Tiramisu with Strawberries & Blueberries

People who know me well, know I'm not much of a sweet-tooth. I rarely eat sweets and I rarely make them. As a matter of fact, I don't like making sweets, however, very much to my convenience I do make sweets that I like to eat and I make them good.

Tiramisu is one of those desserts I like, because it is not excessively sweet, it has the strong coffee note and Amaretto, so I'm very happy with this dessert.

A month or so ago, my boss sent me via email a picture he had seen online of a strawberry tiramisu, and asked if I could duplicate it, so I did. I added the blueberries just to give it a floral note, and because the strawberries seemed so lonely.

This recipe yields a tray for about 12 to 14 people.

Ingredients:

48 lady finger cookies

1 cup of powdered sugar

5 eggs yolks

5 egg whites

450 gr. of mascarpone cheese (softened)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of Amaretto

2 cups of coffee (espresso)

4 tablespoon of cocoa powder

Strawberries (sliced)

Blueberries

Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Make the coffee and leave to cool completely, at least 2 hours prior. Add to the coffee the amaretto and keep refrigerated.

2. In a bowl: add the sugar and the eggs yolks, mix until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs start to look pale white (off-white colour), then add the mascarpone and vanilla, folding consistently but delicately. Keep in the fridge.

3. In another bowl: beat egg whites until soft white picks and then add it to the mascarpone mixture, folding softly. Keep in the fridge.

4. In a shallow tray (no more than 6 cm hight) lay 24 lady fingers, close to each other, spoon in the coffee, making sure it is half way covering the cookies, turn them over and spoon coffee again in the same measure. Let the cookies absorb the liquid. This will give you the first layer of cookies, repeat procedure for the second layer.

5. Add a layer of the mascarpone mixture top with the second layer of cookies and top again with mascarpone mixture.

6. Sprinkle the cocoa powder and keep refrigerated at least 3 hours, before serving. Then top with fruits and garnish with mint.

Tips:

1. For the coffee I used instant coffee.

2. I kept the eggs at all times in the fridge as this recipe is a no baking recipe.

3. Mascarpone does not take long to soften, 30 minutes in advance of making the recipe is enough.

4. Berries add just an floral, fresh note to the strong coffee and cream flavour.

Enjoy!