Love at first bite, Proposal at the second, Exchange of vows at the third....Tiramisu!

He had heard a lot about her…..her delightful characteristics……..her popularity…simple elegance…….the magic spell she casts on people…. still somehow he was reluctant to make a move or ask her out on a date….after a series of internal tug of war, he decided to bite the bullet and there he was! It was love at the first bite….followed by proposal at the second….everything was moving so fast...they exchanged vows and he brought her to his place and everyone seemed to be enjoying her company or not getting enough of her...he found the whole situation magical...he saw his life changing drastically….he became a better person…he started coming home early….attended gym regularly and waited for those beautiful moments with her! she was a whole new discovery for him……a discovery for life!

Yes, I am talking about CJJ but NOOOO, he is not cheating on me :D I was just painting his relationship with Tiramisu :D

A popular Italian dessert, “tiramisu is a pudding-like dessert that usually consists of sponge cake or ladyfingers dipped in a liqueur, then layered with grated chocolate and rich custard”. We have never been to Italy and hence have no idea how a traditional and authentic Tiramisu tastes like. Our one and only acquaintance with this dessert starts and ends with the popular Italian restaurant chain, Olive Garden, and the day we tasted this dessert from there, we fell in love with this classic!. It is definitely a “heaven in your mouth”. We had heard a lot about this dessert but somehow the descriptions did not sound much interesting to us mainly because someone said, it is a dessert dipped in coffee and coffee liquor et al. Not being coffee lovers, we never thought of giving it a try, especially when we were stuffed with food till our throat but the day we tasted this heavenly dessert, we literally regretted all those years we wasted not tasting this creamy and melt in mouth dessert.

Recently both of us were getting some selective cravings for Tiramisu and on one of our visits to Olive Garden, we seriously pondered over the idea of reproducing this at home. Since we have never been lucky to get its authentic taste and with no point of reference for a traditional taste and look,I was more interested in reproducing a recipe that tastes something like the restaurant one and that’s how I stumbled upon this page. Though I was taken aback a bit seeing the amount of cheese used, I gave it a shot and we were hooked! Both of us don’t have much of a sweet tooth, especially CJJ and if he gets addicted to a dessert and a recipe, then that’s a real compliment and also a green signal for me, that I can serve this recipe to our guests next time for dinner and also blog this! He was so hooked to this dessert that he was quite regular in gym the whole of last week, so he could find pleasure in each bite, without feeling guilty, thinking of all that saturated fat and cholesterol :)

Notes based on my experience: This recipe is a winner for sure. We were 98% satisfied! I used sponge lady fingers, instead of lady finger cookies or Savoiardi biscuits as the sponge ones were used at the restaurant. I used halved slices of the sponge cake fingers as it came in the box and don't remember how many I used,lets just say, as many to get two layers. For the 3 cups of mascarpone cheese, I used three 8 oz tubs of the same cheese and as written in the recipe, used one 8 oz cream cheese and blended it together. The recipe just calls for cocoa powder, since we both don’t prefer the bitterness of the regular cocoa powder, I used dutch-process cocoa powder but that was purely a personal choice. The only deviation I did was using more liquor and coffee as instead of just dabbing the sponge lady fingers, I applied a bit more which is not at all necessary and am sure next time I will not make that mistake. So, it is better to follow the recipe as such. Again recipe has not specifically mentioned what “several hours” are, so I chilled mine for 12-16 hours. Another thing I noticed is that, instead of making it in an 8 * 8 inch pan, next time I would be using individual dessert or trifle bowls or even a martini glass, to make the serving easier and not wasting my time trying to get the perfect slice!

Those who are completely new to the ingredients can find the mascarpone cheese at the specialty cheese /deli section of your local store and if you don’t have espresso at home, you may use extra strong coffee like I did. Kahlua coffee liqueur is sometimes available at supermarkets but if you are looking for small bottles, better to go to a liquor store. It is quite funny that at our place, my pantry has more variety and stock of liquor bottles than CJJ’s personal collection :D


Do I recommend this recipe for your Thanks Giving dinner or X’mas lunch? YES! YES ! YES!

UPDATE : Some of you have problem accessing the recipe link marked in my text; I don't know why that happens! I am able to access the link though sometimes it is broken. So adding the link again below: the first one takes directly to the recipe and the second one takes you to the main recipe section where you can give a search for the recipe:

1: Tiramisu Recipe Link

2: Main Recipe Section

Luv
Shn

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