Maybe you are like me.
As much as I love Christmas, the many holiday duties or “festivities,” if you would rather call them, can take their toll. For many years of my family’s life, I felt that it was my time-honored responsibility to knock myself out at Christmas.
Now, dessert for Christmas dinner was no exception. I have quite a history. There were the annual favorites. A southern pound cake with bourbon-soaked walnuts, red and green glazed cherries, and golden raisins also soaked in bourbon. Then every year, I made an old English plum pudding, which was steamed for hours in a boiling kettle of water and refrigerated until the big day. It was served with “hard sauce” and was lit at the table with flaming brandy (really).
I once made something called a “Nesselrode Pie” and now I don’t even know what that is! (I think it was pink and had fruits and nuts in it.)
But recently, I was browsing through some of my cookbooks and found a perfect dessert recipe for Christmas dinner or anytime. It was in the “Sopranos Family Cookbook,” which is as much a collection of anecdotes based on the famous TV series, “The Sopranos,” as it is about cooking. It is a delightful journey through the lives of the show’s characters and the food they loved.
I found a recipe for tiramisu, the classic dessert that you can almost bet you will be offered in a traditional “red sauce” Italian restaurant. I have never made it at home, but this recipe was enticing because it seems elegant and easy. Tiramisu is a rich dessert, so a small piece will do. And, besides, my guests were starting to say “no thank you” to the plum pudding!
The Sopranos Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 1 pound mascarpone cheese (can be found in most supermarkets in the cheese case)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons amaretto liquor or cognac
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 24 Italian “ladyfingers” (found in the “imported” section in grocery stores)
- 1 cup brewed espresso coffee, at room temperature
- ½ cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mascarpone, sugar and amaretto until smooth.
- In a chilled bowl (important) with chilled beaters, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.
- Lightly dip half of each ladyfinger in the espresso and arrange them in a single layer in the bottom of an 8-inch square pan.
- Gently spread half the mascarpone mixture on the ladyfingers.
- Sprinkle with half of the chopped chocolate.
- Dip the remaining ladyfingers into the espresso.
- Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture, spreading it smooth.
- Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving. The tiramisu should be cold.
There are many versions of tiramisu out there, changing with the types of alcohol used (rum or Strega liqueur work too). But the recipe above is lovely with the sweet blush of the almond amaretto.
There will be no need to stick a sprig of holly into your tiramisu or light it on fire at the table with brandy. It will impress as it is.
Buon Natale to all TheBurg readers!
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