Diana’s Tiramisu Recipe + Podcast/Audio Version

December 21, 2022February 17, 2023 da-AL79 Comments

Want to listen to an audio version of today’s post? Click the Spotify podcast link above. And please give it a follow.

Photo of tiramiso with post's title superimposed. — Want some delicious tiramisu? Here’s how to make it…

Do angels exist in everyday life? Indeed, Cousin Diana was one. Her life was far too short, but such can be the case with the sweetest among us…

Years ago, when my husband and I visited her in Italy, she prepared a fantastic multi-course vegetarian meal that ended with this nirvana-inducing tiramisu. Upon our return to the States, Diana sent me the instructions and helped me with it over the phone.

Recipe can evoke great memories…

Diana was lovely in every way and an amazing cook!

Diana with her husband and kids when they were small.

Born in Argentina, she moved to Italy as a teenager and later worked as a teacher, married, and raised three great kids. Her son, Stefano Ruberti, generously lent us these photos of her.

Tiramisu Recipe

8” x 8” x 2” serving dish or pan
3 medium eggs, extra fresh
2 cups strong coffee, either lukewarm or cold. Decaf and instant work great.
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules to stir into pudding
8 ounces mascarpone, which tastes like an amazing cross between butter and cream cheese.
3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks, 72% to 99%. Grated, or knife chopped, or put the chocolate into a plastic bag and take a hammer to it.
24 regular-sized ladyfingers

Optional Ingredients

2 tablespoons cognac or brandy
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
unsweetened cocoa powder to dust over the final layer

Before You Begin

Assembly takes anywhere between half an hour to an hour, depending on how fast you are around the kitchen. It won’t be ready to eat for another six to twelve hours, as it needs time to set in the fridge. I like to prepare it the night before, then serve it the following afternoon with milk or coffee — or wine!
Review the recipe and visualize the best way to organize things.
Then you’re ready to lay out ingredients and tools such as bowls, pan, whisk or mixer, and mixer or blender for pudding, stuff you’ll use to grate chocolate.
Unwrap ladyfingers and put them into a separate bowl.
Raw eggs are called for and chocolate melts when it’s manipulated too much, so I like to keep things cold and work steadily.

Mixing the pudding

Egg whites: in a separate bowl, whip until stiff.

Bowl of whipped egg whites.
Yolks: in a separate bowl or a blender, beat in 1/2 teaspoon instant granulated coffee, mascarpone, and sugar. Now’s the time to add any “optional ingredients.”

Egg yolks beaten with marscapone, sugar, and a little coffee.
Fold egg whites with egg yolk mixture.

Egg whites folded into egg yolk mixture.

Layering into a pan (you’ll be making 2 layers)

Layer #1

One at a time, dip 12 of the ladyfingers into the coffee liquid and use them to line the bottom of the pan. It’ll take a little practice to figure out how long to let the cookies soak. Too little, and they’ll stay stiff. Too much, and they’ll dissolve. Either way, though, it’ll still be tasty.

A lady finger being dipped into coffee.
Top the cookies with half of the pudding.

The 1st layer of cookies covered with half of the pudding.
Finish the first layer by sprinkling half of the chunked chocolate over it. Now it’s time to do everything the same for the second layer.

Finish the first layer by sprinkling half of the chunked chocolate over it. Then do everything the same for the second layer.

Layer #2

Same as above, dunk another twelve cookies in coffee and layer them across the first layer, all in the same direction as the first bunch.

Dunk the rest of the cookies in coffee, then layer them in the same direction as the previous ones.
Fold any loose sugar from the cookies into the remaining half of the pudding, then spread everything over the top.

Cover the second layer with the remaining pudding.
The second layer for the tiramisu completed with what’s left of the chunked chocolate, and dusted with cacao powder, then chilled for at least 4 hours.

Complete the second layer with what’s left of the chunked chocolate. Dust with cacao powder, then cover and refrigerate at least four hours (longer is better).

Serving it…

Once it has been refrigerated for at least four hours, cut it into squares — It serves 9 to 12 lucky people. If there’s any of the yummy liquid at the bottom of the pan, spoon it over pieces. Keep any leftovers refrigerated and eat them within three days. Tiramisu, once it’s set in the fridge, freezes wonderfully and is also delicious served frozen or thawed!

Does a food or special recipe remind you of a loved one?

DIY Fondant Peonies by Robbie Cheadle

May 20, 2020April 20, 2022 da-AL78 Comments

Click here for an audio version of the blog post that follows.

