Tiramisu with our buddies

Or should it be Tiramisu with the fairies and ninja turtles? It's always a pleasure to catch up with our buddies, especially when things get busy and we haven't seen them for a while. The children were very excited about pudding. Little Miss 4 insisted that she top the Tiramisu with a mint leaf, and as you can see she has already managed to squish the top of it! This is a great simple, quick and easy dessert to make from store cupboard ingredients.

Tiramisu

1 cup strong espresso coffee - cooled
3 tablespoons coffee liquor
2 eggs separated
3 tablespoons caster sugar
400g Mascarpone
1 cup cream - whipped
a packet of sponge finger biscuits
chocolate for grating

Put the coffee and liquor into a bowl.

Separate the eggs. Using an electric beater, beat the sugar and egg yolks until thick and pale. 

Add the mascarpone and beat until combined. 

In a separate bowl beat the cream into soft peaks. Using a spatula, fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture. 

With a clean bowl and beater fittings, beat the egg whites into soft peaks. 

Fold one third into the mascarpone and cream to lighten the mixture. Now fold the remaining whites in. I managed to get distracted and over beat the egg whites - this is not a huge problem, but will make the whites harder to completely incorporate.




Place a portion of the cream mixture into the bottom of a serving bowl. 

Dip the sponge fingers into the coffee liquor mixture and lay them on top of the creamy mixture. 

Once this layer is full, layer in more creamy mixture, and follow with another layer of biscuits. Top with more cream. This should be enough to fill the bowl. 

Smooth out the top and grate over the chocolate. 

Chill for a couple of hours at least before serving.





This recipe makes enough for a medium sized serving bowl and a couple of single glasses - good for a late night snack one the little people are in bed. We served ours with strawberries. All well received by our little bunch of food critics, who were so enthusiastic we had to keep sending them back to play while the strawberries were being cut.