It’s like midnightish on Saturday, so this will show up on Sunday, but it I’m hoping RA and co. won’t get all heavy on me. I made this on Friday! I just had to guest star on a Bryan Adams cover track all day in a recording studio! NO JOKE! My life is actually that awesome!
Anyhow, Ross and I had a pasta party, as he mentioned, where our spouses humored our enthusiasm (well, Ross’s enthusiasm and my natural bossiness) and waited until 10pm to eat delicious fresh pasta, AS PICTURED:
As you can see, the spouses were well-pleased.
OK but my real recipe entry for Whip It Up is Tiramisu Cookies!
Recipe below copied directly from MarthaStewart.com (cookie of the month, May 2008) with my customizations in italics!
These cookies involve all the best parts of tiramisu — ladyfingers, espresso, chocolate, mascarpone cheese (the most widely-mispronounced cheese in all of cheesedom), and amaretto. And my slipshod success with them reassures me that no matter how much I enjoy making fun of Martha’s dubious grasp on reality, her instructions are pretty sound. I’m a seasoned baker, but I rushed through this recipe so that I could pay more attention to Hellboy, which my husband and I were watching on DVD. A less experienced pastry bag wielder should take their time. And by time, I mean like a hundred hours, because that’s how long these cookies took to make. In fact, just go get some Newman-Os and call it a day.
Makes 30
Ingredients:
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder (best ingredient ever)
- 1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, for dusting (there is no way that regular Hershey’s cocoa won’t also work, Martha)
- 3/4 cup mascarpone cheese (that’s MASK-ar-PONE! Mascarpone! Not marscapone!)
- 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I measured first by accident, which means I used less sugar, and it was still super sweet, so I feel like you can reduce the sugar)
- 3 tablespoons almond-flavored liqueur, such as amaretto
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (large) baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat yolks and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until pale and stiff, about 3 minutes. Add espresso powder, and beat for 2 minutes. Add flour, and beat until just combined. (Mixture will be very thick.) (Like, super thick)
- In a clean bowl, using a clean whisk attachment, beat whites and salt on medium speed until foamy. With the machine running, add remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a slow stream, beating until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold whites into yolk mixture in 3 additions until well combined.
- Using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806) (or a disposable plastic pastry bag with the tip cut off at about the 1/2-inch mark), pipe batter onto baking sheets into 60 lines that are 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, spacing 1 inch apart. Dust with cocoa.
- Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 12 to 14 minutes (I’d say 12 if you’re using metal sheets). Let cool completely on parchment on wire racks. (Cookies can be stored for up to 3 days.)
- Stir together mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar, liqueur, and vanilla until well combined. Cover, and refrigerate for 15 minutes (or up to 3 days).
- When ready to serve, brush the cookies’ flat sides with melted chocolate. Refrigerate, flat side up, until chocolate is firm, about 10 minutes.
- Spread a generous 1/2 teaspoon mascarpone filling over chocolate side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Serve immediately.
- Was the recipe easy to follow: Yes, Martha’s people know how to write a clear recipe, they just overestimate our powers again and again. “Easy to follow” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “easy.”
- Did the dish taste good: Yeah, it tasted excellent. But I sort of wished I’d just had tiramisu proper.
- Would you make it again: Only if requested. I could probably make it look a lot prettier if it weren’t for Hellboy’s distracting horns. (If we’re talking about the fresh pasta, you betcha. Store-bought pasta doesn’t hold a candle to that tender, delicious stuff.)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
“I’m hoping RA and co. won’t get all heavy on me.” Did Ross paint me in a punitive nature? If he did, he is correct, but I will go easy on y’all and just give you a WARNING. Next time, watch out! (Just kidding. Although I am a stickler. Your frantic e-mail was endearing.)
In other news, I am super duper impressed with your homemade pasta! It is on my “before I die” list, so someday…
July 13th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
[…] Home to rest. Homemade pesto pasta party! To bed […]
July 18th, 2008 at 9:39 am
[…] thought her Tiramisu Cookies were delicious, but warns that they take “a hundred hours” to […]