RASPBERRY TIRAMISU

We went into a local “ristorante” last summer and they had raspberry tiramisu on the daily specials. It was disappointing, to say the least. The ladyfingers weren’t soaked in anything, there couldn’t have been more that a few raspberries mixed into the mascarpone, and there was only a tablespoon of whipped cream on the side. The best thing about the dish was the chocolate sauce drizzled on the plate as part on the garnish. Dry, crunchy ladyfingers covered in room temperature mascarpone with the barest hint of raspberry flavor. Very disappointing, but the idea has possibilities.


It has to be the essence of tiramisu – chilled, refreshing, and tasty. What goes really well with raspberry? – Why chocolate of course. Have to figure away to get it into the mix without it becoming about the chocolate. The questions were pondered for the better part of a year before the first attempt (not really sure why, but there were lots of distractions).

Used Chambord to dip the ladyfingers, but Chambord by itself doesn’t have enough pure raspberry flavor and it has a slightly antiseptic after taste – so mixed in some raspberry puree. That took care of the flavor, but it didn’t soak in very well. You need to use the first quarter cup that is sieved out because it will have the least pulp and most liquid. That took care of the problem of the crunchy unappetizing lady fingers.

First shot at it: Line a loaf pan with wax paper – taking care to fold the corners neatly so that it fits very well. Take a bag of frozen raspberries and thaw them, mash them up and sieve out the seeds to get a puree (at least three quarters of a cup). Take the first quarter cup of the puree and mix it with a quarter cup of Chambord; and soak sixteen ladyfingers in the mixture (until all of the liquid is absorbed). Place eight of the lady fingers on the bottom of the loaf pan. Blend a half of a cup of the raspberry puree into sixteen ounces of mascarpone cheese and one egg yolk. Layer half of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers; add a layer of the next eight ladyfingers and then the last of the mascarpone mixture. Put that into the refrigerator over night to set up.

The next day, mix two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, a half of a pint of heavy cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip it until it forms stiff peaks. Unmold the mascarpone and ladyfingers onto a serving plate.

To provide chocolate flavor to accompany the raspberry, a quarter of a cup Ghirardelli semi-sweet and a quarter cup of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips was chopped and placed in a layer atop the molded mixture. Cover with the whipped cream. Let it set up in the refrigerator for an hour and it’s ready to serve.

It tasted pretty good – good berries and chocolate and the Chantilly style whipped cream was wonderful. The biggest downside was the chopped chocolate bits went all over the place when you cut and served it.

The second attempt was somewhat better. A quarter inch layer of chocolate ganache was added to the bottom of the loaf pan to take care of the problem of the scattering chocolate. Let the ganache set up over night and layer the soaked lady fingers and mascarpone mixture over it. The raspberry puree in the mixture was doubled to try to get more berry flavor. For presentation, all of the whipped cream was piped onto the top, leaving the sides exposed.

The ganache had the desired effect, and the mascarpone mixture was very berry, but it didn’t set up – it slumped onto the serving plate. And finally, there wasn’t enough whipped cream without it covering the entire dish.

The final recipe: Raspberry Tiramisu

Ingredients:

2 ½ tbs. heavy cream 1 oz, of chopped semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 oz, of chopped dark chocolate chips 12 oz. bag of frozen red raspberries

16 ladyfingers ¼ c. of Chambord

16 oz. of mascarpone cheese 1 egg yolk

½ pint of heavy (whipping) cream 2 tbs. confectioner’s sugar

Tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Line a loaf pan with wax paper – taking care to fold the corners neatly so that it fits very well. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl; and heat the 3 tbs. of heavy cream over medium heat until it is boiling. Pour the cream into the bowl of chopped chocolate and let it sit for 8 – 10 minutes. Mix using a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth; and then pour the ganache into the bottom of the loaf pan and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Take the bag of frozen raspberries and thaw them, mash them up and sieve out the seeds to get a puree (at least three quarters of a cup). Take the first quarter cup of the puree and mix it with a quarter cup of Chambord; and soak sixteen ladyfingers in the mixture (until all of the liquid is absorbed). Place eight of the lady fingers on the bottom of the loaf pan (over the chilled ganache). Blend a half of a cup of the raspberry puree into sixteen ounces of mascarpone cheese and one egg yolk. Layer half of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers; add a layer of the next eight ladyfingers and then the last of the mascarpone mixture. Put that into the refrigerator over night to set up.

