Summer Recipe: Blueberry & Pistachio Tiramisu

mycookinghut June 9, 2009
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This post should have posted on Sunday. But, something really weird happened! I couldn’t access to my WordPress admin page and my website! I was worried for a few hours! I tried it from my Blackberry and it worked! I got a few friends of mine to check if they could access to my blog – most in London seemed to have problem getting onto my blog and after a while it said time out! One in Paris said it was ok!

However, between the downtime that I faced, some of my readers were able to leave comments on my blog, which confirmed that it was fine from everywhere else?! But, for some reasons, I couldn’t access! Those in London couldn’t?! How weird? Well, it wasn’t only my blog though, there were certain websites and blogs that took ages to load and finally timed out!  Was it my ISP? Did any of you have similar problem, I wonder?

Anyway, I am glad that this is now back to normal! (What a relief!) I make sure that I have a backup copy of EVERYTHING on My Cooking Hut if anything goes wrong!! You’ll never know! My advice to all the food bloggers: “Don’t take any chances, do make sure you have the most up to date of your blog content in your hard disk. You don’t want to be distraught one day if something goes wrong!”

Well, that incident aside. Back to my summer recipe series!

We had a main course last week, didn’t we? The summery Lemon and Chili Prawns Linguine! I don’t know if any of you have tried it, if not, please put it on your to-do/to-try. 🙂 I, myself, will make it again this week cos it’s so good that I have bought 2 packets of good quality linguine!!

So, today, I am going to share a dessert with you guys. I don’t know if you have heard of Verrines. I think it’s the most trendy idea! In English, term like ‘Delights in a glass’ is used. Basically, Verrines, derived from the word verre, means glass. It’s a way of serving food, and usually layered dishes in small transparent glasses. The recipes for Verrines are not only limited to desserts, they could be for main or starter too. However, the rule is that it has to remain visibly and beautifully presented in the glass.

The Verrines concept has all started when those chefs decided to create a new trendy wave in the world of culinary by serving up dishes in glasses. If you have been to some trendy or modern french restaurants, you would probably come across the amuse-bouche being served this way! This trend is then spread to the home cooks like us who are keen to create and prepare this at home for dinner parties or special occasions. To be honest, I personally love the Verrines idea and I think it makes the world of culinary very exciting! There are many possible ideas that you can create based on Verrines!

If Verrines is new to you, why not give it a try. Even if you have already discovered Verrines, this recipe is really easy and delicious to make. It does look very elegant and presentable – something that will impress your guests if you are planning a dinner party at home.

The original recipe uses raspberries, I have substituted raspberries with blueberries, they are just as good!

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Blueberry & Pistachio Tiramisu (Tiramisu aux Myrtilles et aux Pistaches)

Yield: 6-8 glasses

Ingredients:

3 eggs
250g mascarpone
80g icing sugar
18-24 lady fingers biscuits
125g blueberry or raspberry, plus extra for garnish
60g pistachio
4 chocolate biscuits
1 small glass amaretto liqueur

Method:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.