Staying home makes me hungry, whether it’s to keep safe from disease, the weather, or working on my novels-in-progress! How about you? And when I get hungry, my first thoughts are of sweets! Cute ones are all the more enticing…

Robbie Cheadle is a writing dynamo! Go to her main page for the extensive catalog of books, stories, and videos she’s published out of Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes for all ages; there are her “Sir Chocolate” children’s books (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), her middle-grade “Silly Willy” series, her preteen/young adult fictionalized bio about her mom’s World War II childhood in England, her supernatural and horror stories for adults and young adults, and her poetry!

Photo of author Robbie Cheadle and her fondant peonies.

How to make fondant (sugar dough/paste) peonies, by Robbie Cheadle

My husband’s birthday is approaching, and I wanted to make something special to mark the day, especially as we are likely to still be in some form of COVID-19 lockdown. I decided to make peonies in a dark pink and dust the outer petals with edible gold.

Making the peonies was quite a challenge, as I wanted to get the shape right. Peony petals curl inwards, which means that each layer must be allowed to dry completely inside a correctly sized bowl-shaped container. I made these containers out of tin foil, which I pleated and folded to fit the four different stages of the petals.

You will need…

Fondant coloured dark pink
A large fondant rose cutter
A large and a small ball tool
Edible sugar glue
Peony petal cutters in three sizes (standard pack)
Edible dark pink food colouring powder
Edible gold dust
Two medium-sized paintbrushes
A flower veining tool or toothpick

Process

Mix a quantity of dark pink fondant and place it in a lock zip plastic bag. Take a small amount and roll it out as thinly as possible. Use a thin layer of cornflour on the surface of the fondant when you roll it out to prevent it from sticking. Cut out two rose shapes using your large rose cutter.
Use a ball took or toothpick to frill and flute the edges of the two rose shapes and use the flower veining tool or toothpick to texture the petals. Place in a small silver foil container pleated to round the petals. Allow to dry to the texture of leather.

Roll a bud from fondant with a fatter base and narrower tip. Use a bit of sugar glue to attach it to one of the rose shapes. Paint a small blob of sugar glue on the bottom part of each petal on both sides and wrap the petals around the bud. Use a toothpick to separate the petals and create a rosebud shape. Use sugar glue to attach the enlarged bud to the other rose shape.

Wrap the other shape around the enlarged bud. Leave to dry overnight.

Roll out more dark pink fondant and cut out six peony petals using your smallest peony petal cutter. Frill and flute the edges using a small ball tool or a toothpick. Use the toothpick for flower veining tool to texture the petals.

Place them upside down in a sliver foil container and allow them to dry to the texture of leather.

Dab sugar glue along the bottom half of both edges of the petals and place them around the bud, pressing them firmly into place with your fingers. When all six petals have been placed around the bud, place the flower into a piece of silver foil shaped into a cup. Leave overnight to dry. Your flower will look like this…

The following day cut out six middle-sized peony petals and repeat the steps above. Place in a slightly larger silver foil cup and leave to dry overnight.

Repeat the above process on days three and four, using the large peony petal cutter and slightly larger silver foil cups.

Once the peony is completely dry, use a medium-sized paintbrush dipped into dark pink food colouring power, and smudge it into the centre of the peony. Dip a medium-sized paintbrush into edible gold shimmer dust and paint over the outermost petals until they shimmer and shine.
Your peony flower is now complete.

Photo of Robbie Cheadle's finished fondant peonie. — Robbie Cheadle’s finished fondant peonie.

For step-by-step instruction on how to make more of our fondant artworks, for recipes, and for free audible readings of our free Sir Chocolate books, please visit our YouTube site.

Our YouTube site is a community service project that my two sons and I have started to bring readings of our free Sir Chocolate books and simple recipes to children and their parents to help keep children entertained during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our step-by-step creature videos can be made with children using playdough or fondant.

These are trying times worldwide — perhaps my other posts here and here and here and here and here and here and here will lift your spirits a bit?

Has your eating changed since COVID19?

Recipe: Banana Blueberry Frozen Delight by Khashayar Parsi

July 29, 2019October 5, 2022 da-AL53 Comments

Frozen yogurt made by my honey makes me smile!

Cold, sweet, and creamy! Heck yeah! All those sound absolutely refreshing any time of the year here in Los Angeles. Summer heat, though, especially makes me want to dip my toes into a whispering stream, to nap, or to sip iced coffee along the shore.

