Tiramisu

Would you believe that with all my years of baking and dessert making, I have never made Tiramisu. Yea, I know, crazy huh! So for valentine's day this year I decided to splurge and make this delectable, traditional Italian dessert. Unfortunately, it is not a totally unprocessed food, but I did the best I could to find quality ingredients to use. Next time I am going to make my own sponge cake from scratch instead of using the bland pre-made ladyfingers that I purchased from the grocery store. There are many ways to make Tiramisu such as using different liquors or using pound cake instead of ladyfingers, so again, have fun and be creative. This recipe is incredibly simple and can be made anytime to impress a group of friends or a potential new lover. Try it out this Valentine's, but plan on making it early in the day so that the flavors have time to marry.

Tiramisu - makes about 9 servings

1/4 cup raw sugar
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp water (1/6 cup)
2 Tbsp Frangelico Liquer
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 - 3 oz. packs ladyfingers
cocoa powder to sprinkle on top

Make soaking syrup by combining 1/4 cup sugar and water and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat, cool, and add Frangelico.
In small bowl mix cheese, sugar, and vanilla. In another bowl whip cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold cheese mix into whipped cream, being careful not to deflate the cream.
Assemble by placing a layer of ladyfingers on the bottom of an 8" square glass pan and drizzling 1/2 of the soaking syrup over them. Next spread 1/2 of the cream filling over that. Layer with ladyfingers, soaking syrup, then the rest of the cream filling. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the top, cover, and refridgerate at least 4 hours.

Manja, Manja!!