Tiramisu!

I've finally made a tiramisu. This has been one of my goals for years; finally I've done it. This will be tomorrow's Christmas dinner dessert.

I considered several tiramisu recipes before finally settling on the one I used this morning. At first I was convinced I couldn't go wrong with the Pioneer Woman's recipe. Then I noticed she said to use Marsala wine, and that didn't appeal to me. Granted, she said brandy could be substituted for the wine, but still, I couldn't get the image of the Marsala wine out of my head.

Then I found a tiramisu recipe in a local cookbook. It sounded perfect. But then I noticed there's no mention of cooking the egg yolks. Yuck. I couldn't bear the thought of uncooked egg-yolks in the dessert.

Finally I checked out Old Faithful: Allrecipes.com. I scrolled through all of the tiramisu recipes there, read reviews, and settled on this one. As I read its reviews, I noticed a recommendation for making a mascarpone substitute. That sounded simple enough, and when the recipe also mentioned that the substitute is much less expensive than actual mascarpone, I knew I'd make it. I've never bought mascarpone, but I'm all for saving money when possible.  

Then, in the same reviews, I saw mention of a recipe for making one's own ladyfingers. Mine wouldn't win a beauty contest, as you can see from the photo, but I suspect they taste just fine. (Actually, I know they taste just fine because Ken and I scoffed down the leftover ones, and neither of us complained.)

In the midst of putting together the tiramisu, though, I realized I'd forgotten to buy heavy whipping cream when I did my grocery shopping yesterday. Ken to the rescue; he made a dash to the supermarket and came back not only with the whipping cream, but also with a half dozen fresh roses, so that worked out well for me.

I used strong coffee and rum to brush the ladyfingers before piling on the filling. That combination appealed to me. The finished product now sits in the fridge. I hope it'll be a hit tomorrow.