THE REAL TIRAMISU...for me from him!

This time, it's me who is doing all the talking about the cake as opposed to last year when he did it all.So it was my birthday yesterday and as usual (the 2nd time) he asked me what I wanted him to bake for my birthday. He gave me about a month's time to decide because I need time to think always( because my mind wanders and I dream too much!). No prices for guessing, I changed my mind the last minute and chose my favourite dessert, Tiramisu. I have made a Tiramisu Cake before, but this time I wanted the real deal...The Real Tiramisu :-)

Whenever we dine out, if there's a Tiramisu on the dessert menu, I always always eat that. We once drove about 6-7 miles just to buy a small piece of Tiramisu just because I felt like eating it...from that particular restaurant!  :-D I'm not sure how many of you have eaten at Bucca Di Beppo, they have one of the best Tiramisu's I've ever eaten so I end up comparing the one I'm eating to the one I ate at Bucaa ...always! :-)

We were away for the weekend and got back home just in time for my birthday. We knew this early (duh!) so Jobin and I made sure all the things we needed for making my Tiramisu were in place before we left home. As soon as we got back, we unpacked our suitcases, opened a bottle of wine and chose a  'Suresh Gopi's' 'edi padam' to play as he took breaks from the Tiramisu-making. Then we spent the rest of the day (oh it's bright outside till almost 9.15 pm) watching the movie and slurping on some homemade Bisi Bele Bath.

That was my birthday gift sent to me by my reader and a good friend Elvina . Those tiny cakes are actually fridge magnets .Don't they look cute?? I really liked it, El. The minute I opened the packet, I was walking towards my fridge to place them on it :-) How on earth did you know that I have a fetish for fridge magnets?

Also, I have Rose (btw, the chocolate buttons you see on top of the Tiramisu was sent to me by Rose, sometime ago) baking a cake to celebrate my birthday (She lives 1000's of miles away from me) and Dhanya cooking up my Chatti Pathiri to give me a surprise on my birthday! Gosh, you guys are just fantabulous!! Another reason for me to love food blogging!!

THE REAL TIRAMISU
Recipe source : Recipe behind the Alessi Savoiardi Cookie packet.

Ingredients:
For 1 portion Zabaglione
5 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c marsala (you can sub it with rum)

For the cheese layer:
1c whipping cream, chilled
4 tbsp sugar
450g Homemade Mascarpone cheese,at room temp.

2c freshly brewed strong coffee
1/2 c Rum or Marsala
1 tbsp Vanilla
24 nos. Savoiardi Cookies/Lady Fingers or as needed
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

Extra Cocoa powder & Chocolate Curls for garnishing.
Method:
For the Zabaglione: In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks &sugar. Now, you need to set up a double boiler and let the water come to a full boil. Then reduce the flame to a simmer, place the bowl with the egg over it and whisk constantly and pour the marsala/rum into it. Keep whisking it till it forms into soft mounds. It won't take long. Transfer it to another bowl, wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

For the Cheese layer: Meanwhile, whip the cream with 2 tbsp sugar to soft peaks.Fold in the mascarpone and Zabaglione and mix carefully till well blended.Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a separate bowl, mix coffee,2 tbsp sugar,Marsala & Vanilla.

Arrange one layer of cookies to fit the pan that you are using and pour 1 tbsp of coffee mixture over each cookie so that they are well saturated but not falling apart.Spoon 1/3 rd cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1tbsp cocoa powder. Repeat two more time ending with cocoa. (We didn't follow this method of layering as I wanted it in a cake form)

Cover and refrigerate overnight so that the flavours mature well plus the cookies gets to soak up all that liquid.

Dust with some more cocoa and decorate with chocolate curls. Serve chilled.

Verdict: I couldn't stop licking the cream as and when he was making it because I just wanted to make sure it's up to the Bucca standards ;-) The next day (on my birthday) which was yesterday (confusing??) as I cut the cake and had a slice, the first thing  I said was,'Oh my goodness, this is so yummy! It tastes just like Bucca's! :-D

It is a very good one and is very very simple to make! Do try it at home. I'm sure you can substitute the  lady's finger with a good pound cake and proceed with the recipe if you live no where close to a supermarket which sells those fingers ;-) After all once they are soaked in the syrup, their texture is similar to a cake!

