Tiramisu (the cheat's recipe)

Tiramisu

ingredients:
1 tub Mascarpone cheese (or 1 1/2 packages cream cheese)
1 package lady fingers (trifle sponges ect)
½ cup caster (white ) sugar (or confectioners powdered sugar)
2 tablespoons Tia Maria (brandy or coffee liqueur)
3 tablespoons cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 shots espresso (or roughly ½ cup very strong instant coffee)
Dark chocolate for grating (or you can use cocoa powder)

6 small glass ramekins for individual servings

First make the coffee and let it cool in a small bowl. Add the Tia Maria (or other liqueur) when cool .

Open the package of sponges and tear them up into pieces to line the bottom of the ramekin dishes. Drizzle the cake with the coffee and liqueur mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl beat the cream, mascarpone cheese (cream cheese), vanilla and sugar.

Spoon the mascarpone mixture over the drizzled cake. Smooth over the top and then grate the dark chocolate over to top. Refrigerate until serving.

For a fluffier cheese mixture, use ½ cup whipping cream, beat it in the bowl until whipped and fold in the mascarpone and sugar mixture.

Cook’s notes: I have made this several times and each time I have varied the amounts of coffee and alcohol to taste. it’s a very quick and simple recipe without having to mess around with eggs. This recipe took roughly ten minutes to make.

Many tiramisu recipes ask you to dip the cake fingers into the bowl of coffee mixture, I find this unnecessary, messy and more work than you really need to do (plus I'm lazy). Its easier to just drizzle the mixture over the cake until you have as much as you desire in the individual ramekin dishes. Even Harrison liked the tiramisu, and scoffed his own little ramekin’s worth (I did put less of the coffee and liquor mixture in his so don't worry).

I'm re-blogging this recipe as a dear friend of mine used my recipe for a dinner party and said that everyone raved about it and not a speck of tiramisu was left. :o) I think I may need to make this tomorrow...purely for medicinal reasons. Right? You believe me don't you?