Tiramisu…. a great “pick me up”

I came up with this recipe after trying so many different ones… I find some are too heavy, some too light, some too bland..so I took them all and created my own version.  And this version I find is probably the healthier version of this dessert… I like it a lot..no, I love it a lot.  My favourite dessert of all time.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vanilla flavoured coffee syrup
• 1 envelope Knox unflavoured gelatine
• 454g light ricotta cheese
• 250g Quark or baking cheese (found at Superstore or Save-on-foods)
• 250g  light cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt ( a thicker variety)
• 2 Tbsp coffee flavoured liqueur (such as Kahluah)
• 36 ladyfingers – buy the version that is lower in sugar
• 3/4 cup extra-strong brewed coffee, cooled or same amount of boiling water and 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
• 2 Tbsp Kahluah for the ladyfingers
• 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate for grating

Directions

1.  First make the filling.  Warm up the syrup in a small pot or you can also heat in microwave and then sprinkle the gelatine over top to soften. Set aside.

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Put the ricotta, cheese and yogurt in food processor or Vitamix and whirl until smooth.  Stir warm syrup-gelatine and add it to mixture along with 2 Tbsp of the liqueur.  Whirl again until smooth and set aside.

3.  Combine the cooled coffee and rest of liqueur in a shallow bowl.  You you have to dip each ladyfinger in coffee mixture and shake off the excess.  You have to make sure that you don’t soak them or they will fall apart on you; just a really quick dunk. 

4.  Line the sides of a trifle dish with ladyfingers to make it look like a crown (stand them up).  Also cover the bottom of dish with more fingers.  You’ll probably have to cut or break them to make the fit the best way possible. 

5.  Now spoon about 1/2 of the filling over the fingers.  Grate some chocolate over cheese filling until covered.  It’s best to use the finest holes of grater). 

6.  Repeat with layering:  ladyfingers, filling, chocolate.  Finish off with a the cheese mixture and grated chocolate.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 8 hours or overnight. 

7.  Serve tiramisu in dessert dishes.  You can also top with fresh fruit if you want. 

It kind of fell apart on me..didn’t leave it in the fridge long enough.