Tiramisu... The Key To My Heart

I think the saying "A man's stomach is the key to his heart" also applies to me.  In turn, tiramisu is the key to my stomach and therefore my heart as well.  For Valentine's Day, I made the Boy and myself some homemade tiramisu from a recipe I remembered from a culinary class we took our senior year.  It is a super easy recipe that yields a creamy, moist tiramisu with just the right balance of sweet and bitter.

Espresso and rum soaked ladyfingers.

Ingredients:

•  1 cup, 1 teaspoon espresso, cooled
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of cinnamon
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 8ounce container of mascarpone
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1 package of store bought ladyfingers (or you can make them yourself if you are feeling ambitious)
• powdered cocoa

**Yields a 7" by 5" baking dish full of pure yumminess, or 4 decent sized servings. 

Finished product!

1. Using a whisk or whisk attachment to an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until smooth and a little bit lighter in color. 
2. Add in the container of mascarpone and mix until smooth and creamy.
3. Mix in a pinch of cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon espresso.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes or more. 
4. Mix 1 cup espresso with 1/4 cup dark rum and pour into a flat bottomed bowl for dipping.   
5. Take half of the lady fingers and dip each one VERY quickly into the espresso/ rum mixture.  I placed each lady finger on a fork and quickly lowered them into the liquid mix.  If they become too saturated they will disintegrate.
6. While dipping, arrange the lady fingers in the bottom of a baking dish.  I used 7" by 5", 16 ounce baking dish, which fit 2 layers perfectly. 
7. Once the first layer of lady fingers is down, spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and powdered cocoa.
8. Dip the rest of the ladyfingers and arrange on top of previous layer. 
9. Spread the remaining mascarpone mixture on top and sprinkle with powdered cocoa. 
10. Refrigerate for at least an hour.  Can be made the night before.

When I make this again, I won't dip the ladyfingers, but instead arrange them while dry and then slowly sprinkle the espresso rum mixture on top to get the perfect amount of liquid.  I also want to try to mix in chocolate covered hazelnuts... mmmhh.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

~Julie

Heaven.... ahhh!