So make sure you try this for your next party!

VANILLA PANNACOTTA with POMEGRANATE SAUCE

It's official, I love pink! Whenever I go shopping, be it anything, I end up picking something pink. Usually pink is associated with 'being girly' but I don't think I am that girly to begin with. Sometimes I like the vintage look, sometimes contemporary and sometimes even bohemian! It all depends on how I feel right then. When I made this dessert, I wanted to dress it up with something colourful and bright! I searched in my refrigerator for fruits and I found apples, oranges, banana's and a pomegranate.

Apple sauce? No way! Orange sauce? Yes! So I grabbed the bag of oranges dreaming of my Orange-Blackberry sauce I made last summer to go with my My Fair Lady Pudding.Sadly most of them were beginning to rot! Then all I was left with were banana's and a pomegranate. I  have never heard of a banana sauce nor pomegranate sauce before but I chose the latter because of it colour and because it's one of my favourite fruit! So pomegranate sauce, it is!

We usually have a dessert almost after every meal, except brekky. It need not be anything elaborate, even a piece of Chocolate & Cashewnut Fudge or a Simple Cherry Crumble  would do...but we need something sweet. So that gives me the excuse of stocking up almost once in 3 days and I don't complain about it! :)

Pannacotta in Italian means 'cooked cream'.This dessert is generally from the Nothern Italian region of Piemonte,although it is eaten all over Italy and is usually served with wild berries,chocolate sauce or fruit coulis -source Wikipedia

I have never made a Pannacotta before but when I tasted it in Napa Valley, California,I knew I had to try it at home sometime. It was such an easy thing and hardly takes anytime! So if any of you haven't tried this delicious creamy dessert at home before, try it now...or else you are really missing out on certain good things in life :) This is one of those desserts which you can make in less than 10 mins, that is, the active cooking time.

VANILLA PANNACOTTA with POMEGRANATE SAUCE
Recipe credits
For Pannacotta- Finla of My Kitchen Treasures
For Sauce - Your's truly
Ingredients:
For Pannacotta:
1c milk
1c heavy cream
1/2 c granulated sugar
3 tsp powdered gelatin
2tsp water
2tsp vanilla extract


For Pomegranate sauce:
1/2 a large pomegranate, seeds only
2tsp cornflour/cornstarch
1/4 c water
Sugar to taste

Method:
For Pannacotta:
Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and let it bloom for 5 mins. Meanwhile get the other things ready.
Mix the milk,cream & sugar in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.Switch off the flame.
Melt the gelatin in the microwave oven for 12 seconds. Stir well.
Add the vanilla extract and melted gelatin into the milk -cream mixture and stir well.
Pour into ramekins or any other glass bowls (it's easy to release) and let it set in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours.


For Pomegranate sauce:
Puree the pomegranate seeds.
Add water, sugar to taste and the puree in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add in the cornstarch and let the sauce thicken.
Once it's thickened slightly, take off the flame and let it cool completely.

Serving suggestion:
You can demould the dessert by dipping the bowls in hot water for less than a minute. The dessert will easily slide out of the bowl,onto a serving plate.
Pour the sauce over it and sprinkle some pomegranate seeds and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Verdict: Deliciously creamy smooth dessert with a slight tang from the beautiful sauce.You must serve these in small quantities as they are quite rich. A must have for my party menu next time on! :)

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Happy Friday!

TIRAMISU CAKE IN A CUP...for A Sweet Punch! #1

Remember A Sweet Punch? No? I think you should know what it is :-) Well, it is a baking group started by Divya,Maria & Myself and since it was my brainchild, I got to choose the recipe for our first month. I chose Tiramisu Cake by Dorie Greenspan. It was something that I have made many times before, so that perfectly fitted the bill of tried, tested & trusted recipe.Since the recipe is already on my blog, I am just posting a final picture of how I made it...I piled it all in individual sized glasses.

You can see all the beautiful creations by our members in 2-3 days time at our official blog .

If you want to be a part of our group, drop us an email  at  asweetpunch AT gmail DOT com and we can carry on from there!