Tiramisu

Good news everyone! My oven is now in working order. All they had to do was replace the bottom coil. So don't worry, mom. The only way I'm not going to bake that bread is if I killed it, which is probable because I forgot to feed it for the entire cycle. I was stirring though! Anyways.

This is a recipe I made over the Christmas visit to my mom's. I wanted to try out some of the diabetic recipes in the cooking magazines she sent me. The only person I know who is diabetic and in cooking range is my step-dad. Also, mom does dishes and is very helpful when not annoying me. Like I said before, I'm wary of anything that's remotely related to a diet recipe. I never even contemplated making this for me alone, but wow. I think is my new go-to recipe. Me and mom made homemade tiramisu before, but this kicks it in the ass and calls it names.

I found the recipe in an Outsmart Diabetes Cookbook put out by Prevention. The great thing about this cookbook is that it doesn't use sugar substitute. They realize that sugar is not the enemy- too much sugar is. Many of the recipes rely on natural sweetness from fresh ingredients and others simply reduce the amount of sugar. We didn't tell my step-dad that this was diabetic because he blatantly refuses to learn portion control. If this is you, you may want to avoid it. Otherwise, I think this is what real tiramisu should always taste like.

The original recipe was too fiddly in the prep for my taste, so these are the revised directions. You can take the time to individually brush the ladyfingers with the coffee mix if you like, but damn. You've got too much time on your hands.



Tiramisu
Outsmart Diabetes Cookbook
1/13/04

1/2 c hot water
2 T instant espresso powder (or 3 T instant coffee, this is what we used)
32 ladyfingers, split (We used way less, so it's your call)
2 lg egg whites, room temp
1 c sugar
3 T cold water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
4 oz mascarpone cheese (We used the whole 8 oz because we love it)
4 oz cream cheese (the recipe calls for reduced-fat) room temp
1 T semisweet chocolate shavings


Mix the hot water and espresso powder in a casserole dish with a flat bottom or a cookie sheet deep enough to hold the mix. We used store-bought ladyfingers that were connected. They need to be split down the middle, but you can still keep the two sides in sheets to do several at once. Quickly dip one side of the ladyfingers and immediately transfer to the dish you'll cool and serve the tiramisu in. Cover the bottom and sides of your serving dish, but leave the rest dry.



Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan. In another bowl, mix the egg whites, sugar, cold water, and cream of tartar. Holding the bowl over the saucepan, mix with an electric mixer set on low for about 4 minutes, then beat on high for another 4 minutes or until very thick. Remove bowl from heat and beat another 4 minutes of until the mix is light and fluffy. (Mom is my hand-model and official fiddly egg beater)



Place mascarpone and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add 1 cup of the egg mix and beat until smooth. Gradually fold in the rest.

Pour 1/3 to 1/2 of the mix in your serving tray. Cover more ladyfingers with the coffee and arrange on top until you've used all the mix and have as many layers of the fingers as you want. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.

12 Servings