tropical tiramisu February 26, 2008

I am so not a chocolate eater. I think we’ve been over this before. I am a total sucker for fruity and cakey desserts. Creme brulee, too. Key Lime Pie…and…oh goodness…pineapple upside down cake. Drool.

The upcoming RootSource Challenge – hosted by CookThink – was to use pineapple in your recipe. Rather than try to use it in some sort of rice dish – or in the typical upside down dessert – I wanted to do something a little different. This just so happened to coincide with a shoot that I was working on for a client. There were some recipes that they were developing to post on their website lying around – I never talk about clients on this blog…but when you’re there, you’re family, ok?

The recipe for Pineapple Tiramisu caught my eye. Talk about a dream dessert – all of the creamy, custardy, Mascarpone-y goodness of tiramisu with a blast of fruit flavor! I was sold.  It is everything I had hoped it would be – creamy and sweet but not overly so…and punctuated by juicy pineapple taste and texture.

I changed the recipe up my making them in individual spring-form pans – 4 small pans will be filled by this recipe. This also helped in keeping its shape. If you don’t care about that, make it in a trifle bowl or individual dishes. I also soaked the ladyfingers in an equal mixture of Malibu Pineapple Rum and pineapple juice. Instead of covering the top of my forms with the berries, I wanted to show off the ring on the top. So, instead, I garnished with a few blackberries and powdered sugar. Any mixture of fruit to garnish – as well as mint or basil – would be tasty and beautiful. When making this recipe, beat the crap out of the eggs. Seriously. Until clear, at least. You will regret it if you don’t. I also recommend refrigerating this for longer than an hour – several hours to overnight would be best.

Pineapple Tiramisu – recipe originally found here – serves 4

• ½ cup pasteurized egg yolks
• 1 lb Mascarpone cheese
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1 pineapple
• 1 box of lady fingers
• 4 strawberries, cut half
• ¼ pint wild berries

-  WHISK egg yolks and 4 tbsp sugar together in a mixing bowl. When the color turns clear, add mascarpone cheese and stir until consistency is smooth.

   -  REMOVE skin from pineapple with a large knife. Cut in half and remove core. Cut a 1 inch slice from the bottom. Place in a food processor with 2 tbsp sugar. Pulse until fruit is finely chopped and has released juice.
   -  DRAIN contents into a strainer and preserve juice. Discard chopped pineapple in strainer.
   -  CUT remaining pineapple into 1 inch slices.

LAYERING THE TIRAMISU:

   - SOAK 10 lady fingers in pineapple juice until liquid is absorbed. Do not allow them to sit too long.
   -  PLACE a layer of lady fingers in a round mold. Cover lady fingers with slices of pineapple.
   - ADD a thick layer of mascarpone cream. Repeat process.
   - GARNISH by alternating lady finders, remaining pineapple slices, sliced strawberries and wild berries.
   - REFRIGERATE for a minimum of 1 hour before serving.

All Images & Content Copyright © 2012 Tami Hardeman.