Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

After I whined and carried on about the Tiramisu recipe in the February Daring Bakers challenge, I got several requests for my tried and true, old standby tiramisu recipe. When Easter rolled around, I decided to make it and share it with you. There was one problem, though. My tiramisu recipe includes raw egg yolks, espresso and booze, all of which are verboten for my seven year-old nephews. I certainly didn’t want to serve a luscious dessert for our Easter feast that the little guys couldn’t enjoy, so I had to modify my recipe. What I came up with was a version that had none of the offending ingredients, but was so fabulous that I may never go back to my old recipe again!

Instead of using the raw egg yolks, I borrowed from the DB recipe and made a zabaglione, which is basically a light custard with egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine. Instead of the two yolks called for, I upped the ante and made mine with six. The result was super rich and creamy, and perfect for my tiramisu.

My next hurdle was the espresso. I knew that if I fed high test, sugar-laden coffee to my already rambunctious nephews, my sister-in-law would probably never speak to me again. What to do, what to do…. I loved the orange flavored tiramisu I had made for the DB challenge and I wanted to reproduce those flavors, which brought me to my next obstacle – that orange syrup was made with Grand Marnier - another no-no for the boys. So, I killed two birds with one stone and combined Grand Marnier, dark rum, fresh orange juice and sugar to make a different orange syrup. In this one, however, I boiled and reduced the ingredients so that all of the alcohol was cooked off. Then, I mixed the syrup with some more fresh orange juice and ended up with a lovely, intensely flavored dipping liquid for my ladyfingers.

Once my orange tiramisu was all chilled and ready to serve, I grated some good bittersweet chocolate on top to make it all pretty (and more delicious).

The verdict? My newfangled version of tiramisu was a resounding dreamy, creamy success! I only wish I had a photo of it cut so you could see the inside. I took these pictures before dinner. But, once I served it, there were forks flying everywhere and it was gone before I could even find my camera! You’ll just have to trust me when I say it was like Florida sunshine on a plate.

Enjoy!