Recipe: Tiramisu

This year for Thanksgiving, I decided to try my hand at something on my 101 list... homemade tiramisu! It was a bit of a daunting task but I was quite content with the results.

I used this recipe from Chef's Pencil because it was a "no-cook" and the YouTube video below made it look pretty simple.

Here is my modified recipe:

For The Tiramisu

• 6 Egg Yolks
• 4 Egg Whites
• 2 ounces of sugar
• 12 ounces grams mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 2 cups coffee (cooled to room temperature)
• 1 cup Kahlua
• Approx 48 ladyfingers (savoiardi biscuits)
• 9x13 inch dish
• Electric cake mixer

Notes on ingredients: I have the great fortune to be a Californian, so I was able to purchase the mascarpone cheese and ladyfingers from Trader Joe's. I'm also not a coffee drinker, so I used what I had on hand -- two packets of instant coffee mix that happened to be vanilla latte flavored. This, combined with the Kahlua, made the tiramisu turn out very sweet despite my cutting the sugar in 1/3.

Also, most tiramisu recipes call for rum, but you can substitute just about any liqueur for it. I chose Kahlua because I would actually drink the rest of the bottle and the coffee cream Kahlua would get a little more "coffee flavor" in it, since it wouldn't have much otherwise.

Steps:

• Add the egg yolks & half the sugar to mixer bowl
• Whisk on high speed until light & creamy
• Add the mascarpone cheese & mix on medium speed, until just combined
• Add the cream and whisk for approximately another 2 minutes (until thick & creamy)
• Use a new mixing bowl and dry the whisk
• Pour the egg whites into the mixing bowl
• Whisk on high speed until soft peaks
• Continue whisking and slowly add remaining sugar (1 tablespoon at a time)
• Continue whisking until stiff peaks
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold half of the egg whites into the cream mixture in the large bowl
• Once they are just combined fold through the remaining egg whites
• Add the Kahlua to the coffee
• Soak the biscuits in the coffee mix one at a time for a few seconds, drain and arrange in the dish
• Once one layer of biscuits is completed in the dish, spread on an even layer of the cream mixture
• Place another layer of soaked biscuits on the cream
• Top and spread with a final layer of the cream
• Smooth the top and garnish with some freshly grated quality chocolate -- I used one of my favorites -- sugar free Amberlyn dark chocolate mint
• Set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

• To make individual portion servings, simply break biscuits into appropriate smaller size before soaking and prepare in the same way as above but in each glass or bowl

Notes: It might have something to do with the particular brand of ladyfingers I was using, but "soaking it for a few seconds" wasn't very effective in allowing the coffee/Kahlua to seep through the entire biscuit. It was more effective to dip it and shake the ladyfinger around a little in the liquid.

Some people may have concerns about the raw egg, but I don't think it had much of an impact on the finished product. Most likely, I will try my hand at the cooked one next time and possibly a variant of hot chocolate in place of coffee.

Here is one of the individual servings I made with the leftover ingredients. (The recipes calls for 12 oz and the marscapone cheese at Trader Joe's comes in 8oz so I bought two and made some extra.) Perfect afternoon snack.

Enjoy!

Day 08

Day 08 has been the hardest one so far. I don't like to store or look at pictures that trigger anger or sadness, so I had to dig for this one. I finally decided on my vanilla extract "failure" pictures because I'm still disappointed that it didn't work out. After I threw $50 worth of materials down the drain, I found out from a vanilla extract manufacturing company that my results were typical and I jumped the gun. Bummer. =(

Day 01 — Your favorite movie

Day 02 — Your favorite song

Day 03 — Your favorite television program

Day 04 — Your favorite book

Day 05 — Your favorite quote

Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy

Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad

Things I've Learned So Far This Year...

We're not terribly far into 2010 but it's already been a great learning year.

• Reading a cookie book right before bed is a bad idea. (Thanks a lot, Martha Stewart.)

• Finding out that I can put books on hold at the library via the online catalog is the best thing that's happened to my intellectual stimulation since Mental Floss. It's a million times easier to just add them to my list as I think of them and pick them up all together.

• It's so easy to fall behind on blogging! I'm stealing an idea for recharging this blog though and you'll see it very soon.

• GoogleMaps lies sometimes. Unpleasantness ensues.

