There Is A Time For Everything
Written by MaryEvelyn
When writing a story an idea pops into my head. Following that idea are an array of words appearing before me taking on images and personality. The thoughts, the words, my energy feel at a rush to be displayed. So, I oblige with delight.
I then relax a bit to read over what has been written, while my fingers cool off from the speed in which they were forced to go in order to keep up with my thoughts. My first read is like a house a fire, I go through it so quickly that I almost destroy all of the images that had their most meaning to me.
The second read a bit later, is more constructive. I can feel the words starting to talk with me as I would have them to talk with the reader.
As I do another read over a day or so later, I feel the order of the words playing out, noting the timing of events and then, I make changes in the order of the paragraphs, due to my knack of often putting the cart before the horse, so to speak.
My point of all of this that may be considered unnecessary rambling is that the timing of how everything comes together is perfect and necessary.
The Sunday dessert for game night was Tiramisu. As usual, I quickly read over the recipe before starting to make sure that I have all of the ingredients on hand. I like the adventure of making everything from scratch although it can be a bit lengthy and complex for this new to the world of baking person. The recipe I used for the Tiramisu called for store bought Ladyfingers but I was able to find a Ladyfinger recipe that I was excited to try. Let me just say, with all of the adding, sifting, mixing, folding, beating, whisking, piping and necessary fridge time, everything came together and we quite enjoyed the Tiramisu. I had forgot to get the cocoa powder to sprinkle over the top so I put some chocolate chips into the chopper. We actually liked the bit of crunch added to the smoothness of this dessert.
Tiramisu Recipe
Prep time 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
8 ounce container mascarpone cheese (room temperature)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cold espresso prepared or strong coffee
3 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur
1 package ladyfingers or make from scratch
Cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
Add whipping cream to a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed with electric mixer (or hand mixer). Slowly add sugar and vanilla, continue to beat until stiff peaks.
Add mascarpone cheese and fold in until combined. Set aside.
Add coffee and liqueur to a a shallow bowl. Dip the lady fingers in the coffee (don’t soak them, quickly dip them on both sides to get them wet) and lay them in a single layer on the bottom of an 8x8” size pan.
Smooth half of the mascarpone mixture over the top. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers. Smooth remaining mascarpone cream over the top.
Dust the cocoa powder generously over the top.
Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight before serving. We had the Tiramisu that evening after refrigerating 4 hours. The next evening we had the rest and for us it was much better after spending overnight in the fridge.
Notes
Tiramisu can be made with or without alcohol. If you use store bought ladyfingers a 7 ounce package of 24 should be best.
I used an 8x8” dish and hand mixer for this dessert.
Ladyfinger Recipe
Prep time 25 minutes
Ingredients
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Fit a large piping bag with a medium round nozzle. Set aside. Use 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper to make about 30 cookies.
Using a stand or hand mixer with a whisk attachment whip the egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
Using your preferred mixer whip the egg white on high speed until soft peaks (which barely hold their shape and flop over immediately when the beaters are lifted) about 2 minutes.
Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Continue to whip until the whites hold stiff peaks ( which stand straight up when the beaters are lifted and the meringue does not fall out of the bowl when upside down).
With a large metal spoon, gently fold in the whipped whites to the yolk mixture taking care not to deflate the air from the mixture.
Once the egg white and yolk mixture are almost combined, sift the flour over the batter. Gently fold until all of the flour incorporated.
Fill the piping bag with the batter and pipe the batter (onto the cookie sheets lined with parchment paper) about 3 1/2 inch long and 1 inch wide.
Bake 14-15 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
Allow to cool. After my ladyfingers cooled I went back to my Tiramisu recipe of instructions starting with #3 and continued on to make my Tiramisu.
As always, enjoy!