A good Italian sandwich is a beautiful thing. Before I was married I lived in an apartment in downtown Santa Barbara with many roommates. It was fun to live just a couple blocks from the main strip. And one of the best things was that we lived just around the corner from an Italian market, simply called, The Italian Grocery. It is a tiny little market that has a very nice deli counter with very big and tasty sandwiches. The sandwiches are packed with real Italian cured meats, like capocollo, sopressata, cotto salami, genoa salami, and cheese. It is topped simply with tomato and lettuce and then dressed with mayo and with oil. Whenever I am in town I drop by this market for a sandwich. I have searched high and low for another Italian store like this but have not had much luck. When I lived in Chicago I kept taking little trips to try to find one but I never did. I am sure there must be one but I never figured out where. In Chicago there is a Little Italy but not a hometown market quite like this one. I bet Italian locals know where one is but for now this little tiny one in Santa Barbara is my favorite.
So I completed the Tiramisu several days ago but have not had the time to put up the photos and the recipe. But finally here it is. And as I made this I came to realize that Tiramisu is not an exact science. The recipe is really a guide. As the title suggests the recipe is from my friends ex-boyfriend's mother. It got rave reviews from my husband. He kept saying "This is really good." So here is the recipe.
My Friend Vyd's Italian Ex-Boyfriend's Mother's Tiramisu
Yield is one 13 by 9 inch pan or plastic container:
3 eggs 1 cup sugar 2+ cups Mascarpone(or ricotta) 1 tsp vanilla Lady fingers or Biscotti 1+ cup strong coffee or espresso(if using a Mocha espresso maker do 3 Mochas worth) 1/2+ cup Liquor(Rum, Khalua or Amaretto) Unsweetened Cocoa powder(to generously dust on top)
The first step is to separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with the sugar, mascarpone and vanilla. Then beat the whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly fold whites into egg/cheese mixture.
In a separate dish mix the espresso and liquor together.
Spread a small bit of egg/cheese mixture on bottom of pan. Put biscotti in espresso to soak aprox. 15-30 seconds(turn to let it soak into both sides). Then layer biscotti in pan. Then top with egg mixture. You can do 1 or 2 layers of biscotti depending on how amounts are working(with this recipe I suggest 1 layer). If you do 2 layers, lay biscotti the opposite way the second time. End with egg mixture.
Top with a generous layer of cocoa powder and any other decorative food item i.e. chocolate shavings or chips(or coconut like I did). You can also stencil designs with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Refrigerate 4 hours to one day. Enjoy!
A few notes about this recipe:
I put too thick of a layer of egg/cheese mixture on the bottom of the pan and I ran out of topping before my second layer of biscotti was completely covered so I had to make more egg/cheese topping to make up for it. So the first layer(of egg/cheese) needs to be thin or you should do only one layer of biscotti.
I used Amaretto because I happen to have some. I really liked how the flavor turned out(I do love Amaretto flavor, though). Also you could just use extra coffee if you wanted to skip the liquor.
I used biscotti because I couldn't find ladyfingers but I think that ladyfingers might work better.
If you are timid about raw eggs you could use some pasteurized egg substitute in the egg/cheese mixture(or leave egg out altogether) and then use whipped cream instead of whipped egg whites.
Also, in case you are wondering the sugar I used was called Demerara and it is an almost brown color. I tend to use this type of sugar rather than just white. Theoretically, it has a bit more nutrition and really great flavor.
I think that is all. Thanks, Vyd!
Here is a little poem about Italy to finish off this entry:
Italy
We had no idea that the Duomo stood resolutely behind us. We would have talked of much grander things, I am sure. I suppose if we had been listening we could have heard the Bell strike in its tower.
But we were children listening to the crackle of leaves as we kicked them out of the gutters into the air. We had no idea of such elevated things as High Renaissance Art and Ghiberti. We were too busy rolling lemon gelati around in our mouths and drinking out of fountains.
My friend Vyd has lived abroad several times including a stint in Italy. She is always great about sending little gifts from the places she visits. The Mocha(or Moka) was one of these gifts(although not the Mocha pictured - this is one I got at IKEA - I let someone borrow the original). The Mocha is a small personal espresso maker with 3 sections. The bottom section is filled with water. The middle section is packed with finely ground espresso and then you screw on the top and put it on the burner on Medium-Low. As the water heats up it passes through the espresso and into the top section. It is essentially a tiny percolator. You know it is done when it stops making noise. It makes about enough for one large espresso or Latte. You have to be a little careful not to put the heat too high or let it go too long or the espresso gets a burnt taste.
I used the Mocha to make espresso for my Tiramisu. And I have to be honest here. I just use finely ground regular coffee in my Mocha. It seems to work just fine. I used about 3 Mochas worth of espresso for this recipe.
I am making Tiramisu this week. I have been gathering ingredients which has proved more difficult than I first thought it would be. The recipe calls for mascarpone, but apparently Northeast Iowans are not big consumers because I couldn't find any. Now to me ricotta seems similar enough that I am willing, without too much angst about authenticity, to make this replacement. Next the recipe calls for either biscotti or ladyfingers. But for the life of me I cannot find ladyfingers in our town and the biscotti was too expensive to put into a dessert where it is going to get wet. So I came home with butter cookies. But I was not satisfied with this replacement. All this brings me to biscotti making.
So I pulled out Joy of Cooking and used their recipe for Plain Biscotti. It is very tasty, with a nice almond flavor. It is nice to have a good biscotti recipe to use. I think I will make this again just for eating with coffee. Next time I think that I will put toasted almonds in it or anise flavoring or both.
So step 1 of Tiramisu making is complete. Next up is making espresso in my Mocha(or Moka), which is an Italian personal espresso maker. More on that tomorrow.