• Google Mail is actually waaaaaaaaaaay easier and better to use than Yahoo! Mail. At first, I thought it was just because I was used to gmail... but then I got used to Y!mail and then it felt more like whymail. I'm actually considering writing a full post to highlight some gmail functionalities that make it so great.

• I kind of miss WoW like a lot... and I have a battle.net hacker to thank for reminding me how fun the game was.

A Hot Cup of... Soy Sauce?

I was out to lunch with a fellow Toastmaster today at a Japanese restaurant and found something new on the table. Instead of your tradition soy sauce containers, there was this:

A tiny teapot used to hold soy sauce!

I took a picture of it next to my tea cup for scale. (The tea "cup" was about the size of a large mug.)

What a cute idea, using non-traditional containers for condiments! I should try this at my next party/event!

Post-24

Thanks for the birthday wishes, blogging buddies!

We had a delicious dinner at Buca di Beppo, complete with tiramisu and a "Buca-sized cupcake" (pictured below). If you've never been to a Buca di Beppo, you absolutely must. It's a family-style Italian restaurant, so don't go unless there is at least 4 of you. I think the biggest group I ever had at Buca was 20-something people, about 1/3 of my floor in the residence hall first year of college for the end-of-the-year dinner.

This is what they mean by "Buca-sized" cupcake. Pretty big.

The most amusing part of the evening had to be when they came to sing "Happy Birthday" to "Janine." Well, I've heard some interesting butchering of my name but that was a new one. Also, they've started singing a new birthday song there -- the lyrics consisted of references to spaghetti and meatballs -- and NONE OF THEM knew how to sing it, much less the diners. So it was an awkward 30 seconds of humming along with the waiters, who were bumbling along with the written lyrics since they hadn't learned it yet.

Afterward, we hit up The Hip Kitty, a jazz lounge and fondue bar in Claremont, where a band we knew was jamming.

Thanks for coming out despite the pouring rain! If I hadn't gotten out that night, I'd have crazy cabin fever right now from the nonstop rain. And don't think I'm just being a whiny Californian, because there's no rain like Taiwan rain in April (where it basically poured nonstop for 3 weeks and I was in a Californian's nightmare).

Sun, come back soon, please!

Vanilla Extract Project: Failure

So, I went to check on my vanilla extract project and found it to be a failure.

Oh yeah, they look fine from far, but look closer and you'd see this:

Um... what? Is that mold in 80 proof vodka??

(I made the image a little smaller so you don't have to see the detail in its gross glory.)

Just like that, $50 down the drain. I don't really know what went wrong here but I made this little image of some possibilities:

I'm still surprised that mold can grow at all in 80 proof vodka. I accidentally knocked one of the bottles over without any spillage so I don't think it's the airtight issue. Although, it looked like a lot of recipes I found online used mason jars. It doesn't really make much sense for it to grow mold just because it wasn't covered all the way, especially since only the submerged part grew. And the vodka? It's vodka.

I'm thinking it's the Rodelle beans. What do you guys think? I don't know what else to change for the next time I try this.

Potlucks Galore

I need a recipe book for potlucks. I'm slated for FOUR potlucks this month alone, five if you count Thanksgiving being so close to Dec. I can't keep making the same dishes.

Any recommendations? Do you usually make a big batch of things that can be scooped up (like salads) or things that can be picked up one by one (like shrimp)?

Just Checking In

Hi all,

I just wanted to drop in to say hello and sorry for skipping PINT today. Like I mentioned before, I'm working on two holiday parties as well as a bachelorette party. I've spent the last 2 days teaching myself how to use Adobe Illustrator to make fliers! (It's kind of hard.)

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday. I'm still deciding what to make for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, I made vanilla bean mousse. What kind of less-than-traditional dishes are you serving this year?

Vanilla Extract Project

After sitting on this idea for several months, I finally decided to start my Vanilla Extract Project a.k.a. homemade vanilla extract. I read a lot of variations on the recipe so I just kind of... meshed them together. Here's my version!

Step 1: Round up your supplies.

