The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
This has not been an easy challenge (that's a contradiction in terms isn't it?). Firstly, I got dry ladyfingers and secondly, it took me nearly an hour to get the mascarpone to 190F. I think these problems are solvable - my next ladyfingers batch will stay in the oven for less time and I'll place my special tin ladyfingers tray on top of another, firmer sheet. That way the sponge won't get so much direct heat. The mascarpone problem will probably be solved if I just follow the instructions and use the right kind of cream. My supermarket has only one kind of cream, the highly pasteurized kind. This will be a good excuse to go to Wholefoods in Manhattan and maybe indulge in a little stroll around Williams Sonoma as well. (The mascarpone did set overnight in the fridge though but it didn't have much texture; more like yoghurt.)
The Zabaglione - fabulous, 10 out of 10. Easy and quick to make.
The Pastry Cream - also fabulous, 10 out of 10. I love the lemon flavor.
Next day: I made another batch of ladyfingers.
Batch 2 of the Ladyfingers worked out much better - using the same recipe, I baked them for about 12 minutes and placed a baking tray underneath the ladyfinger pan.
The verdict? They loved it at work and I feel very happy that I have learned to make such a wonderful dessert. Making it the next time won't be so difficult, I am sure, as I will know what to expect.
