Mixed Berry Tiramisu

With all the berries that have come into season, I could not resist this particular tiramisu recipe when I came across it. I had never made any type of tiramisu before, so I thought this would be a fun project.  As I followed the process, I came to a point where I started questioning the outcome.  I had a watery liquid in my pan. Even though it is not your standard recipe, one thing I did know was it was not supposed to be watery.

I had envisioned it to be served on a plate.  However, now I started to notice the manner of serving that the recipe suggested-a bowl. Then, I sighed as I placed it in the fridge for the last chilling time, calculating just how much this watery mess cost me to make with all the fresh berries.

After 8 hours, to my surprise it all solidified, no runny mess! Also, unlike what the recipe said, it could be served on a plate!  What I had ended up with was a delicious final dessert-crunchy lady fingers covered in a bed of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries with a touch of lime.  Then, to top it all off, is tart mixture of marscapone and lime curd.  In the end, I decided it was perhaps one of the tastiest ways to enjoy a good dose of ice cold berries this season!

Please note that this particular recipe has several components that have to chill for many hours, so read thoroughly before planning to make this.

Mixed Berry Tiramisu with Lime Curd
adapted from Bon Appetit/June 2009

Ingredients/Lime Curd 
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tbs lime peel
pinch of salt
5 egg yolks

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Once melted, remove from heat.  Then stir in lime juice, lime peel, sugar and salt.   In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together.  Pour the egg yolks into the saucepan with the butter and lime.  Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until curd thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon.  A thermometer should register 165 degrees and cook time is about 10-15 minutes.

Place a mesh strainer over a heat proof bowl and pour curd into bowl.  Then place plastic wrap all over the surface of the curd.  Place in the refrigerator and chill overnight.

Ingredients/Filling and Base
1/2 cup water (for berries)
1/3 cup water (for syrup)
3 tbs lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
3- 1 1/2 inch lime peel strips
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 7oz package of ladyfingers ( or make your own, as I did, recipe here  )

For the berry mixture, stir together powdered sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan.  Then fill with  blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Place over medium high heat and simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Turn down heat to medium and let cook for 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.  After cooked, berries will be soft but still intact. Mix in the lime juice.  Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature. Once it reaches room temperature, fold in strawberries.  Cover and chill for 4 hours.

For the syrup, place 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar and lime peel strips in a saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Remove and let cool to room temperature and discard lime peel.  Then brush the syrup all over the ladyfingers, the top as well as the bottom.  Place in a 9X13 inch glass baking dish.  Make sure cookies cover the whole bottom of the pan, you may need to cut them to fit.  Then pour the chilled berry mixture over the top, smoothing so all ladyfingers are covered. Set aside.

Ingredients/ Top Layer
2 1/2- 8 oz containers or 20 oz of mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 recipe lime curd (above)

Beat together mascarpone and whipping cream until thickened and blended.  Then beat in the lime curd.   Using a large spoon drop dollups of the topping onto the cold berries.  Then smooth the top, making sure that all the berries are covered.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours.
After eight hours, cut and serve.

Tips and Notes:
1. To make sure that your dish will be ready by lunch, you will need to prepare the lime curd, berry mixture and (if you make them) lady fingers 2 days in advance and compile the dessert and chill one day in advance.
2. Pan does not need greasing, dessert comes cleanly and easily out of pan.
3. I used only 16 oz of mascarpone and 1/4 cup and 2 tbs of whipping cream with the lime curd and it was enough to cover.  How much you use or how thick you want the topping is at your discretion.
4. When beating marscarpone and whipped cream, do not over do it for it may curdle.
                      **LAST YEAR: 50/50 Biscuits**

 

Black Pond Cupcakes

With the white around the black, this made me think of wintertime and black ice, hence the name of these cupcakes.

I was wanting to actually make a cupcake out of the traditional flavors of  cheesecake, which is berries and cream.  The cake part actually is includes of cream cheese and ground vanilla beans.  The topping is quartered berries tossed in a heated sugar sauce and around the pond is a cream cheese whipped icing.

