Tiramisu

My dessert of choice in Italian restaurants!  Also a family favorite.  One year we did a poll of what everyone's favorite dessert was in my family (which was roughly 30 people spanning ages 7-60+ at the time), and tiramisu won!  Anyhow, as I've mentioned in previous posts, some people in my family don't eat eggs, so this recipe does not include egg yolks in the filling like the traditional one.  I have additional notes below for making this egg-less and diabetic friendly.

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water

2.5 tbsp instant coffee (or substitute instant coffee and water for an equal amount of espresso)

1.5 tsp sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

8 oz mascarpone cheese

14-20 ladyfinger cookies (depending on your pan size, these measurements are for a 9 x 3 x 3 inch loaf pan)

unsweetened cocoa powder (optional, for topping)

Directions

1.  Mix the water, instant coffee, and 2.5 tsp sugar until dissolved.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone with 1/4 cup sugar until well mixed.

4.  Using a spoon, mix the mascarpone into the heavy cream until uniform (do not over-mix).

5.  Before dipping the lady fingers, arrange them in the pan so you can see if you need to trim any of them.  The ladyfingers should cover the surface of the pan as completely as possible.  If necessary, trim them before dipping them in the coffee mix.  Once you know how many you need, dip both sides of each ladyfinger in the coffee  and arrange on the bottom of your pan.   Spread half of the mascarpone filling on top.  Dip enough ladyfingers in the coffee mix again and arrange on top of the mascarpone filling.  Spread the remaining mascarpone filling on top.  Sprinkle / dust the cocoa powder on top.

6.  Chill overnight.  Remove from fridge ~ half an hour before serving.

Notes

Egg-less: If you're lucky enough to find ladyfingers without eggs, you're all set!  If not, I substitute a double layer of tea biscuits for each layer of ladyfingers.

Diabetic: Substitute sugar-free ladyfingers or a double layer of sugar-free tea biscuits for each layer of lady fingers.  Also, replace the sugar in the coffee with a pinch of Splenda and the sugar in the mascarpone with 1/4 tsp of Splenda.