Naughty Tiramisu

I've been making tiramisu for quite sometime and my friends love it! They keep on asking for recipes (which I gave them). But, knowing me, I like to create a twist to the classic dessert and came up with Naughty Tiramisu.

Why naughty? It's actually a word play - nutty, naughty, naughty, nutty - with my son :-)

Here's how it goes:

Naughty Tiramisu (for 2 7"x9" dish - I always have to make two or else....)

Naughty bits
7 T sugar
2 T butter
some toasted chopped almonds, or walnuts, or pecans, or pistachios, or.....

Grease a baking pan. Caramelize sugar and butter then mix in the toasted chopped almonds. Pour onto the greased baking pan. Let cool. When cool, remove from the pan and chop coarsely.

The Tiramisu Part

Cheese filling
6 eggs, separated
3T sugar
500g mascaporne cheese
some amaretto liquer

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add in 1.5 T sugar. Beat until soft peaks form.

Beat egg yolks and the remaining sugar. Then beat in the mascaporne cheese and liquer until smooth (no lumps at all).

Gently mix the egg white mixture to the cheese mixture. Set aside.

Coffee-Amaretto soaked sponge fingers
Sponge fingers (about 32 pcs)
1/2 cup espresso
1/2 cup amaretto liquer - I'm alcoholic :-)

Soak or dip the sponge finger for about a second or two so the outside has the coffee-amaretto mixture and the inside is still dry. Sponge fingers absorb liquids really fast so you have to be quick! Do not oversoak or it will be soggy. You wouldn't want that.


To assemble:

1. Put a layer of cheese filling (about 1/6th of the mixture) on the dish.
2. On top of the cheese layer, put a layer of cofee-amaretto soaked sponge fingers, lined nicely.
3. Sprinkle 1/4 of the naughty bits.
4. Spread a layer of cheese filling.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4.
6. Cover with a cling wrap and put in the fridge (for at least 3 hours). If you can't wait, put in the freezer for about 1/2 hour.
7. Dust with good quality cocoa before serving.

You will definitely enjoy the crunch as it makes you chew more, and the more you chew, the more you taste the cofee-almond-caramel-cream combination. Heavenly!