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.

whipped cream

filling

layer of ladyfingers

jam and orange juice mixture

filling in the tiramisu

middle layer of raspberries!

ready to be served!

individual slices :)

Creamy Ladyfinger Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Ok, so this is the FINAL piece of my grandmother's birthday dinner.

She gave me this recipe and asked if I would try it out. I had never used lady fingers before so I was a little nervous. But she said that it tasted just how she remembered and everyone loved it!

It was basically like a very light version of cheesecake! The lady fingers make for a very light and fluffy crust and the filling isn't nearly as dense as cheesecake but is still fairly rich from the cream cheese and heavy cream. Because it's lighter, you can eat a big slice without feeling sick, which I love :)

This recipe looks very elegant but comes together very quickly because the lady fingers are premade, the filling whips up quickly, and the "sauce" is ready as soon as the carton of frozen raspberries in juice thaws. Hey, that's what the recipe called for! So for once it wasn't me being a lazy bum. Surprising, right?

The leftovers also hold up very well. I thought that the ladyfingers might get soggy but I ate it for 3 days after and it was delicious every time!  Just keep the sauce in a separate dish and add it right before you eat it.

On a side note, I'm very glad that this dessert worked out so well because the other dessert was a total flop. At almost every single holiday, my family makes a chocolate pie. It's just a pie or graham cracker crust filled with chocolate pudding.

Now, given how often I have: 1) seen this pie made, 2) eaten this pie, and 2) made recipes far more complex than this simple pie... you would think that I would be able to make this with my eyes closed.  NOPE. It came out like soup. Why? Because I cannot seem to read directions all the way through. I read the first part of the directions and followed them for pudding. If I would have continued to read, I would have noticed that the recipe said to use less milk if using the pudding for a pie.  I've learned my lesson because the pie came out looking like this.

mushy pie

yeah, it looks like poop.

Everyone laughed at me. Ms. Expert-Chef-In-Training can't even make an instant pudding pie. Awesome. At least I'm not too ashamed acknowledge my epic failures.

I just think that my culinary skills did not want to be stifled but something so boring and simple so my brain just rejected the pie so that people would focus their attention the other creamy, tart, homemade, beautiful dessert. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Creamy Ladyfinger Cake with Raspberry Sauce (8 servings)

• 2 packages of lady fingers
• 1 8 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)
• 1 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pint heavy cream 
• 2 10 oz containers of frozen raspberries in juice

1. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with lady fingers. Line the sides of the springform pan with ladyfingers (going up and down, the outside facing the pan so that they will show when the pan is removed). 
2. Beat together the 2 packages of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
3. Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until completely combined. Do not over-mix.
4. Put half of the mixture into the springform pan. Smooth it over with a spatula. Place another layer of ladyfingers on top of the cream cheese mixture. Layer the other half of the cream cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers. 
5. Chill the cake overnight. Serve with thawed raspberries in juice. We chose to add the raspberry sauce to each individual slice so that the cake wouldn't get soggy. 

um, I probably could have made this look a little nicer...

the base

beginnings of layer two

ready to chill overnight

so pretty!

with raspberries :)