Supplies (left to right, clockwise):

• Measuring cup - actually, this was just for making pouring easier. I didn't measure the exact amount that went into each bottle but they held about half a cup of liquid.
• Funnel - unless you're extremely patient and have excellent hand-eye coordination, you need this for pouring. I am not.
• Alcohol - I used vodka but I read that rum and gin were also popular choices. I chose Belvedere because a State guy once swore by it while making fun of Grey Goose. (And we all know those SDSU kids know their alcohol. =P)
• Vanilla Beans - I got Rodelle vanilla beans from Costco, which come in these 2-pack fancy glass containers of 5 each. (10 beans, for I believe $12.something.) These beans were okay but I liked the organic ones I got from the food co-op better, so next time I will probably not get the Costco ones again.
• Vinegar/Oil bottles - I got mine at Michael's crafts... Sorry I don't remember the exact price but they are definitely reasonable, plus it comes with the cork.
• Cutting board and knife - self-explanatory.

Step 2: Cut your vanilla beans length-wise.

(I had no idea this was vanilla looked like before I did my first vanilla project... I bet you never knew vanilla beans were really just the little tiny black specks in your vanilla ice cream. Vanilla not looking so bland anymore, is it?)

Step 3: Use one vanilla bean per bottle and carefully pour the vodka in each one. Pour slow! You don't want to spill a bunch of vodka like I did. =(

Step 4: Cork your bottles tightly and store in a cool, dark place out of sunlight. The proportion I used is 1/2 cup vodka to 1 vanilla bean, so according to the websites I read, this will be ready to use in about 8 weeks.

The vodka started changing color less than 5 minutes after I finished corking them all. You can see a slight yellowish tinge in these pictures. Since the liquid is less in these bottles, it will be stronger extract. For a weaker extract, use 1 cup of liquid or just half of a bean. It will be a very dark brown when it's ready to use.

Have you ever made vanilla extract? How was it?

A Guide to Food Photography

Look what I found! An amazing walk-through on how to do food photography from Matt Wright, at wrightfood!

Matt talks about camera choices, image formats, and most importantly lighting and composition in this thorough how-to, which really only covers the basics of photography! Thanks Matt!

Me, I'm still using my little Canon PowerShot (which I love, actually) but I'm definitely going to make good use of the tips on lighting.

Weekend Finds

Tyler Durden's guide to personal finance

What your doctors don't have time to tell you (via CNN)

Love this Löopa Gyro Bowl that stays upright no matter how your child carries it. (via mental floss)

Did you hear about the student who killed an intruder with a sword?

5-pound gummy bear (via the awesomer). (Alternatively, you can do what my friend did and allow a giant container of gummy bears to melt together and eat that.)

Make your own Tetris ice cubes with this nifty tray (via the awesomer)

150 things to do when you're bored

How Facebook can ruin your friendships

Food Blog Crush Round-Up

This week, I'm totally lovin' on some food blogs that make me drool all over my keyboard. As you may have noticed, I am somewhat fond of taking pictures of food. I'm always marveling at genuine undoctored (aka non-Photoshopped) food photos. If you FaceBook friend me, you'll find that I have my own photo album of food I made, appropriately titled "Food I Made."

Food Blogs I'm crushing on:

-True to her word, Dionne is my new best friend for showing me food gawker. It is basically tumblr for food.

-The Food Librarian has been a long time favorite of mine. Her persistent aspirations to make everything from scratch always inspires me.

-Of course, there's my good friend Tammi at Barefoot Vegan, who should really share more recipes. She was the one who showed me This Is Why You're Thin.

-Pink Parsley by Josie has fantastic step-by-step recipes with some creative twists.

-And, of course, I can't go without mentioning my ultimate go-to for recipes - All Recipes.

Happy cooking!

Healthy Morning

After yoga today, I fixed myself a little mid-morning snack of whole wheat crackers topped with Trader's Joe Peanut Butter and a glass of Naked Juice Orange Juice.

I feel wholesome and healthy. =)

P.S. I know the crackers are a little less than wholesome but I get partial credit for whole wheat, right? At least the PB and OJ are just about as pure as it can get.

Weekend Finds

Adorable radish mushroom how-to (from Brenda)

(note: the hand in the photo is Brenda's, not mine. =P)

Star Wars Then and Now

Tauntaun sleeping bag (also Star Wars), via thinkgeek

Shiny, new stainless steel iPod shuffle

The correct way to dispose of your old credit cards to prevent identity theft. (via LifeHacker)

Loving this new blog - You'd Be Pretty If... (via Already Pretty)

Joanna has return from her honeymoon! Welcome back!

