Yes, tiramisu.The blending of two cultures (Swedish and American) while living in a third (France) can make 'traditions' tricky, and one old standby for dealing with it is to create a completely novel tradition. So developed the Christmas Tiramisu in our house.
Tiramisu is not my favorite dessert (I like fruit desserts ) but I like it enough. It's also not particularly difficult to make and most importantly in this house, it is not a temperature sensitive dessert. (My oven has one temperature setting: on/off.) My beloved cakes and cookies do tend to be temperature sensitive, and I will be delighted to return to baking desserts on that far-distant day when we have an oven with a semi-functional thermostat.
But, tiramisu has enough 'reputation' to make it special enough for a Christmas dessert. So, that's what this Swedish-American-Greek family in France makes for Christmas. Or should I say, that's what the American component of this family makes.
- A few words of advice: if you are making tiramisu for the first time and you're serving it at a semi-important function, you should know it is difficult to serve in a 'pretty' way. So, if this is the case, I recommend some clear glass serving dishes (even martini glasses would be great) and individual portions. You could even get fancy and do the cocoa sifting over a pattern to make the dessert top fancy (a snowflake sillhouette or mortarboard or other appropriate 'symbol' of the event).
- This recipe requires egg whites whipped to stiff peaks, and if you don't whip them fully, the texture is off. I whipped them by hand (I miss my beloved and reliable highest rated handmixer - the awesome KitchenAid 9-Speed Pro but what can you do?) My arm was ON FIRE by the end but I had success.
- Tiramisu is made with raw eggs. Get the pasteurized kind, and get them as fresh as possible. Pasteurized eggs are as rare as hen's teeth and people who 'get' vegetarians in France, so we walk on the wild side, but you don't have to.
- 500 grams (one pound or 17.6 ounces if you want to be picky) mascarpone
- 6 pasteurized eggs, fresher is better
- 250 grams (1 1/4 cups) plus one tablespoon sugar
- 30 'boudoir' biscuits. This could also be ladyfingers or whatever's available.
- 2 shots of espresso (we use decaf instant coffee, made very strong)
- 2 fluid ounces liquor of your choice. I've used hazelnut with some success. Sambuca is traditional. Godiva chocolate liqueur would be sinful. I've also skipped it when we had naught on hand.
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, more or less.
Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks with 1 1/4 cup sugar until pale and thick. Fold in mascarpone until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until frothy, add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat until they hold a stiff peak. Add a spoonful of the mascarpone mixture and fold in, then fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture gently until fully incorporated. Place a layer of the cookies on the bottom of your chosen container. Mix the alcohol and espresso. I use a small syringe (sans needle) to evenly soak the biscuits with alcohol and espresso. Alternate layers of soaked cookies and cream mixture, ending with the cream. Put into the refrigerator and let stand at least 4 hours to overnight. Just before serving, sift cocoa over the top. If you do the cocoa earlier, it will dampen and not look nice.
Enjoy!
. While I was confused, her description of the caramel pecan cookies ended up being spot on: people fought over them, sneaked them, and lied about them. Yes, they were that good.