divine italian tiramisu, all dressed up

I have several confessions to make….

I procrastinate. Like, big time.

Do you want to know when I first started fantasizing about making a tiramisu?

….. SIX years ago!

That’s right, six years ago I was sitting at Pasta Brioni having dinner with my sister Amyra, & when it came time for dessert, I turned into a melted puddle of desire over the tiramisu. I swear, every mouthful was followed by an “mmmmmmmm”, & “ooooh, that’s so gooooooood”.

I’ve always loved food, what can I say.

I scoured the internet & obsessed over recipes, & proceeded to do that for nearly six years.

Every time I make a list of dishes/desserts I want to make for the site, tiramisu makes the list every single time. And every single time, I don’t make it.

In fact, the only reason I made it now was because we had a catering event last night for a romantic dinner, & since I wanted to do something classic, I opted to do this.

See? Now do you understand me when I say I procrastinate?

Want to hear something even worse?

… when I went to Italy two years ago, I drove all over Florence in search of the perfect restaurants with amazing views. Do you know that not once, in the entire week

that I was there, did I ever eat tiramisu.

I was in Italy! The very same country where the dessert originated. A dessert that I adore, & I didn’t even try it!

It’s shameful. A little embarrassing too. I can’t turn back the clock & undo what I did though, I’m going to have to live with this shame for the rest of my life. Shame shame shame.

At least now I can finally cross tiramisu off of my list. It may have taken 6 years, but it was an utter & total success. Not to mention I added my own little twist by making gluten-free chocolate lady fingers for it. I can officially say that the whole thing was made from scratch, & that, my friends, is something to be proud of.

Tools/Equipment:

Electric Scale - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xkKpQk

Stand Mixer - Kenwood - http://amzn.to/2yqXPiH

Candy Thermometer - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xklw7k

Silicone Spatula - Zyliss - http://amzn.to/2y3Srkw

Organic GF Vanilla - Simply Organic - http://amzn.to/2xXdt2e​

Ingredients: (makes 5) – 145g mascarpone – 360ml heavy cream – 2 egg yolks – 75g sugar – 1/4 tsp vanilla – 75ml espresso – 50ml dark rum – 20 gluten-free chocolate lady fingers + 5 round ones (find the recipe here) – 5 or 6 tbs of cocoa

Directions: 1. beat the mascarpone for a minute or two until it is a little softer. Transfer to a bowl & place in the fridge. 2. beat the cream until it is whipped to form stiff peaks, add it to the bowl with the mascarpone & place it back in the fridge. 3. combine the yolks, sugar & vanilla, & beat until the yolks have turned a very pale yellow & are light. This should take about five to 10 minutes. Once they’ve reached the right consistency, add the whipped cream & mascarpone to them, continue to beat for another minute until everything has been properly blended. Transfer the mix into a pipping back fitted with a round nozzle & place the mixture in the fridge until ready to use. 4. combine the espresso & rum together in a bowl. One by one, dip each of the round lady fingers into the bowl for a second or two, & then place them in the bottom of your martini glasses. 5. pipe a layer of filling on top of the lady finger & dust with cocoa. Now start on the next layer of lady fingers. (to fit the glass perfectly, I placed four lady fingers in a row & then used a circular cookie cutter in order to cut them to the size of the glass). Dip each lady finger into your espresso & rum mix & then place it on top of the cream in another even layer. Do all five glasses this way. 6. pipe another layer of mascarpone on top, smooth it out with the back of a spoon & dust with cocoa. Your tiramisu is ready! Place it in the fridge & allow it to chill before serving.

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