Update

So in a very belated update, my liver and onions entry was not such a great success. You can see the other entries at the UIUC Edible Book Festival page here (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ediblebooks/). I do find it interesting, however, that, while the judges apparently found little merit in my entry, they chose to use a photo of my entry on the 2009 homepage (which is good, because I seem to have deleted the ones I took), and that the observers not only ate the tiramisu, but they also ate every single Brussels sprout--the liver, on the other hand, was not such a big hit.

The Tiramisu and the Ecstasy

So, this week in the home test kitchen I am making tiramisu. Why? Well, mostly due to bad planning. Like the great genius that I am, I cleverly entered the Edible Book Contest, even though I only found out about it a week in advance (It is tomorrow/today). My first thought was, “Swell, things to look forward to for next year.” My second thought was, “Ooh! It would be really funny to cook liver and onions with some nice Brussels sprouts and set a little dish of tiramisu on the plate and call it The Agony and the Ecstasy.” HAHAHAHAHA. Sigh. Never mind that I have never made tiramisu. I can’t even remember the last time I ate any. I definitely have no memory of what it should taste, feel, or look like. But that shouldn’t matter, since I have this super simple recipe that is quick and easy and no trouble at all. Just a trip to the grocery store…

Round1:

Buy lots of stuff. Chop chocolate, heat cream, pour over chocolate, stir, melt, add mascarpone, chill for 6 hours. Beat until fluffy and stiff. That doesn’t sound right, but what do I know, I’ve never done this before.

That doesn’t look right either.

Tastes ok, though. Still, appearances do count here.

Fortunately, I was expecting to make this twice. Once for why I am making it now and once to feed to real people who came over for dinner last week (made a rhubarb and strawberry crumble instead, which was much better than this mess), so I do not have to go back to the store (yet).

Round 2:

Look in cookbooks, look online, raw eggs, raw eggs (I love raw eggs, but not in food that has to sit around on a table at the YMCA for multiple hours and then get eaten by judges and other random bystanders.), recipe without raw eggs J. Follow recipe, end up with pastry cream that has been moderately thickened by mascarpone, add other random ingredients: left over whipped cream, some of the above chocolate goo. Make test tiramisus (tiramisi?) with various fillings.

Taste test:

Pastry cream wins by a wide margin, but is still not very interesting.

Round 3:

Understand the nature of a zabaglione, go back to the store: marsala wine, more mascarpone, cream, and eggs, as well as gin, sweet vermouth, and chocolate (I had run out of these important pantry staples*). Whisk yolks and sugar over 2X boiler, wait for thickening, add marsala, panic, observe thickening, cool in fridge. Make whipped cream, realize I didn’t get enough mascarpone, divide the whipped cream and zabaglione in half, add the mascarpone to the whipped cream that I only thought I divided in half, sigh, add the zabaglione and the bit of mascarpone still left over from round 2. Brew more coffee (not for me, for the ladyfingers), assemble mini tiramisus, clean kitchen, go to bed and hope I don’t dream about the calf’s liver that I have to cook in the morning. Do you think that I can tell them that they can only eat the tiramisu if they eat at least 4 bites of liver and 3 Brussels sprouts?

*Open bottles of vermouth should live in the fridge, not the pantry.