Enter ice cream! Better yet, frozen yogurt, because more people can tolerate it, and yogurt’s healthy probiotics withstand freezing. Here’ my sweeter-than-frozen-yogurt husband’s version of sheer indulgence. The photos and captions are by me. (Enjoy more of his recipes here and here and here and here and here and here.)

From any angle, this scoop grins for you!

Banana Blueberry Frozen Delight Recipe by Khashayar Parsi

* European style yogurt, plain full fat, 32 oz.

* Honey, 1.5 cups.

* Banana, 1 large and ripe.

* Blueberries, frozen, half a pound

* Butter, half an average stick.

1. Line a pasta-sized strainer with cheesecloth and and spoon the yogurt into it. Set it over a bowl deep enough to collect the water away from the yogurt while it drains and thickens in the fridge for twelve hours.

Step 1: Save the resulting fabulous liquid, a.k.a. whey, to later enhance everything from drinks and smoothies to soups and bread baking.

2. Cook the berries on low heat to reduce the juice out of the fruit for about thirty minutes.

Step 2: Frozen berries are picked at the height of their season.

3. In a large bowl, use a hand blender to combine the banana, honey, and butter. Add in the thick yogurt and fruit.

Step 3A: Ingredients other than yogurt and berries.

Step 3b: A blend of all but berries and yogurt.

Step 3c: Super dynamite yogurt meets blended tasty fruit and stuff.

Step 3d: Everything stirred together, except the berries. Sorry, I forgot to get a photo of the last step of combining berries into everything.

4. Leave in freezer for 24 hours and serve.

Step 4: Use the yogurt container to freeze the total mix in. On colder days, it tastes amazing at room temperature, too!

What kind of weather makes you want something creamy and chilly?

Breathtaking Bilbao, Spain by da-AL

October 5, 2018October 15, 2018 da-AL35 Comments

The Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, features many American artists, from Frank Geary’s architecture to Jeff Koon’s “Puppy” flower sculpture.

Sure Frank Gehry’s amazing architecture at the Guggenheim Museum helped put a failing Bilbao, Spain back on the map. Front, back, in, and out the Guggenheim Museum, Spain, turns perceptions upside down and inside out (tap or click each photo for more info)…

The river that runs beside Guggenheim Museum Bilbao features innovative structures, lights, and steam.

A shot of me from an upstairs window, admiring Jeff Koons’ “Tulips.”

I’m waving hi to you from the feet of Maman (Ama) by Louise Bourgeois.

However, art and art-worthy architecture abound everywhere in Bilbao.

There's much notable architecture in Bilbao, Spain. — There’s much notable architecture in Bilbao, Spain.

Along the way to the museum, we stopped to see Azkuna Zentroa. Built in 1909, it now houses a building within a building balanced on unusual columns.

Akzuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Spain.

Look up at Akzuna Zentroa to see the bottom of a swimming pool.

The kids’ room at Akzuna Zentroa’s library.

Many amazing columns hold up the inside of Akzuna Zentroa.

In the windows behind me, folks are busy reading!

It’s part of the Spain half of Basque Country. That means that both Spanish and Euskara are spoken. Good food abounds, including pintxos, Northern Spain’s version of small delicious plates of tapas.

Our airbnb hostesses Iciar Ruiz (who owns her own design business) and her daughter, Alba, helped us decide what to see.

Iciar and her daughter made our visit extra nice.

My love and I had just left the beaches of San Sebastián, toured the phenomenal French side of Basque Country, wonderful Huesca, pretty Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and enchanting Espelette. Our adventure started with beautiful Barcelona. There was more for us to see…

Food and Seaside Dogs of San Sebastián, Spain by da-AL

August 17, 2018October 28, 2018 da-AL48 Comments

Ever been around so much scrumptiousness that only way to enjoy it all without exploding was to have little tastes and do a lot of sightseeing? San Sebastián, Spain, is known for pintxos (Northern Spain’s version of tapas), which small delicious plates, and plenty to see. Our incredible vacation kicked off with beautiful Barcelona, then we visited wonderful Huesca, pretty Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, enchanting Espelette, phenomenal French Basque Country. Dedicated readers of this Happiness Between Tails know that my upcoming novel is called “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat” due in part to my love of Spain!

Now we were in San Sebastián, which turns out to be a great place for dogs too! We fortified our energy with pintxos for breakfast…