Tiramisu

For my birthday this year I was given an excellent cookbook called The Boozy Baker from my wonderful friend Lauren. This cookbook turned out to be more than perfect since I have lately been intrigued by adding various forms of alcohol to my desserts. For Christmas my gramma made a grasshopper pie and it turned out sooooo good! I love that just a bit of alcohol gives you a friendly kick, but does not overpower or overwhelm the overall flavors of the cake.

So this cookbook came in handy when I decided I wanted to try out more boozy recipes. A family friend invited my family over for dinner last night, and she knows that I love to bake. As such, I was instructed to bring something magnificent for dessert. Finger pads touch finger pads in contemplation: what to bring, what to bring?! Something boozy, of course! I broke out the cookbook from Lauren and perused its decadent contents and landed on Hazelnut Tiramisu. I recently bought a bottle of Frangelico and had only used a touch of it, so the fates were on my side!

Thank god for monks.....or hermits

The cake ended up being so simple to make, too. Mascarpone, nutella, frangelico, heavy cream, coffee, and ladyfingers. And then toasted hazelnuts and chocolate shavings for garnish. The mascarpone, nutella, and whipped cream make the most wonderful fluffy and light filling for the cake.

Heaven in fluff form

Once the coffee is brewed you add the liqueur to it, and then dunk each ladyfinger in the concoction. I wish I could post what the coffee and frangelico smelled like -- hazelnut and coffee -- it was incredible. I was in heaven mixing the nutella and mascarpone! So once the ladyfingers are dunked in coffee/liqueur deliciousness you stick them in a bread pan -- only one layer. Then you add a layer of fluff, rinse and repeat until there are only ladyfingers as the top layer. Throw some saran wrap over it and stick it in the fridge....it looked like this:

Then when you are ready to take it out for eats, you invert it onto a serving plate and add the remainder of the fluff as the top layer. Sprinkle toasted hazelnuts and chocolate shavings on top, and you have a decadent dessert!

Now I have never actually tasted Tiramisu before -- I like to make things I have never had before. That said, I'm not sure if this is really what Tiramisu looks like or tastes like. The flavors are excellent, but I do have to say that I am not a fan of soggy cake. When I have cake and ice cream they are on separate dishes -- *shudders.* Because these ladyfingers were immersed in liquid heaven, there is the soggy aspect. Since most people don't seem to have a problem with soggy cake, and actually seem to enjoy it, I'm sure everyone else didn't mind -- they sure didn't seem to mind since everyone ended with a clean plate.