broke, bored, and hungry: Raspberry Tiramisu

I have lots of deal-makers and breakers. That goes for T.V. shows, clothing, men, and food. Let me share some with you.

T.V. deal-makers: total trash, anything food related, lots of drama, Christopher Meloni

T.V. deal-breakers: anything requiring higher-order thinking skills, cartoons, shows about people whose lives make me jealous

Clothing deal-makers: things that give the illusion of curves to my lack of body shape, bright colors, black, things that go can go from work appropriate to night out with a simple twist like popping a button or removing a tank-top

Clothing deal-breakers: dry clean only, things that need to be ironed, rompers (I HATE THEM)

Man deal-makers: considerate to me and others, fun-loving (because I can be a little neurotic…), eats all types of food, common interests.

Man deal-breakers: Please contact me for my current list of horrific ex-boyfriends and atrocious dating experiences. There’s a lot.

Food deal-makers: interesting flavor combinations, anything sweet, anything covered in peanut butter, pretty much anything edible. I’m not picky, obviously.

Food deal-breakers: okra, clams/mussels/oysters, anything bland.

So, this recipe probably looks familiar, right? It looks a lot like the one that I made for my grandmother’s birthday. But there are a couple differences that could be deal-makers or breakers for certain people.

If you love raspberries, especially fresh ones, the second recipe is probably for you. If you’re not a huge raspberry fan, you would probably prefer the first one I posted because it gives you the option of only adding a little bit of raspberry sauce or none at all. I also prefer my ladyfingers to be soaked in something. In the first recipe, the ladyfingers would have been a little too dry for me if I didn’t drown them in the raspberry sauce before digging in. In this recipe, the ladyfingers are brushed with a mixture of raspberry jam and orange juice, which makes them flavorful and moist. I love the very subtle orange flavor the orange juice in the jam mixture and the orange zest in the filling gives this dessert.

Basically if you’re not a huge fan of raspberry, which my mother and sister are not, the first recipe would be a better fit for you. I, on the other hand, would consider raspberries to be one of my favorite fruits so I prefer this recipe.

Try both and let me know what you think!

Raspberry Tiramisu

· 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
· zest and Juice of 1 orange
· 1 cup ricotta cheese, at room temperature
· 2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
· 1 cup whipping cream
· 1/4 cup sugar
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
· 2 packages of lady fingers
· about 2 cups fresh raspberries
· Confectioners' sugar, for serving

1. Reserve 1 tablespoons of orange juice. Stir the jam and remaining orange juice in a small bowl to blend.
2. Combine the ricotta, cream cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon of orange juice in a large bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Fold orange zest into whipped cream.
3. Using a large rubber spatula, stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.

4. Line the bottom and sides (the long way) of a 8x8 glass baking dish or other decorative serving dish with ladyfingers. Spread half of the jam mixture over the ladyfingers. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the jam mixture, then cover with half of the fresh raspberries. Repeat layering with the remaining ladyfingers, jam mixture, mascarpone mixture and raspberries.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours overnight (which is what I did) to let the flavors blend.
6. Dust with the confectioners' sugar and serve.