My First Daring Baker's Challenge - Heaven on a Dessert Plate!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

RECIPE SOURCE:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

My Substitutions:

• The zabaglione calls for Marsala wine but instead I used sweetened fresh orange juice instead with an extra teaspoon of vanilla.
• The original recipe calls for 2 cups of brewed espresso, but instead I simmered 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 2 cups of water in a small saucepan until thickened and combined. I omitted the teaspoon of rum extract and instead added 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

If you never make this recipe you should at least make the mascarpone cheese. The tricky part is finding cream that is NOT ultrapasturized. I found such cream from a local dairy so it is possible. It is amazing, not difficult at all, and once you've made it for yourself you won't buy it from a store again.

When I made my goals for 2010 I decided it was time to become a Daring Baker. I eagerly waited for the recipe reveal date and couldn't believe that my first challenge consisted of making my own mascarpone cheese, lady fingers, and a dessert that contains ingredients that I don't use due to religious beliefs. So after making a few substitutions, and several days of preparation, I created this beautiful desert for our Valentine's celebration.

I decided to make the dessert in a serving for two, and wrapped it with a chocolate ribbon. I lined souffle dishes with plastic wrap and then assembled the tiramisu according to the directions in the recipe. After chilling overnight I was able to finish them off with a chocolate ribbon.

I should have tempered the chocolate to give it a sheen, but I was running short on time so I simply folded a piece of plastic wrap into thirds and with an offset spatula spread melted dark chocolate on the plastic wrap. I let it cool until it was firm enough to mold and molded it around a can covered in plastic wrap that was the same size as the tiramisu. After letting it set a few more moments I unmolded it from the can, peeled off the plastic wrap, and molded it around the tiramisu on the serving plate.

Don't these layers look divine?

The remains. I froze the remaining two, thinking it would provide me with a treat later on, but wouldn't you know it even tasted amazing frozen?