This giant rubber duckie is amazing.

How to make roses out of maple leaves

Top 25 "Most Badass Personal Finance Blogs"

Aloha!

This weekend, I went to Clement's company picnic, which had a Hawaiian theme! We got there early to help set up and stuck around all the way through the end. Some of the guys who left early even left us their raffle tickets so we wound up "winning" this coconut, which was a prop in one of the games!

They put together a great event with several games, a watermelon eating contest, and, of course, delicious BBQ. Let's not forget the bounce house!

It was sort of a nice way to say goodbye to summer, one last romp in the sun before fall comes rolling around with its cool weather and cute ankle boots. Hello, fall, it's good to see you again!

LA County Fair

I got to cross something off my Summer Checklist and my 101 in 1001 by going to the fair yesterday and getting this "Totally Fried Chocolate Covered Twinkie".

I know, this is 5 kinds of unhealthy and probably enough calories for the entire day... but look at it!

Clement, thinking "why the heck did this cost $3.75?"

Actually, it was a decent snack but I would never rave about it. The "Totally Fried" booth also had s'mores, White Castle burgers, chicken kabobs, and a Krispy Kreme hamburger... yes, it's what you would think -- a burger, except replace the buns with a doughnut.

Sheri, the bride-to-be to whom I will be MOH later this year, raved about the chocolate-covered bacon that was nowhere to be found when I was wandering around later. Sure, there were lots of signs that promised it but, alas.... "chocolate-covered bacon" everywhere but not a heart attack snack to eat.

And, FYI, I am totally smitten with Royal Prestige cookware after sitting through an amazing demostration. Anyone by any chance have a testimony to give about it?

How was your Labor Day weekend?

Weekend Finds

Look how adorable this bride is! Since I'm also quite short, I hope I look this adorable at my wedding!

(image by Gene Higa - via Bustle, a division of Liz Beck Events, of which my two pals Amy and Pam are interns!)

100 Ways to Use A Strip of Bacon (via Mental Floss, downstream from Endless Simmer). I actually saw the little bacon cups myself a while ago on Not Martha.)

Get your kids to play outdoor games, even if you have to trick them.

Wonder how effective these anti-theft stickers are...

Yummy, cookie tables!

Apparently, the correct way to peel a banana...

Wisdom from the Dalai Lama (via Mental Floss)

4 Perfectly Round Circles

Hilarious n00b boyfriend video!

Amazing Flickr streams - official stream for President Obama and Michael Hughes, who superimposes souvenirs over the actual landmarks.

Daily Joy: Homemade Food

Day 3 of Daily Be's Daily Joy photojournal week!

Daily Joy: Homemade Food

Hands down, the biggest perk to moving home is Mom food. This picture was actually a joint effort by my mom and dad - home-cooked lad na. The sauce is a gravy made from beef stock and we picked up the noodles from the grocery store just hours before this went on the table. So delicious.

I hope I don't gain back all my college weight eating home food. O.O

Mouth-Watering Watermelon Bars

Don't these watermelon bars look delicious?? Recipe at Right@Home.

Goodbye Dinners, Part I

Last night, I went out to dinner with my good friend Danette, a sister-in-arms of the San Diego event industry and budding blogger at Bizarre Treasures. It was meant to be a cocktail hour with several girls from our event management program but it is summer (the busiest season for weddings) so things popped up here and there and it wound up just being me and 'Nette.

We went to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant downtown at the Harbor Drive Marriott (next to the Convention Center). The food was delicious and the drinks were strong, but the service left something to be desired.

Anyway, we complained about not having jobs and about all the difficulties of finding one. We complained about housing/moving and having too much clutter. And we complained about money.

Since we're both unemployed right now, we realized that dinner at a place like Roy's was probably not the wisest financial choice. But since we've been unemployed for some time, we've adjusted our life styles a lot over the months and decided that we deserved a treat. Besides, life is short... do we really want to worry about the price tag for this one dinner when we have no idea when we'll see each other in person again?

So we happily swallowed a totalled $90 dinner and parted ways, wondering what the future will hold for us and hoping that we'll be able to stay close in touch no matter how busy or physically far apart we get.