Tiramisu .......

Hello, hope you all find yourselves well today.   I'm doing okay, thinking about food as usual.  Lately I"ve been thinking dessert, decadent dessert and what came to mind was Tiramisu.  My first encounter with Tiramisu was in "Little Italy" in Manhattan (New York).  My family and I had just had dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant in China Town called "Hop Kee" and were looking for a place to have dessert.  We walked for a while out of China Town and into Little Italy (it's not far), before we knew it we were overwhelmed by the wonderful smell of pastries eminating from a small pastry shop (can't remember where, sorry).  We stepped into the pastry shop and there it was Tiramisu, I had only heard of it at that time, now here it was staring me down, calling my name, I had to have it and did.  The flavors were unexpected to me and after the first bite I wasn't sure if I liked it, but once the flavors and textures mingled in my mouth I knew it would be a favorite of mine.

So here I have for you a recipe for Tiramisu, if you enjoy coffee you'll really like this.
Just imagine a zabaglione with coffee and a spongy cake, well it's all of those in one and just keeps you comming back for more.  Now if you want to achieve a more cakelike consistency with your Tiramisu, let it chill overnight.  This allows for the flavors to really incorporate into each other and allows the cookies to reach that perfect cake texture, if you will.   I like to eat it with perhaps a cup of capuccino or just regular coffee.  Thank you for dropping in, take care and enjoy!





Tiramisu

                                                                    7 egg yolks

                                                                    1/2 cup sugar

                                                                    1/2 cup marsala wine

                                                                    12 ounces mascarpone, softened

                                                                    1 cup heavy cream

                                                                    1 cup of Starbucks Caffe Verona brewed
                                                                     (or coffee of choice)

                                                                    1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

                                                                    48 ladyfingers

                                                                     1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

                                                                     1 9x13 in pan 

Beat or cream the egg yolks and sugar in a warm bowl add half of the marsala wine, beat until the volume doubles. Add the mascapone until dissolved,  Whip the heavy cream until peaks form.  Now gently fold the whipped cream into the mixture.  Pour the coffee, vanilla and remaining marsala into a bowl and stir a bit.  Now we're going to lightly dip the lady fingers into the coffee mix, please be careful here if you soak them too much they will break apart, quickly dip both sides of the lady fingers into the coffee mix then begin lining the pan with them until the whole pan is covered with lady fingers.  Spread half of the cream mix on top of the lady finger layer, repeat dipping lady fingers then layering again.  Gently sprread the rest of the mixture on top with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle the top with the cocoa powder until it's all covered.   Chill overnight for best results.  Enjoy!