BLUEBERRY/RASPBERRY AND PISTACHIO TIRAMISU RECIPE

Five minutes ago, I just devoured the fruits of my labour.  This blueberry and pistachio tiramisu is simply refreshing and divine.  I don't think I've ever made anything that taste so good before!  I love berries and pistachios so this is definitely one recipe to keep forever.

Leemei Tan is a true inspiration of mine.  She made this beautiful dessert adapted from Jose Marechal - "Verrines Toutes Fraiches".  Verrines referred to as "delights in a glass".   She is one of the World's most popular food bloggers and has been interviewed by the New York Times.  I couldn't wait to make this dessert when I found it online - it looked so delicious.

Blueberry or Raspberry & Pistachio Tiramisu

Summer Recipe: Blueberry or Raspberry & Pistachio Tiramisu

Makes 4 – 8 Verrines.  It depends on the size of your glasses how many glasses of the dessert you'll end up making.  My glasses were 7 cms long so I ended up making 5 Verrines.

Preparation Time: 3hrs (including chilling time)


Difficulty rating: Easy

Ingredients:

Eggs, 3

Mascarpone, 250g

Icing sugar, 80g

Lady fingers biscuits, 18 – 24

Fresh Blueberry (or Raspberry), 125g and extra for garnish

Pistachio, 60g

Chocolate biscuits, 4.

Amaretto liquer, 1 small glass

I made some changes to the ingredients from the original recipe.  First of all I didn't buy chocolate biscuits, instead I bought Cadbury Flake which is excellent for decorating desserts even though I ended up using all the raspberry, blueberry and pistachio for decoration instead.  I bought 125g of fresh blueberries and raspberries to see which one tastes better.  Raspberries are more expensive than blueberries but I they taste better.  Just don't be such a foodie like me and buy them when they are out of season because they are double the price.  The punnet of raspberries were AUD$8 whilst the punnet of blueberries were AUD$7.  Blueberries during summer are only about AUD $3-$4.

Method

1. Slightly mash the raspberries/blueberries in a bowl with 30g of sugar.

125g of fresh raspberry

Mash the raspberries with 30g of icing sugar

2. Use the food processor to finely crush lady fingers biscuits. Divide and layer it at the bottom of the glass. Repeat this to the rest of the glasses. Pour in amaretto in each glass and press the biscuits slightly using the tips of your fingers. Then, put a layer of mashed raspberries/blueberries on top of the biscuits. Put them into the fridge to chill.

250g of lady finger biscuits

Blend the finger biscuits.  Suggest cut them into pieces first.

Put the lady fingers into the verrines equally with the amaretto.
Then layer with the crushed raspberries.

3. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into 2 separate bowls. Whisk the egg yolks with 25g of sugar until the colour turns almost white. After that, add in mascarpone and beat at high speed until it’s firm and well mixed.

Whipped egg yolks with 25g of sugar.

4. Beat the egg whites until creamy and white. Then, add in 25g of sugar and continue to beat until they hold a stiff peak. Add in the beaten egg yolk and mascarpone mixture. Stir and mix well.

Whipped egg whites.  This takes about 10 mins + to get the stiffness

5. Pour in the mascarpone creme into each glass that has been layered with biscuits and mashed blueberries/raspberries. Put in the fridge for another 2 hours to set and chill.

layer the mascarpone mix on top of the layered raspberries

6. Just before serving, crush the chocolate biscuits and pistachios and sprinkle them on top of the creme and garnish with a few blueberries/raspberries.

After at least 2 hours of chilling in the fridge, decorate the dessert
 with pistachios, raspberries and blueberries.

You can do other variations to this dessert by changing the amaretto.  Use almond extracts if you don't want any alcohol.  You can also use 50ml of cointreau or grand marnier if you want a orange twist or for coffee lovers, try using 1 tablespoon of coffee and 2 teaspoons of kahlua or baileys.