Tiramisu......Perfect for Christmas!

It's all finally coming together, I see the road at the end of the tunnel.  All the cookies are baked, the Gingerbread House is made, the decorations have been up now for a while, the presents are almost all wrapped, Christmas dinner is planned, and I went shopping today, the store was CRAZY! 

We are spending the day after Christmas with my in laws, and I am bringing a dessert. I was having such a hard time deciding what to make.  So it came to me today while food shopping, I saw them....the lady fingers, yes, that's it, that's what I will make......Tiramisu!  I haven't made it in years, and everyone loves it.  This recipe is another easy one, yes you have to a make a homemade custard, don't worry, it's easy, when you learn the art of making your own custard, you can make homemade custard pies and puddings, and realize yes it is easy when I get the hang of it!  This dessert has to chill in the frig up to 8 hours or overnight, so plan for it....yes it has some steps, but hey it's Tiramisu.  Give it a try, you will love it, and you will WOW your family and friends.  YUMMO!

Tiramisu

The Custard
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yokes
2 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS butter, cut up into little pieces
2 TBS light Rum (YUM)
2  tspvanilla
1/2 lb Mascarpone cheese at room temp (if you can't find Mascarpone Cheese, use Cream Cheese, I have used cream cheese in the pass and really like it)

Additional Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Heavy cream -
2 TBS coffee liqueur
1 1/4 cups espresso coffee or strong brewed coffee
24 Italian Savoiardi cookies (crisp ladyfingers)
2 squares unsweetened chocolate for garnish

In a medium sauce pot on a low-med heat, add the milk, sugar, cornstarch, whisk.  Meanwhile, separate the eggs, making sure you don't have any white of the eggs in the yolks, I use my hands to separate the whites from the yokes, it's so much easier!  Put the yolks in a small bowl, mix them with a fork, and add about 3 TBS of the warm milk mixture to it, this is called tempering, this is done so the warm milk mixture doesn't cook the egg yokes.  Add that yokes mixture back to the saucepan and whisk, whisk, whisk on med-low heat until thick and starts to bubble, will take about 3 more minutes, do not let this burn! 

When all thick and bubbly, take off the heat, and add the butter in little pieces, vanilla and rum.  Whisk to combine. Put in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap touching the pudding mixture so a skin doesn't form on top. Chill in the frig for 2 hours.  You just made Vanilla Pudding spiked with Rum...YUM!

Take out of the frig and fold in the Mascarpone or Cream cheese, making sure there are no lumps and mixed through. 

In a mixer whip up the heavy cream to stiff , yet billowy peaks form and then FOLD IN ONLY HALF of the the whipped cream into the custard mixture until all combined. Reserved the remaining whipped cream for the topping.

Whipped Cream.....YUM!

To Assemble
Mix the Espresso Coffee and the Coffee liqueur in a bowl and dip each Savoiardi cookie in the coffee mixture until some liquid is absorbed. . Arrange in a 9 inch casserole dish, or a TRIFLE BOWL, or a clear class bowl.....first one layer of the cookies, then half of the custard/cheese mixture on top of the cookies, sprinkle with half the grated chocolate, then another layer of cookies, and another layer of the custard. Ending with a evenly spread of the reserved Whipped Cream, and sprinkle the remaining grated chocolate on top.  Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  ENJOY!!!!!

Layering in a trifle bowl

Layering in a casserole dish