Tiramisu

The first time I had this scrumptious, rich, and somehow delicate dessert was about 10 or 15 years ago when we were fortunate enough to meet Jo and Gina.

Although we (the Willi kids) had already been growing up with amazing food, this couple and their kitchen introduced us to a whole new world of delicious food... authentic Italian!
Meals were always tasty beyond belief and left you feeling extremely satisfied, if not a little full.
I remember huge bowls of pasta including Pesto, Arrabiata and Boscaiola, delicious BBQs, salads straight from the garden, a range of biscotti and the best fish soup!

Although these were all very tasty and memorable I can’t go past the tiramisu... it is still one of my favourites.
The quantities of ingredients will depend on the size of the bowl you want to make this in.
My bowl was about 20cm wide and I used roughly the following:

300ml Thickened cream
200g Mascarpone
1/3 cup Icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1/2 a packet of Italian sponge fingers
2 Espresso coffee shots
1/4 cup Chocolate Pyjama Vino (usually Tia Maria or other coffee or chocolate liqueur)
1/2 a block of chocolate, coarsely grated (I used Cadbury Roast Almond Dark Chocolate)
Firstly, make your coffee. If you have an espresso machine, great, if not, you could use a plunger or coffee bag. You can also water down the coffee if you wish.
When the coffee has cooled add about half the liqueur.

Dip the sponge fingers in the coffee mixture and create a single layer in your bowl then sprinkle with about a third of the grated chocolate.

In a mixing bowl whip the cream, sugar and vanilla into soft peaks then add the mascarpone and remaining liqueur. Whip further until just smooth.
Gently create a cream layer with about half of the cream mixture.
Repeat with the dipped sponge fingers, chocolate and cream.
Top with the remaining grated chocolate.

Cover and place in the fridge overnight, allowing the flavours to combine and the biscuits to soften.
I also used a single glass as I wanted to see how well it would work making single serves.

As anticipated, they both turned out fantastically... what a shame they disappeared so quickly.