The Deeper Living

Classic Mini Tiramisu

A classic, creamy homemade zabaglione custard laid on top of espresso doused lady fingers and finished with a lovely dusting of Valrhona chocolate powder.

Classic Tiramisu

• Custard adapted from: Flour by Joanne Chang

• Serving: Makes about 9 individual 4 inch ramekins or can be served in an 8.5-9 wide x 2 height inch dish.

Ingredients:

For tiramisu custard

• 4 egg yolks

• ¼ cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons good brandy

• 1 tablespoon & 1.5 teaspoon of coffee liqueur

• A pinch of salt

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

• Big bowl full of ice/cold water

• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese (room temperature)

• ½ cup & 1 tablespoon of heavy cream

For coffee soaked ladyfingers

• 1 cup strong coffee (Amount of coffee may be more or less based on how many lady fingers you use)

• 1 scant tablespoon of white granulated sugar

• ⅛ teaspoon of espresso powder (I like King Arthur’s Flour brand)

• 1 teaspoon of coffee liqueur

• 2-4 tablespoons of good quality chocolate powder (Valrhona makes delicious chocolate powder)

• About 30 lady finger biscuits (look for the crisp variety they soak the coffee syrup better. Also amount of biscuits may vary based on serving dish)

Method:

1. In a heatproof bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, brandy, coffee liqueur, salt, vanilla and whisk till smooth. Place bowl on top of a pot of barely simmering water to create a double boiler. Note: Your bowl should be bigger than your pot so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water. This allows for the eggs to gently heat up to create a silky custard while also pasteurizing the eggs. Too much heat can scramble your eggs.

2. Continuously and vigorously whisk the custard mixture over the heat until it is thick and the custard creates ribbons when falling from the whisk. The alcohol smell and taste should also cook off by this point. This should take about 10-12 minutes. Note: If your custard is not thick by this point or the alcohol smell continues to linger, continue to vigorously whisk until you achieve that consistency and the alcohol smell cooks off. Vigorously whisking helps create a silky smooth custard without bits of egg cooking unevenly. Also, make sure to scrape the sides of your bowl with an rubber spatula constantly to make sure that the custard on the edges does not dry up.

3. Once your custard is done cooking, quickly remove it off the double boiler and place it in an ice bath. This will help the custard cool down quickly and prevent it from over cooking.

4. While the zabaglione custard is cooling, beat the room temperature mascarpone cheese and heavy cream on low speed with your electric blender until they are incorporated. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Once the mascarpone and heavy cream mixture are incorporated, beat the mixture on high until the mixture becomes stiff, this should take about 30 seconds. Note: Using room temperature mascarpone help create a smooth mixture. Also do not over beat your mixture as it can deflate later on.

5. Make sure your zabaglione custard is no longer warm and then fold the mascarpone mixture with the zabaglione custard with a rubber spatula until full incorporated. Gently folding will preserve the volume we created in the custard and the mascarpone mixture thereby giving us a light silky tiramisu. Once mixture is incorporated, set it aside in the fridge until ready to assemble.

6. Brew 1 cup of strong coffee, you may need more or less depending on your serving dish/dishes and the number of lady fingers you use. Pour hot coffee into a shallow flat dish and whisk sugar,espresso powder and coffee liqueur. Adjust based on taste or if you need more syrup to soak your ladyfinger biscuits. Let the mixture cool slightly.

7. Get your serving dish/dishes ready and pull out your custard mixture from the fridge and get ready to layer up your tiramisu. Take one ladyfinger biscuit at a time and dip it quickly into coffee syrup. Both side should be soaked slightly, about 60-70% and the center of the biscuit should feel slightly hard. Over soaking will create a very soggy and mushy base when serving. Depending on the size of your dish you may have to break your ladyfingers into varying pieces after soaking so that they fit into the dish. Place enough soaked lady fingers on the bottom of the dish/dishes so you have one even layer. Then create a 1 inch layer of tiramisu custard on top so it covers all the ladyfingers and so you don’t see any bare ladyfingers. Layer once more with soaked ladyfingers and then place a final layer of custard on top. Your final custard layer should be relatively thick so that you do not see any lady fingers underneath. Note: In the picture shown above i used about 2 ½ lady fingers to fill each 4 inch wide ramekin.

8. Once everything is assembled, dust a light layer of chocolate powder on top (I like to use a tea strainer or this cute gadget from oxo to dust the chocolate), wipe edges of dish/dishes, cover with foil and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. If you are making this in a large dish i highly recommend taping a paper towel to the top of the dish before wrapping in foil. This prevents condensation when refrigerating and it works like magic!

