Tiramisu

My husband's all time favorite dessert is Tiramisu. It's a dessert I'd never tried until we were together. My original, and perhaps most authentic recipe was with raw egg and marscapone cheese. This meant it was expensive and I couldn't bring it anywhere. I was afraid to transport anything with raw egg for fear it would spoil. Finally, I tried a significant shortcut. I'm even ashamed to admit it. I actually used Cool-Whip. It was horrible. We just ate the left over lady fingers for dessert. Joe will probably never let me live it down. I have now figured out some more effective substitutes. For one, I'm now using cream cheese. There is a significant difference in the flavor of plain marscapone and plain cream cheese, but when it's mixed in, the difference is really not evident. Considering it's easier to get and a whole lot cheaper, it'll work as a substitute for me. I've left out the eggs also. Now, I can feel comfortable taking it to a friend's or leaving it out for more than a minute. The one thing I can't substitute is the lady fingers. I only use the lady fingers from the Italian market. In Italian, they're called savioarde. They come in a pack with five, one dozen packs in it. I only use two dozen in the recipe so I think I can get at least two tiramisu's out of it. The kids and Joe usually get to them before I can make a second one.



1 cup strong Coffee

1/2 cup Kahlua

2 dozen Italian Lady Fingers

3 8oz. sticks Cream Cheese

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1/4 cup Sour Cream

Cocoa Powder



Mix together coffee and Kahlua. Layer 1 dozen of the Lady Fingers in a 8"x8" pan. Pour 1/2 cup of coffee/Kahlua mixture over the Lady Fingers. In a mixer, combine cream cheese, sour cream and powdered sugar. When that is completely mixed, blend in 1/4 cup of the coffee/Kahlua mixture. Spread 1/2 of the cream cheese mix over the Lady Fingers. Put another layer of Lady fingers over the cream cheese. Pour over the rest of the coffee/Kahlua mix. Let it soak in for just a minute and then spread the rest of the cream cheese over it. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the tiramisu and refrigerate for at least an hour. It works best to make it early in the day or even the day before. The longer the dessert sets up, the better.