The next day, mix two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, a half of a pint of heavy cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip it until it forms stiff peaks. Unmold the tiramisu onto a serving plate (carefully remove the waxed paper). Cover with the whipped cream. Let it set up in the refrigerator for an hour and it’s ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings – garnish with fresh raspberries and shaved bittersweet chocolate.

Ten weeks into my weight loss regime and down to 215 pounds.  Try the  recipe and let me know what you think

Tiramisu

In Italian, it means: pick me up; or pull me up. Originally a semifreddo dessert made from ladyfinger biscuits, cocoa, mascarpone cheese, Marsala wine, eggs, sugar and espresso coffee. (Semifreddo is Italian for "half cold" and in culinary terms it refers to any of various chilled or partially frozen desserts.) Within the last few years, I’ve seen tiramisu recipes that don’t completely fit this definition (i.e., they are made with other than espresso and chocolate).

Pat and I were on a business trip in the spring of 2007 in New York. Pat had a touch of the flu, but we were exploring the town of Fishkill as best we could. At a little Italian restaurant called Locanda, they were serving Lemoncello Tiramisu. We had to leave quickly so we didn’t get to try any, but it intrigued me to the point that I decided to develop our own recipe.

Some of the ground rules were: 1) It had to be refreshing. 2) It needed to be identifiable as a tiramisu (i.e., semifreddo using mascarpone and ladyfingers). 3) Non alcolholic so that the grandkids could try it too.

First problem: what can give a rich lemon flavor with out the alcohol in lemoncello? The juice from four fresh lemons, the zest of a half of a lemon, and 1/3 of a cup of granulated sugar were mixed with an 8 ounce container of the mascarpone. While researching tiramisu, I saw that an egg yoke was often added to the cheese mixtures to help it set better, so one was added to the mixture.

The result was promising, but there was too much juice, so it was cut back to two lemons. Also , using frozen lemonade mix would also remove the work of dissolving the sugar. Batches were made using varying amounts of lemonade concentrate. When added to the mascarpone with the lemon zest and an egg yolk, it was virtually indistinguishable from the fresh lemon juice and sugar version. (Purists can still use the fresh lemon juice and sugar!)

Similar experimentation was done to find a good mixture to soak the ladyfingers. (Again, purists can still use the fresh lemon juice - 2 lemons,  sugar - 1/3 cup, and 1/3 cup of water.) The result is below

LEMON TIRAMISU

INGREDIENTS: 8 oz of mascarpone cheese; 8 – 10 lady fingers; 6 oz can of frozen lemonade concentrate; 1 egg yolk; ½ pint of whipping cream; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; ¼ C. of confectioner’s sugar; zest of 1 lemon.

FILLING: Allow the lemonade concentrate to thaw out; then mix the mascarpone with ½ of the can of lemonade concentrate, ½ of the lemon zest and the egg yolk until it is smooth and consistent.

RECIPE: Line a plastic container (a 3 - 4” square that’s 1 ½ - 2” deep works the best) with wax paper. Neatly fold the wax paper at the corners. Mix the left over lemonade concentrate with ½ can of water. Dip the lady fingers in the lemonade mixture and line the bottom of the container (should be 4 or 5). Add ½ of the filling and dip the rest of the lady fingers and layer them. Add the rest of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better).

Mix the whipping cream, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar together and whip until the mixture holds a peak. Carefully invert the container on to a serving plate and remove the wax paper. Evenly cover with the whipped cream, and garnish with the rest of the lemon zest. Slice and serve.

VARIATIONS: Double the ingredients and make in a loaf pan (the picture is a double batch); or, for a further touch of Italy, dip the lady fingers in a mixture of 1 teaspoon of the lemonade concentrate, 4 teaspoons of water, and 4 tablespoons of Lemoncello Liqueur.

NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 6 to 8

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes plus setting.

This is a refreshing summer dessert that lives up to its name.