9. When ready to serve you can dust some more chocolate powder to create a more finished look. Enjoy!

Pictured above:

Libbey Tasting Bowls - shown above in the picture, these are perfect for individual sized servings of tiramisu.

CB2 Frank Bowl - this dish works wonderfully for making a family style serving of tiramisu.

Maple Bourbon Pecan Blondies

These blondies are my favorite thanksgiving dessert. These decadent pecan pie like blondies are so easy to whip up and they taste incredible with such little effort! The brown butter blondies are hinted with bourbon, vanilla and ground pecans to create a delicious chewy delicious base. The blondies are then covered in a toasty, butterscotchy, pecan maple bourbon caramel situation, reminiscent of pecan pie filling! These are perfect to make ahead of time for your Thanksgiving gathering!

Maple Pecan Butterscotch Blondies

Serving: Makes 9 square pieces or 18 triangle wedges in an 8x8 pan.

Ingredients:

For Pecan Blondie Base

• ½ cup of unsalted butter (113 grams- 1 stick of butter)

• ¼ cup pecans halves (40 grams)

• 1 cup of dark brown sugar (200 grams)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey

• 1 egg

• 1 egg yolk

• ¼ teaspoon of salt

• ½ cup of bread flour (60 grams)

• ½ cup of all-purpose flour (60 grams)

For Maple Bourbon Pecan Topping

• ¼ cup of unsalted butter (57 grams- ½ stick)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey

• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (40 grams)

• 2 tablespoons of golden syrup* (40 grams)

• ½ cup dark brown sugar (100 grams)

• ½ teaspoon of salt

• ¼ cup of heavy cream (60 grams)

• 1 ½ cup of pecan halves (165 grams)

• Flaky sea salt

Method:

Make the Pecan Blondie Base

1. First make the brown butter: Place the butter in a light colored pot over medium heat and let it melt down until liquid. Once liquid, constantly stir the mixture and scrape the bottom and sides. Keep a watch on the butter for the next 5 to 8 minutes as it starts to sputter, bubble and become warm golden brown. There will be a lot of foam so in order to check on the color of the butter, pull the pan off the stovetop for a moment to let the foam subside. Once the whey of the butter has turned into a nice golden brown and releases a nutty aroma, turn the heat off and set the butter aside to cool.

   • ½ cup of unsalted butter (113 grams or 1 stick)

2. Toast the pecan halves in a pan over medium low heat until nutty and fragrant. Let them cool and then grind them in a food processor until fine. Don’t overgrind or it will turn into nut butter. Set aside the ground pecans to the side.

   • ¼ cup pecans halves (40 grams)

3. Once the brown butter is cooled, add 1 cup of dark brown sugar and mix with butter until well incorporated.

   • 1 cup of dark brown sugar (200 grams)

4. Add egg yolk, egg, vanilla extract and bourbon and stir till combined.

   • 1 egg

   • 1 egg yolk

   • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   • 1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey

5. Add all your dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until no dry patches of flour are visible.

   • ¼ teaspoon of salt

   • ½ cup of bread flour (60 grams)

   • ½ cup of all-purpose flour (60 grams)

   • ¼ cup pecan halves ground (40 grams)

6. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment overhang and press the blondie dough on the bottom of the pan. Make sure to spread the dough all the way to the edges so the maple pecan topping doesn’t leak through to the bottom.

7. Set the blondie pan aside and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

8. While the oven preheats, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and add all the Maple Bourbon Pecan Topping ingredients except the pecans.

   • ¼ cup of unsalted butter (57 grams- ½ stick)

   • 1 teaspoon vanilla

   • 1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey

   • 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (40 grams)

   • 2 tablespoons of golden syrup* (40 grams)

   • ½ cup dark brown sugar (100 grams)

   • ½ teaspoon of salt

   • ¼ cup of heavy cream (60 grams)

9. Bring the bourbon maple pecan topping mixture to a boil and keep stirring for about two minutes or until everything is combined and slightly thick.

10. Remove the pan off the heat and add the chopped pecans to the mixture until fully combined.

    • 1 ½ cup of pecan halves (165 grams)

11. Pour the maple pecan mixture evenly over the raw blondie base.

12. Bake the blondies for about 25 minutes until the topping is thick and bubbling and is no longer runny.

13. Once out of the oven, sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top.

14. Let the blondies cool to room temperature. Once cooled you can cut them or you can pop them in the freezer for super easy cutting.

15. Serve them up and enjoy! Leftover blondies can last up to 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temperature.