Tiramisu two ways.

 

Growing up, tiramisu was always made by my mum Solidea and aunties when all our families would come together to celebrate family birthdays and festive celebrations… On reflection a very special pudding indeed, at the time however it was just tiramisu.  On a standard week and as a normal family dessert mum would always and without fail make us trifle. Now when I say trifle I mean it loosely speaking….. ‘Trifle in a box’.  Should I hold my head in shame when I tell you this? Absolutely not because in the late 1980’s it was the highlight of my school week. I loved it so much. I walked past a box in the supermarket aisle last week and bought it as a gift for mum, she smiled at me with fond memories then said ‘Do you really want me to make this? I’m hopeful it will taste the same as the sweet and heavily sprinkled trifle I remember. Mum

Northampton based cook, Carmela Sereno Hayes, at Home cooking Italian family meals.
Image Magazine.
Photos by Kelly Cooper

would prepare the trifle in a 1970’s Pyrex dish, the one as I’m sure you’ll remember with the brown and orange flowers printed on the side, and as a bonus she would also sprinkle it with extra 100’s and 1000’s. Even now, if I close my eyes tightly and click my heels three times, I could almost smell the aroma of the somewhat rich yet plastic jelly with soft sponge fingers, high-vis custard and perfectly white powdered cream on top. Food memories at their very best are just so comforting. And in all honesty I would eat this again with no problem at all. Simple and frugal. Anyone for jelly and tinned fruit, another fav of mine?

So instead of sharing the ‘trifle in a box recipe’ *sniggers, I thought I’d share with you my mamma’s recipe of tiramisu. If you fancy a pick-me up then you’ll love this dessert.  This recipe was also included in my first cookery book ‘Southern Italian Family Cooking’ released November 2014. I choose to use amaretto liquor instead of the classic ‘Tia Maria’ or ‘Vin Santo’ so feel free to change the liquor to suit your preference with Frangelico or rum also being great alternatives. If alcohol isn’t your thing then just leave it out and if coffee is a put off then just use fruit juice and berries. The only clause I will place on my recipe is for you to NEVER under any circumstance use cream and please go steady with biscuit dipping as you don’t want to end up with a dense soggy pudding. As we are approaching the start of what hopes to be an amazing summer, why not crown the top with a selection of seasonal berries too. So please enjoy, and I do hope that my tiramisu will feature as a centerpiece at your family gatherings or at least alongside your trifle in a box!

 

 

Amaretto Tiramisu

Serves: 8 – 10 or more depending on greed!

200ml strong black espresso coffee

Northampton based cook, Carmela Sereno Hayes, at Home cooking italian family meals.
Image Magazine.
Photos by Kelly Cooper

3 tbsp. amaretto

3 large eggs

3 tbsp. granulated sugar

250g mascarpone

500g savoiardi biscuits (known as ladies’ fingers or boudoir biscuits)

100g amaretto biscuits, the hard variety, crushed

20g dark chocolate

 

  1. Make the espresso coffee and allow it to cool fully. Add the amaretto and set to one side.
  2. Separate the eggs. Whites in one bowl and yolks in another. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk for 2 minutes, until creamy.
  3. Add the mascarpone cheese to the egg yolk mixture and combine. Stir with a wooden spoon and then whisk for 1 minute to remove any lumps and a smooth cream is produced.
  4. Wash the whisk, then whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.
  5. Gently fold in the egg whites to the mascarpone mixture, half the mixture at a time.
  6. Take your trifle dish or individual glasses and start layering up the ingredients.
  7. Quickly dip each biscuit into the coffee liquor mixture and place in your dish. Do not fully bathe the biscuits, only dip and tease them. Dip in and out then give them a little shake.
  8. Complete one biscuit layer then spoon on a layer of the mascarpone cream mixture and level. Sprinkle over a little of the crushed amaretto biscuits. Then return to dipping and layering the biscuits, add the cream and amaretto biscuits.
  9. Continue until you have three sets of layers, finishing with the cream on top.
  10. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours. If you use glasses or ramekins, they will only need an hour to chill.
  11. Serve with grated dark chocolate and a sprinkling of crushed amaretto biscuits.

 

An alterative which is also a favourite of mine is my tinned pear and clementine tiramisu.

 

Pear & lemon Tiramisu

200ml orange juice

3 tbsp limoncello

2 x cans pear halves

3 large eggs

3 tbsp granulated sugar

250g mascarpone

2 lemons or 2 clementines, zested

500g savoiardi biscuits

 

 

  1. Add the orange juice and limoncello into a bowl along with the pear juice from the tins.
  2. Slice the pears and set aside.
  3. Separate the eggs. Whites in one bowl and yolks in another. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk for 5 minutes, until creamy.
  4. Add the mascarpone cheese to the egg yolk mixture and combine. Stir with a wooden spoon and then whisk for 1 minute to remove any lumps.
  5. Wash the whisk, then whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.
  6. Gently fold in the egg whites to the mascarpone mixture, half the mixture at a time. Add the clementine zest.
  7. Take your trifle dish or individual glasses and start layering up the ingredients.
  8. Quickly dip each biscuit into the orange liquor mixture and place in your dish.
  9. Complete one biscuit layer then spoon on a layer of the cream mixture and level. Lay the slices pears. Then return to dipping and layering the biscuits, add the cream and pears.
  10. Continue until you have three sets of layers, finishing with the cream on top.
  11. Chill in the fridge for at 2 hours. If you use glasses or ramekins, they will only need an hour to chill.
  12. Serve with freshly grated lemon or clementine zest.