It all comes together in a wonderful bite of fluffy cake, creamy icing and juicy berries!  I will be making these again.  I am so happy they turned out, because I was really worried about them being dense with the cream cheese in there.  I cannot wait to see the faces when I donate these!  This recipe makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

Black Pond Cupcakes

Ingredients/Cake
by flourtrader

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp ground vanilla beans
3/4 cup plus 2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 lb cream cheese
2 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease top edge of 18 muffin cavities and line with cupcake papers.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ground vanilla beans.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat 4 eggs on high speed for 3 minutes.  Fill a third bowl with the sugar, oil and cream cheese, beat for about a minute.  Then beat in the eggs until blended.  Lastly, fold in the sifted ingredients.

Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, put batter into each cavity, filling about 3/4 full.  Place in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  This should take about 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pans for 2 minutes and then place on rack to finish cooling.  Do not top until completely cool.

Ingredients/Fruit topping
by flourtrader

2 pints of blackberries*
2 tsp of cornstarch
1 tbs sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Rinse and quarter the blackberries and place in a bowl.  In a small saucepan, mix together all other ingredients and place over medium high heat.  Stir as the mixture cooks and once it comes to a boil, remove pan from heat.  Toss berries in sauce and then drain in a colander.  Place about one tablespoon of berry mixture in the center of each cupcake, making sure you leave a border around the outside edge.

*You made need more, depending of how much topping you want on your cupcakes.

Ingredients/Whipped Cream Icing
adapted from All Recipes

1 eight oz package reduced fat cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup of white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups of heavy or regular whipping cream

Combine all ingredients, except the whipping cream, in a large bowl by using a regular or stand mixer.  While the mixer is still running, slowly add the cream.  Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Using a large tip and piping bag, pipe a border around the outside edge of cupcakes, encompassing the fruit topping.
                               **LAST YEAR:Key Lime Crumb Cake**

Peach and Blackberry Dumplings

Dumplings-that word conjures up many different varieties of food.  Some people naturally think of a savory dish like chicken and dumplings and others think of Asian style dumplings. The thought of fruit dumplings rarely comes to mind.

After reading the title, I envisioned a dessert with a toasty biscuit top and a pie-like bottom.  However, I ended up with soft, airy and sweet dumplings on top of juice and chunks of fruit. Being wrong, in this case, was a delicious surprise.   The addition of wine to the fruit really enhanced the flavor over all.  Also, the dumplings held up well in spite of the high liquidity of the fruit.

The other favorable thing about this recipe is that it requires very little time to prepare.

Peach and Blackberry Dumplings
courtesy of From the Earth to the Table Cookbook

Ingredients/Dumplings
1/2 cup buttermilk (or a little more if needed)
1 egg, separated
1 tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour

Ingredients/Fruit Bottom
1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries
4 cups peeled and sliced peaches
1 1/4 cups fruity white wine
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar

To make the batter, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and 2 tsp of sugar and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white to a soft peak consistency. Set it aside also.

Then, using another bowl, stir together the egg yolk, melted butter and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk until completely blended together.  Pour the flour mixture into the batter and mix until no more flour streaks remain.  The batter should now be like a drop biscuit dough.  If it seems too dry, add more buttermilk in teaspoon quantities until the right consistency is achieved.  Lastly, fold the egg white into the batter and set aside.

For the fruit bottom, fill a 4 quart pan (also need to have a lid) with the sugar, ginger, cinnamon and wine.  Stir all ingredients and place pan over medium high heat.  Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Add the fruit and cook, uncovered, for three minutes.

Then, take the dough and drop by spoonfuls on top of the cooking fruit.  Cover the pan with the lid and set timer for 8 minutes.  After eight minutes, check to see if dumplings are firm.  If not cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve warm.  This also can be served with whipped cream or ice cream on top. Enjoy!